The Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) will host a community forum on Consumer Protection from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Thursday, March 5, at the Rockville Memorial Library, located at 21 Maryland Ave.

The in-person event is designed to bring the community together for a facilitated, interactive discussion that prioritizes community dialogue and hearing directly from residents about consumer concerns impacting Montgomery County.  

“We want to hear what residents are seeing, whether it’s scams, unfair contracts, housing issues, or deceptive business practices, so we can respond quickly and prevent harm before it spreads,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “Consumer protection works best when government listens first. Too often, people don’t speak up until they’ve already lost money or run into a wall trying to resolve a problem. When residents share what they’re dealing with, it helps us strengthen enforcement, improve education, and hold bad actors accountable. I encourage anyone who has concerns or ideas to join the conversation.” 

Community input gathered during the forum will help OCP identify emerging issues and shape future consumer education, outreach, and policy.   

“Strong consumer protection is built on understanding the challenges residents are facing and addressing concerns early,” said OCP Director Eric Friedman. “This forum, held during National Consumer Protection Week, is an important opportunity for us to hear directly from the community and use that input to strengthen prevention efforts and improve the services and programs we provide across Montgomery County.” 

Participants can expect: 

• A brief overview of what consumer protection is and why it matters to Montgomery County residents. 
• Facilitated large and small group discussions focused on consumer concerns impacting the community.  
• Opportunities to share experiences with consumer issues, barriers encountered when concerns arise, and trends observed across the County.  
• A reflection on key themes shared by participants and a look at next steps for the Office of Consumer Protection.  

Space is limited, and advance registration is required by Monday, March 2. Click here to register.