01.02.04.03

.03 Responsibilities of the Secretary.

A. Notification to Persons Not Registered. The Secretary shall:

(1) Identify to the extent possible persons who have not registered and are subject to the provisions of the Act;

(2) Send to those identified the necessary forms and instructions and with instructions on how to access a copy of the Act and regulations; and

(3) Advise the person not in compliance of the person's unlawful solicitation and note that a failure to register may result in the institution of enforcement proceedings by the Secretary of State or Attorney General as set forth in §6-205 of the Act.

B. Notice of Annual Report Filing. The Secretary shall issue each registered charitable organization a report reminder notice 30 days before the charitable organization's annual report is due. Failure to receive the reminder does not affect the organization's responsibility to timely file the annual fiscal report.

C. Notice of Annual Fundraising Notice. The Secretary shall issue each exempt filer a reminder 30 days before the organization's annual fundraising notice is due. Failure to receive the reminder does not affect the exempt filer's responsibility to timely file the annual fundraising notice.

D. Substitution of Required Forms. If information asked for on any form required by the Maryland Solicitations Act or regulations promulgated by the Secretary of State pursuant to §6-204 of the Act is contained in any other written material, the Secretary may accept other material in hard copy or electronic form instead of the completed form.

E. Extension of Time for Filing Annual Fiscal Reports. The Secretary may grant an organization an extension of time to file its annual report. The extension may not exceed the 15th day of the 11th month after the end of the charitable organization'​s fiscal year.

F. Incomplete Annual Fiscal Report. An organization'​s annual fiscal report required by the Act to be filed with the Secretary under §6-408 of the Act which does not contain the requested information or is not accompanied by the required fee, if any, is incomplete. The Secretary shall notify the person who submitted the incomplete form of the incompleteness and of the items required to comply. The Secretary shall allow that person 60 days in which to comply before late fees shall be assessed pursuant to §6-407(c) of the Act.

G. Incomplete Annual Fundraising Notice. If an exempt filer has failed to submit an annual fundraising notice due under §6-405 of the Act, or has filed an incomplete or incorrect annual fundraising notice, the Secretary may notify the exempt filer and identify each of the items required to comply. If an exempt filer has been so notified, the exempt filer shall submit the required documents within 30 days of the notice. A person so notified may request, in writing, additional time to comply

H. Incomplete Application for Registration. For persons who have filed an incomplete application for registration under §6-404 of the Act, the Secretary may allow an additional 15 days from the date of the notice of an incomplete application in which to comply. A person so notified of an incomplete application for registration may request, in writing, an additional 30 days in which to comply.