Maryland National Bank v. Parkville Federal Savings Bank

660 A.2d 1043, 105 Md. App. 611, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 133
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedJune 30, 1995
DocketNo. 1568
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 660 A.2d 1043 (Maryland National Bank v. Parkville Federal Savings Bank) 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
Maryland National Bank v. Parkville Federal Savings Bank, 660 A.2d 1043, 105 Md. App. 611, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 133 (Md. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

FISCHER, Judge.

Appellant, Maryland National Bank (Maryland National), appeals from the order of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County granting summary judgment in favor of appellee, Parkville Federal Savings Bank (Parkville Federal), and the [613]*613denial of appellant’s motion for summary judgment. Appellant raises a single issue for our review: Did the circuit court err in holding that the writ of garnishment was effective to attach the property of a judgment debtor not named in the writ?

Facts

On March 22, 1993, Parkville Federal obtained final judgments against four separate defendants: People’s Transportation, Quality Plus, Peter R. Schanck, and Charles G. Fagan. On March 23, 1993, Parkville Federal filed a request for a writ of garnishment of property (the “request”) with the circuit court. The request sought a writ of garnishment of any property held by Maryland National that belonged to People’s Transportation, Quality Plus, Inc., Peter R. Schanck, or Charles G. Fagan. The clerk of the circuit court issued a writ of garnishment of property that identified the judgment debt- or as “People’s Transportation, Inc., et al.” The address of the judgment debtor was listed as “16101 Chargin Blvd., Shaker Heights, Ohio 44120”. The writ did not identify any other judgment debtors or supply any other addresses.

On March 26, 1993, Parkville Federal served by private process the writ and the request on Maryland National. On April 22, 1993, Maryland National filed a plea of nulla bona, stating that, at the time that it was served with the writ, Maryland National did not have any credit 3 or assets belonging to People’s Transportation. On May 25, 1993, Parkville Federal filed a reply to Maryland National’s plea of nulla bona. Parkville Federal also filed a request for an order of default for Maryland National’s failure to answer for Quality Plus, Inc., Peter R. Schanck, and Charles G. Fagan. The circuit court issued an order of default for failure to plead for all the defendants except People’s Transportation.

Maryland National filed a motion to vacate the order of default on June 24, 1993, contending that the writ required it to answer only for People’s Transportation and not for the other defendants, who did not appear on the face of the writ. Parkville Federal filed an opposition, and the circuit court [614]*614conducted a hearing on the motion on September 2, 1993. The circuit court subsequently vacated the default order and ordered Maryland National to file an answer as to the property owned by Quality Plus, Inc.1 Maryland National subsequently filed its supplemental answer on September 24, 1993, identifying all the funds belonging to Quality Plus that Maryland National either held at the time of the service of the writ or came into possession of after service of process.

On May 10, 1994, Parkville Federal moved for summary judgment. Maryland National filed an opposition to Parkville Federal’s motion and made its own motion for summary judgment. The single issue raised by the motions was the sufficiency of the writ for the judgment debtors who were not named on the face of the writ. On July 7, 1994, the circuit court held a hearing on the motions, and on August 10,1994, it granted Parkville Federal’s motion and denied Maryland National’s cross-motion. The circuit court entered a final judgment for Parkville Federal in the amount of $61,902.47, and an additional $4,543.36 in prejudgment interest. Maryland National filed a timely notice of appeal on August 10, 1994.

Discussion

Both Maryland National and Parkville Federal agree that the sole issue in this appeal is the legal sufficiency of the writ of garnishment as applied to the assets that Maryland National held for Quality Plus. The circuit court found that the writ was legally sufficient to attach the assets of all four of the judgment debtors. This determination of the writ’s sufficiency is a question of law that this Court subjects to a de novo standard of review.

Maryland National contends that the writ of garnishment was insufficient under the Maryland Rules to require attachment of property held by Maryland National that belongs to Quality Plus. Maryland Rule 2-645 establishes the procedure [615]*615for acquiring a writ of garnishment of property of a judgment debtor that is held by a third party. A judgment creditor may obtain a writ by filing “a request that contains (1) the caption of the action, (2) the amount owed under the judgment, (3) the name and last known address of the judgment debtor, and (4) the name and address of the garnishee.” Md.Rule 2-6450?). Upon receiving the request, the clerk of the court issues a writ with the information contained in the request. Md.Rule 2-645(c). The writ must direct the garnishee to hold the property of the judgment debtor until further proceedings concerning the property are completed and file an answer within a specified time or face a judgment by default. Md.Rule 2-645(c). The responsibility of the garnishee is merely to hold the property that it is directed to by the writ. Md.Rule 2-645(c).

This Court has explained that the burden of obtaining a writ that properly identifies the judgment debtor rests on the judgment creditor. In Flat Iron Mac Associates v. Foley, 90 Md.App. 281, 295, 600 A.2d 1156 (1992), Chevy Chase Savings Bank, F.S.B. was served by a judgment creditor with a writ of garnishment on the property of Maurice P. Foley. Chevy Chase filed an answer to the writ, stating that it did not hold any property in the name of Maurice P. Foley. The judgment creditor supplied Chevy Chase with evidence that the funds in the account under the name of M. Carol Jawish actually belonged to Maurice P. Foley. Although Chevy Chase did hold property for M. Carol Jawish, it refused to turn over this property to the judgment creditor. Both the judgment creditor and Chevy Chase filed a motion for summary judgment. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of Chevy Chase and the judgment creditor appealed to this Court. Flat Iron Mac Associates, 90 Md.App. at 288, 600 A.2d 1156.

This Court- affirmed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Chevy Chase. Flat Iron Mac Associates, 90 Md.App. at 296, 600 A.2d 1156. This Court explained that the fact that Chevy Chase had been told informally that the funds in Jawish’s account actually belonged to Foley was not enough to [616]*616require the bank to turn over the funds. Flat Iron Mac Associates, 90 Md.App. at 295, 600 A.2d 1156. Instead, this Court explained, “Even if Chevy Chase had actual notice of Foley’s [the judgment debtor] use of Jawish’s account, Chevy Chase had no authority to take action without a court order or decree identifying Jawish’s account.” Flat Iron Mac Associates, 90 Md.App. at 295, 600 A.2d 1156. It is the duty of the judgment creditor who applies for the writ to identify accurately “the debtor and the debtor’s property, and to obtain a writ which correctly attached the property.” Flat Iron Mac Associates, 90 Md.App.

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Bluebook (online)
660 A.2d 1043, 105 Md. App. 611, 1995 Md. App. LEXIS 133, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/maryland-national-bank-v-parkville-federal-savings-bank-mdctspecapp-1995.