Keys v. Keys

• Decision Date: 01 September 1991
• Docket Number: No. 1503,1503
• Citation: Keys v. Keys, 614 A.2d 975, 93 Md.App. 677 (Md. App. 1991)
• Parties: Beverly Ann KEYS v. Harvey S. KEYS. ,
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

Page 677

93 Md.App. 677

614 A.2d 975

Beverly Ann KEYS v. Harvey S. KEYS.

No. 1503, Sept. Term, 1991.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

Oct. 28, 1992.

George Toda, Baltimore, for appellant.

Gerald A. Smith, Baltimore, for appellee.

Argued before MOYLAN, BISHOP, BLOOM, WENNER and FISCHER, JJ.

FISCHER, Judge.

Beverly Ann Keys, appellant, and Harvey S. Keys, appellee, were married on October 10, 1969, and two children, Tamiko and Dwayne, were born of that marriage. On December 10, 1987, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City granted an absolute divorce to the parties. The divorce order awarded to Ms. Keys use and possession of the marital home until September, 1988. The home was sold on June 30, 1990, and Ms. Keys filed a claim against the proposed disposition of the sale proceeds. On May 21, 1991, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City conducted an evidentiary hearing, and on June 4, 1991, the court issued its ruling. Ms. Keys appeals the trial court's order, and she presents the following questions for our consideration ¹:

1. Did the Circuit Court for Baltimore City abuse its discretion by granting Ms. Keys compensation for only one-half of the mortgage payments paid for the period September 1, 1985 to September 10, 1988?

2. Did the Circuit Court for Baltimore City abuse its discretion by refusing to grant compensation to Ms. Keys for the mortgage payments paid after September 8, 1988?

3. Did the Circuit Court for Baltimore City abuse its discretion by refusing to grant to Ms. Keys $2,250 for the lost value of the Ford Mustang?

I.

As the trial court order and memorandum of June 4, 1991 stated, "[A]fter a lengthy and rancorous pre-Decree period involving many battles, this Court granted [Mr. Keys] an absolute divorce on December 10, 1987, seemingly ending the war." The divorce decree: (1) awarded Ms. Keys the use and possession of the marital home, (2) ordered Mr. Keys to pay Ms. Keys alimony of $25 a week for a period of eighteen months, (3) ordered Mr. Keys to pay $70 per week for the support of Tamiko and Dwayne Keys, (4) excluded Mr. Keys as the biological father of Jamal Keys and ordered Ms. Keys to pay the $400 advanced for a paternal blood test and ordered her to reimburse Mr. Keys $140.40 for the medical expenses associated with the birth of the child, (5) ordered the sale of the 1980 Ford Mustang, and (6) awarded personal property to Mr. Keys. The decree also granted:

[T]he use and possession of the marital home to [Ms. Keys] for a period of three (3) years from September 10, 1985. This Court holds that [Ms. Keys] shall pay the mortgage, taxes and utility bills of the marital home during the three (3) year period. In September 1988, the marital home shall be sold and the proceeds divided equally after [Ms. Keys] is credited One Thousand Three Hundred Eighty-Three Dollars and Forty-Seven Cents ($1,383.47) representing four (4) mortgage payments that should have been paid by [Mr. Keys] and after [Ms. Keys] is credited for all mortgage payments and taxes that she paid on the property from September 1, 1985 until the property is sold.

The record shows that Mr. Keys was willing to sell the marital home in September of 1988, and he notified Ms. Keys of arrangements he had made to facilitate the court ordered sale. Mr. Keys contends, and the trial judge found, that by various means Ms. Keys obstructed and delayed the sale of the home. Consequently, in December of 1989, the court appointed the parties' attorneys as trustees to sell the marital home. Finally, the property was sold for $50,000 in June of 1990. The trustees prepared an accounting of the proceeds and concluded that $26,192.76 was available for distribution to the parties. As the divorce decree required the proceeds to be divided equally between Mr. and Ms. Keys, the accounting statement credited $13,096.38 to each of them. Also taken into consideration by the auditor were certain credits and debits outlined in the decree. The final total available for Ms. Keys was $18,845.09, and the amount available for Mr. Keys was $6,941.90. Ms. Keys takes exception to this accounting and claimed that she is entitled to all of Mr. Keys' share plus an additional $371.65.

