Reiner v. Ehrlich

66 A.3d 1132, 212 Md. App. 142, 2013 WL 2338476, 2013 Md. App. LEXIS 61
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedMay 29, 2013
DocketNo. 33
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 66 A.3d 1132 (Reiner v. Ehrlich) 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
Reiner v. Ehrlich, 66 A.3d 1132, 212 Md. App. 142, 2013 WL 2338476, 2013 Md. App. LEXIS 61 (Md. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

BERGER, J.

This case arises out of a homeowners association’s denial of a request to install a new roof on a home using materials not authorized by the bylaws of the association. Upon denial of the request, the homeowners, appellants Randall and Orna Reiner (“the Reiners”), filed a complaint in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County against the appellees, the homeowners association and sixteen individual homeowners in the community. The appellees filed motions to dismiss the Reiners’ complaint, or, alternatively, moved for summary judgment. After holding a hearing, the circuit court dismissed the complaint as to the individual homeowners, and entered summary judgment in favor of the homeowners association. Thereafter, the Reiners filed a motion to alter or amend the judgment, which was denied without a hearing. This appeal followed.

The Reiners present one question for review, which we have rephrased as follows:1

1. Whether the circuit court erred by entering summary judgment in favor of the homeowners association.
2. Whether the circuit court erred by granting the individual homeowners’ motion to dismiss the complaint.
3. Whether the circuit court abused its discretion by denying the Kernel's’ motion to alter or amend the judgment.

For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the judgment of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County.

[146]*146FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Reiners own a house located in a community known as “Avenel.” The Avenel community is comprised of over 900 homes in thirteen villages. The Reiners’ home is located in the village of Player’s Gate, where the Reiners have lived for 18 years.

The Avenel community is governed by a homeowners association (“the Association”). The appellee homeowners association contends that it is a Maryland corporation called “Avenel Community Association, Inc.” The Reiners acknowledge the existence of Avenel Community Association, Inc., but contend that another association supercedes that corporate entity. The Reiners refer to this as the “Avenel Community Association,” which, in their view, is a “trust relationship between the homeowners and the fiduciaries acting for the homeowners under the Avenel-Declaration.”

The original roof of the Reiners’ home was made of cedar shake material. In 2010, the Reiners submitted a request to the Association for approval to install an asphalt roof. The Association denied the Reiners’ request on the basis that asphalt roofs were not permitted in the village of Player’s Gate. The Reiners filed a complaint with Montgomery County’s Commission on Ownership Communities (“CCOC”). While that case was pending, the Reiners notified the Association—in writing—that they had signed a contract to install a new roof using asphalt shingles. The Association served the Reiners with a “cease and desist” notice, warning against the replacement of the Reiners’ roof with asphalt shingles, or any other product not permitted by the bylaws of the Association.

The Reiners withdrew their CCOC complaint on October 5, 2011. On October 7, 2011, the Reiners filed a complaint for declaratory judgment in the circuit court for Montgomery County. The complaint named as defendants Clifford Ehrlich, Maureen Scott, David Urban, Scott Becker, Mary L. Thrasher, James Coley, Michelle Litvak, Ron Paulsen, Jonathan Brooke Halle, Kamal Tabbara, Joanne Joseph, Sandra Becker, Miriam Conley, Marilyn Danker, Frances Baker, and Barbara [147]*147Bloomfield (“the individual homeowners”). The complaint alleged that each of the individual homeowners was “a homeowner in the community designated as ‘Avenel.’ ” The Reiners made no other allegations regarding the individual homeowners or their roles in the homeowners association.

The complaint also named as a defendant “Avenel Community Association ... a homeowners association formed under Title 11 B of the Maryland Real Property Code.” The Reiners sought a declaratory judgment “with respect to use of roofing materials in the homes at Avenel,” as well as declaratory relief regarding “any rules and standards” imposed and applied “throughout the Avenel community.”

Two weeks later, the Reiners filed a motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to restrain the Association from interfering with the installation of an asphalt roof. On October 25, 2011, a hearing was held. The court issued a written opinion and order denying the Reiners’ request on the basis that the requisite factors for issuance of a preliminary injunction had not been satisfied.

Subsequently, the individual homeowners filed a motion to dismiss the Reiners’ complaint for declaratory judgment, as well as a motion for sanctions. The homeowners contended that the Maryland Rules expressly prohibited the filing of a complaint against individual homeowners in a homeowners association. The Association also filed a motion to dismiss the Reiners’ complaint, or alternatively, a motion for summary judgment. The Association contended that there is no entity known as “Avenel Community Association,” and that the proper entity is “Avenel Community Association, Inc.” Additionally, the Association maintained that its denial of the Reiners’ request to install an asphalt roof was immune from judicial review pursuant to the business judgment rule.

The circuit court held a hearing on the motions on January 3, 2012. The trial judge dismissed the complaint as to the individual homeowners on the basis that they were not proper parties under the Maryland Rules. Additionally, the trial court granted the motion for sanctions.

[148]*148The trial court also considered the Association’s motion, which it treated as a motion for summary judgment. At the hearing, the Reiners presented an affidavit from the general manager of the Association. The affidavit provided that the “entity that governs the affairs of the community known as ‘Avenel’ is the ‘Avenel’ Community Association, Inc.,” which is “governed by and pursuant to Maryland law and its Articles of Incorporation; its recorded Protective Land Use Standards, Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (as well as amendments and supplements thereto); Bylaws; and Architectural Guidelines and Architectural Review Process (and amendments and supplements thereto).”

The Reiners also submitted certain exhibits that were attached to the Association’s motion and affidavit. These exhibits included the Association’s: (1) Articles of Incorporation filed with the State of Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation; (2) Bylaws; (3) Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions; and (4) Declaration of Protective Land Use Standards.

Article XI of the Association’s Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (hereinafter, the “Avenel-Declaration”) provides in part:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
66 A.3d 1132, 212 Md. App. 142, 2013 WL 2338476, 2013 Md. App. LEXIS 61, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reiner-v-ehrlich-mdctspecapp-2013.