Lerner Corp. v. Three Winthrop Properties, Inc.

723 A.2d 560, 124 Md. App. 679, 1999 Md. App. LEXIS 20
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedFebruary 1, 1999
Docket651, Sept. Term, 1998
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 723 A.2d 560 (Lerner Corp. v. Three Winthrop Properties, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lerner Corp. v. Three Winthrop Properties, Inc., 723 A.2d 560, 124 Md. App. 679, 1999 Md. App. LEXIS 20 (Md. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

EYLER, Judge.

This case concerns the interpretation of a management and leasing agreement dated January 16, 1985 (the Agreement) between Lerner Corporation, appellant, the exclusive leasing and management agent for the Springhill Lake Apartments located in Greenbelt, Maryland, and Three Winthrop Properties, Inc,, appellee, the agent of the owners of the apartments. 1 *682 The section of the Agreement in dispute is 14(b), which provides as follows:

Owner shall have the right, without liability and without cause to terminate at any time from and after the last day of the calendar month in which occurs the tenth (10th) anniversary of the date of this Agreement by giving Agent written notice of its election to do so. Such notice shall specify the effective date of such termination (which shall be a “Termination Date”), which date shall be not earlier than 90 days after such notice is given.

The parties agree that January 31, 1995 was “the last day of the calendar month in which occurs the tenth (10th) anniversary of the date of this Agreement.” On October 17, 1994, appellee gave written notice to appellant, in which it stated its intent to terminate the Agreement effective January 31, 1995. Appellant responded that the notice could not be given until January 31, 1995, and would not be effective until 90 days thereafter. Appellant further stated that it would continue as leasing and management agent until that time.

On November 18, 1994, appellee filed suit in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County. In Count One, appellee sought a declaration of the rights of the parties and specifically an interpretation of § 14(b). In Count Two, appellee sought damages for breach of contract in anticipation of appellant’s failure to honor the asserted termination of the contract on January 31, 1995. Appellee filed a motion for partial summary judgment with respect to Count One, and on February 14, 1995, the circuit court granted it. In doing so, the circuit court ruled that the Agreement terminated on January 31, 1995. Appellant appealed to this Court, but in January 1996, this Court dismissed the appeal because of the lack of a final appealable judgment.

On October 10, 1997, appellee filed a motion for partial summary judgment with respect to Count Two, seeking dam *683 ages for appellant’s management of the apartments for a three month period after January 31,1995. During the three month period, appellant continued to manage the apartments pursuant to its interpretation of the Agreement, despite the circuit court’s February 14, 1995 ruling on appellee’s motion for partial summary judgment. On November 20, 1997, the circuit court granted appellee’s motion for partial summary judgment on Count Two and awarded appellee all the management fees received by appellant for the three month period in question, which totaled $226,954. After the circuit court entered an order disposing of the question of attorney’s fees, 2 the last open issue in the case, appellant noted this appeal.

Questions Presented and Contentions of Parties

Appellant presents four separate questions, but the essence can be restated as follows:

1. Is the relevant language in the Agreement clear and unambiguous and was the circuit court’s decision legally correct?
2. On the issue of damages, was a judgment for the full amount of the management fees legally correct?

With respect to the first question, appellant argues that the language in the Agreement was, at a minimum, ambiguous, thus making summary judgment improper. Appellant relies on (1) the plain language in the Agreement; (2) the language considered in context; and (3) appellee’s interpretation of the Agreement contained in public documents prepared by appellee prior to the recent controversy between the parties. With respect to appellee’s publicly stated interpretation, appellant argues that (1) it is relevant to the interpretation of the Agreement and (2) it forms the basis for equitable estoppel.

With respect to the second question, appellant asserts that, even if appellee’s interpretation is correct, appellee is not entitled as a matter of law to all management fees received by appellant during the three month period in question. Appel *684 lant argues that Count Two sounded in breach of contract and the measure of damages is that amount of compensation which would place appellee in the position in which it would have been if appellant had relinquished its duties on. January 31, 1995. Appellant argues that another management company would have been paid a fee during the three month period and that the amount of damages should have been the difference between appellant’s fees and what appellee would have paid to another management company, if less than appellant’s fees. Appellant also argues that damages in the full amount of the management fees cannot be justified on a theory of unjust enrichment.

With respect to the first question, appellee asserts that the language in the Agreement is unambiguous and, when considered in context, calls for a reasonable result. Appellee argues that the Agreement was for a ten-year term and that appellee had the right to terminate the Agreement as of January 31, 1995; it did not have merely the right to give notice as of that date. Appellee also asserts that there are no prior inconsistent statements relating to its interpretation of the Agreement and that any such statements are irrelevant in any event. With respect to appellant’s estoppel argument, appellee states that the prior statements were not directed to appellant, and appellant did not rely on such statements.

On the issue of damages, appellee asserts that appellant had no contractual right to management fees once the contract had been terminated and that appellant took fees from the rental proceeds without authorization. Appellee also points out that appellant did not file a counterclaim seeking payment, but even if the filing was unnecessary, appellant would not be entitled to compensation under theories of unjust enrichment or quantum, meruit, because its services were unwanted and had been rendered gratuitously.

Discussion

I. Contract Interpretation

The construction of contractual language is, in the first instance, “a question of law for the court to resolve.” *685 Shapiro v. Massengill, 105 Md.App. 743, 754, 661 A.2d 202 (1995). A contract is not ambiguous merely because the parties disagree as to its interpretation. Fultz v. Shaffer, 111 Md.App. 278, 299, 681 A.2d 568 (1996). Rather, if the disputed term “is clear as to its meaning, there is no room for construction and it must be presumed that the parties meant what they expressed.” Fultz, 111 Md.App. at 298, 681 A.2d 568; Feick v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Storetrax.com, Inc. v. Gurland
895 A.2d 355 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2006)
Miller v. U.S. Foodservice, Inc.
405 F. Supp. 2d 607 (D. Maryland, 2005)
Conrad/Dommel, LLC v. West Development Co.
815 A.2d 828 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2003)
Barron v. Unum Life Insurance Co. of America
125 F. Supp. 2d 149 (D. Maryland, 2000)
B & P ENTERPRISES v. Overland Equipment Co.
758 A.2d 1026 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
723 A.2d 560, 124 Md. App. 679, 1999 Md. App. LEXIS 20, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lerner-corp-v-three-winthrop-properties-inc-mdctspecapp-1999.