(a) (1) A Program participant may make a request to any person or State or local agency to use a substitute address designated by the Secretary of State as the Program participant’s address.
(2) Subject to subsections (b) and (d) of this section, when a Program participant has made a request to a person or State or local agency under this subsection, the person or agency shall use the substitute address designated by the Secretary of State as the Program participant’s address.
(b) (1) (i) When a Program participant presents the address designated by the Secretary of State to any person, that address must be accepted as the address of the Program participant.
(ii) A person may not require a Program participant to submit any address that could be used to physically locate the Program participant either as a substitute or in addition to the designated address, or as a condition of receiving a service or benefit, unless the service or benefit would be impossible to provide without knowledge of the Program participant’s physical location.
(2) A bank, a credit union, any other depository institution, or any other financial institution within the meaning of § 1–101 of the Financial Institutions Article may require a request made under subsection (a) of this section to be in writing and on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State identifying an individual as a Program participant.
(c) A Program participant who acquires an ownership interest in real property while participating in the Program may request the shielding of real property records concerning the property in accordance with Title 3, Subtitle 1, Part II of the Real Property Article.
(d) (1) A State or local agency that has a bona fide statutory or administrative requirement for using a Program participant’s actual address may apply to the Secretary of State for a waiver from the requirements of the Program.
(2) If the Secretary of State approves the waiver, the State or local agency shall use the Program participant’s actual address only for the required statutory or administrative purposes.