MLT Enterprises, Inc. v. Miller

• Decision Date: 01 September 1996
• Docket Number: No. 1532,1532
• Parties: MLT ENTERPRISES, INC. v. Arnold MILLER, et al. ,
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

Page 661

115 Md.App. 661

694 A.2d 497

MLT ENTERPRISES, INC. v. Arnold MILLER, et al.

No. 1532, Sept. Term, 1996.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

June 2, 1997.

Michael J. McAuliffe (Quinn, McAuliffe & Rowan, on the brief), Rockville, for Appellant.

Gary M. Anderson, Laurel, for Appellees Arnold Miller, et al.

Toni E. Clarke (Reichelt, Nussbaum, LaPlaca & Miller, on the brief, for Appellee Glenrock Joint Venture), Greenbelt, for Appellees.

Argued before CATHELL and DAVIS, JJ., and THEODORE G. BLOOM, Judge (retired), Specially Assigned.

DAVIS, Judge.

MLT Enterprises, Inc. (MLT) appeals from a judgment of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County (Chapin, J.) in favor of Arnold Miller (Miller) and Glenrock Joint Venture (Glenrock). Miller cross-appeals from a judgment in favor of MLT. The procedural history and facts of this case are set forth infra.

FACTS

Under MD. RULE 8-501(g) (1997), the parties have filed an Agreed Statement of Facts. All parties, however, have filed additional Statements of Facts in their respective briefs, purporting to supplement the Agreed Statement of Facts. We think it unhelpful to attempt a supplemental exposition of facts after reproducing the Agreed Statement of Facts. For clarity, we set forth below our own Statement of Facts, juxtaposing those facts to which all parties have agreed with other facts helpful to the proper resolution of the case.

On September 7, 1994, Miller filed suit against MLT for payments allegedly due under an installment note. At the same time, Miller filed a Request for Writs of Attachment before Judgment and affidavits in support of the writs. On the same day, Miller filed an Amended Ex Parte Request for Writs of Attachment before Judgment. The Request was granted on September 7, 1994, on condition that Miller post a bond in the amount of $52,000 for the satisfaction of all costs and damages that may be awarded to MLT or a claimant of the property attached by reason of the attachment. The bond was filed on September 9, 1994, and the attachments on the original process were issued.

On September 14, 1994, MLT filed Motions to Vacate the Attachment before Judgment and release the property, as well as a Motion to Dismiss the Complaint. These Motions were denied on October 26, 1994, so the Attachment remained in place. On October 25, 1994, MLT filed a Counter-Complaint against Miller for abuse of process and civil conspiracy stemming from Miller's attempt to collect on what MLT claimed was a worthless note. MLT also filed various Third-Party Complaints, all of which were ultimately dismissed.

The property attached by Miller can be divided into two groups. The first group consisted of all equipment and personal property of MLT located at MLT's place of business, 10026 Darnestown Road, Rockville, Maryland 20850. MLT operated a pizza restaurant; the equipment can generally be classified as restaurant equipment.

The second asset attached was a note owed to MLT by Behzad Safavieh. Safavieh owed MLT $22,000, payable at the rate of $1,000 per month. By Order of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, issued on January 26, 1995, Safavieh's payments were made into the Court registry. At the time of trial, the payments made by Safavieh on the note totalled $17,000.

On March 7, 1995, the circuit court issued an Order to sell the attached property located at 10026 Darnestown Road, Rockville, Maryland 20850. All parties consented to the sale, provided that the proceeds were placed into the Court registry. The proceeds of the sale came to $23,500, and the money, as agreed, was deposited in the Court registry. ¹

On July 13, 1995, Glenrock Joint Venture (Glenrock) filed a Motion to Intervene as a Plaintiff. On November 7, 1995, Glenrock was permitted to intervene, and it filed a Complaint in Intervention against MLT and Miller, which it amended. The Amended Complaint in Intervention alleged that the restaurant equipment had belonged to Glenrock, and demanded judgment against MLT and Miller, jointly and severally, for $23,500, the proceeds from the sale of the property. It also requested that the money be paid out of the Court Escrow Account (the registry) into which the proceeds were deposited after the sale of the equipment. The Amended Complaint also alleged that MLT owed Glenrock, the owner of the subject property, unpaid rent under a lease. Glenrock demanded judgment for $57,226.32, plus fees and costs.