Ms. Keys argues that the divorce decree awarded her one hundred percent compensation for mortgage payments paid from September 1, 1985 until the date the property was sold. The trial court denied Ms. Keys' claim to full compensation for the mortgage payments and awarded her compensation for one-half of the total payments made prior to September, 1988. Ms. Keys postulates that the divorce decree required Mr. Keys to reimburse her for the total amount paid. She adds that if the intent of the decree was for her to receive only one-half of the mortgage payments, as the trial court ultimately ordered, then the decree would have explicitly stated that she was only entitled to one-half. Ms. Keys notes that, instead, the decree states, "Ms. Keys is credited for all mortgage payments and taxes that she paid on the property from September 1, 1985 until the property is sold." The right of a cotenant to contribution for mortgage and tax payments is well established. Crawford v. Crawford, 293 Md. 307, 443 A.2d 599 (1982); Aiello v. Aiello, 268 Md. 513, 302 A.2d 189 (1973); Imagnu v. Wodajo, 85 Md.App. 208, 223, 582 A.2d 590 (1990). A Crawford contribution claim, however, is not a matter of right but is an equitable remedy awarded within the discretion of the court. Broseus v. Broseus, 82 Md.App. 183, 192, 570 A.2d 874 (1990); Wassif v. Wassif, 77 Md.App. 750, 551 A.2d 935, cert. denied, 315 Md. 692, 556 A.2d 674 (1989); Spessard v. Spessard, 64 Md.App. 83, 494 A.2d 701 (1985). Obviously, Ms. Keys misunderstands the meaning of the court's words. The phrase "is credited for all mortgage payments and taxes" does not mean that she is to be reimbursed for all payments. It means that she is to receive a proper credit for all payments. The court found that a proper credit was one-half of the payments made by Ms. Keys. This, of course, results in each party paying one-half. We find no abuse of the trial court's discretion in allowing contribution for one-half of the mortgage and tax payments for the three year use and possession period.

II.

Second, Ms. Keys argues that the trial court abused its discretion in denying her contribution for mortgage and tax payments made after September, 1988. Ms. Keys avers that she is entitled to contribution for all the mortgage and tax payments, including the payments after September, 1988. The trial court denied her claim for contribution for payments after September, 1988, explaining that the use and possession order was in effect for a three year period ending in September, 1988 and that "[Ms. Key's] bad faith efforts to thwart the orderly, cost-effective sale of the marital home, as ordered by the Decree of Divorce, were inexcusable." We believe the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Ms. Keys contribution for the payments after September, 1988.

The divorce decree stated that the marital home shall be sold in September, 1988 and that Ms. Keys is to be "credited for all mortgage payments and taxes that she paid on the property from September 1, 1985 until the property is sold." The divorce decree intended for Ms. Keys and the children to reside in the marital home for three years, and shortly after the use and possession period expired, the home would be sold. Clearly, the decree did not intend for the sale of the home to take place some twenty months after the use and possession period expired.

As we found above, contribution is an equitable remedy. Judge Rosalyn Bell, writing for this Court in Spessard v. Spessard, 64 Md.App. 83, 95-96, 494 A.2d 701 (1985), discussed the equitable nature of contribution:

'We point out, as we have before, that the chancellor is not required to place the parties in a position of monetary equality....' The chancellor is not precluded from allowing reimbursement to a spouse for maintaining tenancy by the entireties property, nor must he require that the spouse out of possession contribute a proportionate share of the payments. Depending on the circumstances, requiring contribution could create the very inequity which the [Marital Property Act] was designed to prevent. Hence, the test involves whether the total disposition is equitable. [Citation omitted; footnote omitted.]

In Broseus v. Broseus, 82 Md.App. 183, 570 A.2d 874 (1990), the husband, a Ph.D., was awarded use and possession of the marital home but was denied contribution. We concurred with the chancellor's decision "that it was unreasonable for [the husband] to expect reimbursement for his payments on their joint obligation as he was receiving the benefit of the use of the residence and since [wife's] standard of living was considerably lower than his." Broseus, 82 Md.App. at 193, 570 A.2d 874.

In the instant case, the trial court considered several factors in denying Ms. Keys contribution for the mortgage payments made after September, 1988. The trial court's order specifically stated:

[Ms. Keys'] bad faith efforts to thwart the orderly, cost-effective sale of the marital home, as ordered in the Decree of Divorce, were inexcusable. Because he suffered increased costs of sale, and because he acted in utmost good faith and was fully cooperative, it cannot be persuasively argued that Mr. Keys stands unjustly enriched by this court's refusal to award [Ms. Keys] contribution for the mortgage payments accruing after the expiration of the use and possession order in September, 1988.

The trial court found that Ms. Keys intentionally and willfully delayed the sale of the marital home. The court pointed to many examples of Ms. Keys' bad faith. On March 28, 1988, Mr. Keys' attorney wrote to Ms. Keys' attorney and stated that "[Mr. Keys] is insisting upon the sale of the premises...." In April, Ms. Keys' attorney responded, "My client made a proposal in ...