Smith v. Westminster Mgmt.
| Decision Date | 03 March 2023 |
| Docket Number | 2508-2019 |
| Parties | TENAE SMITH ET AL. v. WESTMINSTER MANAGEMENT, LLC ET AL. |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
Circuit Court for Baltimore City Case No. 24-C-17-004797
OPINION
This case is complicated. So is this opinion. Here is a table of contents:
More than forty-five years ago, the Supreme Court of Maryland[1] expressed concerns about the "likelihood of successful overreaching on the part of the landlord and of coerced adhesion on the part of the tenant" in the context of residential leases. Univ Plaza Shopping Ctr., Inc. v. Garcia, 279 Md. 61, 67 (1977). The Maryland General Assembly has enacted several statutes, codified as title 8 of the Real Property Article, in an effort to provide some degree of protection to tenants while still permitting landlords expedited procedures to evict tenants who fail to pay their rent or otherwise breach their lease agreements. Among the issues presented in this factually and procedurally complex case are the proper meanings of the terms "rent" and "costs" in Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8208, which prohibits landlords from including or enforcing certain provisions in residential leases; and Real Prop. § 8-401, which establishes an expedited process by which landlords can evict tenants who fail to pay their rent.
Tenae Smith, Howard Smith, Simone Ryer, Dechonne McBride, and Louvinia Sneed appeal from a judgment of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City entered in favor of Westminster Management, LLC and JK2 Westminster, LLC.[2] In their briefs, the parties raise thirteen issues, which we have consolidated into two:
When everything is said and done, we will reverse the judgment of the circuit court and remand this case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We ask for the reader's patience, fully aware that we will try it before our task is complete.[4]
"When evaluating a motion for summary judgment, the court must 'construe the facts properly before the court, and any reasonable inferences that may be drawn from them, in the light most favorable to the non-moving party.'" Selective Way Ins. Co. v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co., ___ Md.App. ___, No. 753, Sept. Term, 2021, 2023 WL 1457581 at *12 (Appellate Court of Maryland, Feb. 2, 2023) (quoting Appiah v. Hall, 416 Md. 533, 546 (2010)). From the affidavits and other evidence filed in support of, or in opposition to, the parties' motions for summary judgment, a fact-finder could reasonably infer the following:
Tenae Smith was a tenant at the Dutch Village Apartments in Baltimore City from 2009 through at least May 19, 2019.[5] Howard Smith was a tenant at the Carroll Park Apartments in Baltimore County from 2007 to July 2018. Simone Ryer was a tenant at the Whispering Woods Apartments in Baltimore County from December 2016 through December 2017. Dechonne McBride was a tenant at Whispering Woods from December 2014 through at least May 19, 2019. Finally, Louvinia Sneed was a tenant at the Pleasantview Townhomes in Baltimore City from October 2011 through February 2019.
These properties, as well as several other residential rental properties in Maryland,[6] have been managed by JK2 and then Westminster Management. Neither company has an ownership interest in these properties.
When a tenant fails to make their rent payment on time, and among other remedies, a landlord may file a summary ejectment action in the District Court of Maryland pursuant to Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-401. Westminster frequently utilized summary ejectment proceedings when its tenants fell behind in their rent. Beginning on June 1, 2014, Westminster had a contract with eWrit Filings, LLC which provided that eWrit was Westminster's "sole and exclusive Agent with regard to the preparation, filing, and prosecution" of summary ejectment actions in Maryland.
All of the appellants signed written lease agreements with Westminster. The leases were for one year and were renewed annually. Ms. Ryer's lease with Westminster dated December 16, 2016, is a typical lease. It states in relevant part (bold emphasis in original):
THIS LEASE AGREEMENT, made on December 16, 2016, whereby [Westminster,] agent for Landlord, does hereby lease onto Tenant, the premises known as 36 Benoni Circle hereafter referred to as the Premises .... at a rental of Twelve Thousand Eight Hundred Fifty Two Dollars and 00 Cents ($12,852.00), payable in equal monthly installments of One Thousand Seventy One Dollars 00 Cents ($1071.00), in advance, without notice, deductions, set off, or demand, on the first day of each month.
In construing a residential lease agreement that contained very similar language, the Supreme Court of Maryland used the term "fixed monthly charge" to refer to the equal monthly installments of the annual rent. Lockett, 446 Md. at 420-21. We will do the same in this opinion.
In addition to setting out the lease term, the annual rent, and the fixed monthly charge, the lease agreement between Ms. Ryer and Westminster contained a number of standard provisions that appear in all of the lease agreements between Westminster and the appellants. The ones relevant to the issues raised in this appeal are (formatting altered, emphasis added):
Appellants assert that these lease provisions are inconsistent with Maryland law, have been and continue to be interpreted and applied by Westminster in ways that violate Maryland law, or both. As a result, according to appellants, Westminster has charged "excessive and illegal fees for the late payment of rent .... throughout its multi-family rental properties in Maryland" in situations in which tenants fail to pay their rent in full on a timely basis. What follows is a summary of their contentions.[7]
Westminster's tenants are required to pay their fixed monthly rent in advance, in full, and on or before the first day of the month. If a tenant fails to pay their rent in full by the fifth day of the month, Westminster charges a late fee of 5% of the month's rent.
Appellants concede that Westminster has the right to charge a late fee, but they assert the 5% penalty is the maximum permitted by Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-208(d)(3)(i).[8] However, according to appellants, Westminster imposes additional fees at the sixth day of the month or shortly thereafter:
First Westminster charges what it terms an "agent's fee" [9] of either $10 or $12 and a "court fee" or "summons fee" of either $20 or $30 whenever its agent, eWrit Filings, LLC, files a summary ejectment action in the District Court pursuant to Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-401 for repossession of the premises for failure to pay rent. Appellants assert that eWrit does not charge a fee to Westminster for filing such documents.[10] If a tenant fails to pay their rent on or before the...
To continue reading
Request your trial