On December 6, 1995, the circuit court granted MLT's Motion for Summary Judgment with respect to Miller's original Complaint. Therefore, the Counter-Complaint filed by MLT against Miller and the Amended Complaint in Intervention filed by Glenrock were the matters set for trial. The matter came for trial before the circuit court (Chapin, J.) on February 13 and 14, 1996.

At trial, Glenrock and MLT informed the court that they had settled Glenrock's rent claim for $11,000. The agreement called for Glenrock to be paid from the proceeds being held in the court registry. MLT presented its case in chief for the Counter-Complaint against Miller, and Glenrock then presented evidence in support of its Amended Complaint in Intervention against Miller and MLT. Counter-Defendant (and Defendant in Intervention) Miller moved for judgment. The court granted him judgment on MLT's Counter-Complaint.

The court then issued rulings dispositive of all remaining issues. Glenrock had presented evidence during trial that it had rented the premises to previous tenants who had defaulted on their leases. Glenrock claimed that, under the terms of those leases, it took ownership of all equipment on the premises before MLT ever signed a lease. The court agreed and ruled that Glenrock owned the equipment.

The circuit court next determined the account from which Glenrock's ownership interest in the restaurant equipment would be paid. Although Glenrock, in its Amended Complaint had originally asked that the court withdraw the funds from the court registry, in its opening statement Glenrock added the possibility that the court might consider charging the $23,500 to the bond filed by Miller. In a colloquy with the court following its case-in-chief, Glenrock specifically requested that the money be charged against the bond as damages rather than withdrawn from the registry. Miller contested this request. MLT did not.

Characterizing the money due Glenrock as damages incurred as a result of the improper Attachment before Judgment, the court ruled that the $23,500 was to be levied against the bond posted by Miller. The court also issued an oral ruling that Glenrock was entitled to $822.50 in damages against the bond. This represented interest on the proceeds from the sale of the restaurant equipment that Glenrock was prevented from obtaining for the duration of the Attachment.

To MLT, the court said it would award $722.50 against the bond, representing interest for the $17,000 of periodic payments on the notes made into the registry, the use of which MLT was deprived while the Attachment was in place. The court also awarded MLT $8,250 against the bond. This represented three-fourths of the rent settlement of $11,000 with Glenrock, damages that the Attachment caused MLT when Glenrock was unable to mitigate its loss of rental income for the premises during the Attachment period. Finally, the court stated that it would award $1,071 against the bond to MLT for court reporter's costs incurred by the need for depositions concerning the Attachment. The court instructed counsel for Glenrock to prepare an appropriate Order. Counsel did prepare such an Order, but the court held the Order pending the hearing on the Motion to Alter or Amend the Judgment that Glenrock subsequently filed.

On February 20, 1996, Glenrock filed a Motion to Alter or Amend Judgment. MLT, as a Defendant in Intervention, opposed the Motion. On March 18, 1996, the court conducted a hearing on Glenrock's Motion. On March 20, 1996, the court issued a written Order granting the Motion in part. Subsequent post-trial Motions were denied.

The Amended Judgment changed the original Judgment in two respects. It changed the proceeds from the sale of the attached restaurant equipment from $23,500 to $23,217.50. It also ordered that the proceeds, to be distributed to Glenrock, not be charged against the bond, as originally ordered, but withdrawn from the court registry into which the proceeds had been deposited after the sale. By its action, therefore, the court impliedly concluded in its Amended Judgment that the money did not represent damages incurred by the improper Attachment (and thus properly levied against the bond); the money was merely the proceeds from the sale of the restaurant equipment, to be returned to the equipment's rightful owner, Glenrock. The court left intact its ruling that $822.50, representing damage incurred by Glenrock because Glenrock could not use the $23,500 during the Attachment, be charged against the bond. ² MLT appealed, and Miller cross-appealed. We discuss MLT's appeal first.

MLT's Appeal

In this appeal, MLT seeks a review of the circuit court's Order issued on March 20, 1996, granting Glenrock's Motion to Alter or Amend the Judgment. Because no additional relief is sought against Miller, he takes no active part in this appeal. For the same reason, Selective Insurance Company of America (which issued the bond for the Attachment before Judgment) takes no active role in this appeal. MLT is not seeking any additional relief against either Miller or the Surety. Miller does not appeal the grant of summary judgment with respect to his underlying complaint. MLT does not appeal the judgment granted by the circuit court against it with respect to its Counter-Complaint against Miller. The only issues on this appeal involve the circuit court's determination that Glenrock owned the equipment located at 10026 Darnestown Road, Rockville, Maryland 20850, and the court's award, taken from the court...