Schuman v. Greenbelt Homes, Inc.

69 A.3d 512, 212 Md. App. 451, 2013 WL 3233307, 2013 Md. App. LEXIS 83
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedJune 27, 2013
DocketNo. 2020
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 69 A.3d 512 (Schuman v. Greenbelt Homes, 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
Schuman v. Greenbelt Homes, Inc., 69 A.3d 512, 212 Md. App. 451, 2013 WL 3233307, 2013 Md. App. LEXIS 83 (Md. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

ZARNOCH, J.

A Mills Brothers hit from the 1980’s asks the musical question:

Where do they go,
The smoke rings I blow each night?
Oh, what do they do,
Those circles of blue and white?

This litigation stems in large part from a neighbor’s unhappiness with the ultimate location of such secondhand tobacco smoke.

Appellant David S. Schuman sued his cooperative housing association, Greenbelt Homes, Inc. (“GHI”), for breach of the implied covenant of quiet enjoyment and negligence. He also sued his neighbors, Darko and Svetlana Popovic, for breach of contract, nuisance, trespass, and negligence. Schuman’s claims arose from his neighbors’ smoking that caused secondhand cigarette smoke to enter his patio and home. After a bench trial, before the Honorable Albert W. Northrop, the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County ruled against Schuman. For the following reasons, we agree and affirm the decision of the circuit court.

[456]*456FACTS AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

Greenbelt Homes is a housing cooperative located on Ridge Road in Greenbelt. It is a nonstock, nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of Maryland. Cooperatives are a form of home ownership where the owners are members of the corporation and own a share of ownership in it. Md.Code (1975, 2007 Repl.Vol.), Corporations and Associations Article (“C & A”), § 5-6B-01(f) and (g). Each member has the right to use a particular dwelling unit. Id. At least in the case of Greenbelt Homes, the interest of each member is represented by a Mutual Ownership Contract. See Green v. Greenbelt Homes, Inc., 232 Md. 496, 498, 194 A.2d 273 (1963).

The units at GHI are townhouses that share common walls. Since 1995, Schuman has been a resident, member, and shareholder of GHI. His unit immediately adjoins the unit owned by the Popovics, who moved into the cooperative in 1996. Their townhouses are two stories with painted brick exteriors. The back of each townhouse has a door on one side, with a small patio next to it that is covered by an overhang. Next to the patio is a small garden.

Schuman complained to GHI of cigarette smoking by the Popovics the same year they moved in. Schuman was concerned that cigarette smoke was entering his home, mainly in the bathroom. GHI sealed the cracks between the two units to try to mitigate Schuman’s exposure to the smoke. Afterward, GHI hired an Industrial Hygienist to test the air in Schuman’s unit. At that time, no detectable level of nicotine was found. Schuman said that the problem was resolved, until 2008.

In 2008 spanning into 2009, Schuman renovated his kitchen, dining room, a second-floor laundry closet, and a half-bath. During the renovations, some drywall was removed on the wall shared with the Popovics’ unit. When Schuman started smelling cigarette smoke in his unit again, he sent several letters to both the Popovics and GHI. The Popovics purchased a new air filter but Schuman still smelled the smoke. Further [457]*457discussions between GHI, Schuman, and the Popovics did not solve the problem.

Since GHI’s management could not adequately address Schuman’s complaint, the management referred the case to the Member Complaints Panel. On September 28, 2009, Schuman presented his evidence to that body. Eventually, GHI’s president sent Schuman a letter explaining GHI’s position. The cooperative would seal any additional areas in Schuman’s unit, but it would not request that the Popovics stop smoking, because GHI is not a smoke-free community.

On March 10, 2010, Schuman filed a complaint in the circuit court against GHI for breach of the implied covenant of quiet enjoyment and negligence. He sued the Popovics for breach of contract, trespass, nuisance, negligence, and for preliminary and permanent injunctions. He also requested a declaratory judgment that smoking was a nuisance under GHI’s membership contract.

The same month, Mrs. Popovic became ill and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. This caused Mrs. Popovic to quit smoking and Mr. Popovic to stop smoking inside his unit. Mr. Popovic continued to smoke outside on the patio in the evening for twenty minutes to an hour and a half. In April 2012, Mrs. Popovic passed away of a cancerous brain tumor.

Addressing Schuman’s prayer for declaratory and injunctive relief, the circuit court denied the motion for declaratory relief. However, because Mr. Popovic consented to an injunction against smoking inside the unit, the court granted the preliminary injunction with respect to inside smoking. The court denied the request for a preliminary injunction to halt Mr. Popovic from smoking outside, because Schuman failed to show that he would suffer irreparable harm. The court explained that, based on this evidence, the only direct damage to Schuman was odor. Yet Schuman did not complain of the odor; he complained of health problems. To that end, Schuman did not produce any medical records of an unfavorable health condition or any evidence of a real injury. Schuman’s expert’s report, according to the court, dealt only with poten[458]*458tial injury because of the Popovics’ smoking inside their unit, and therefore, would not be relevant to any injury caused by smoking outside the unit. Schuman also did not show that the smoking diminished his property value.

Schuman appealed to this Court, which affirmed the trial court’s ruling on the preliminary injunction and held that the denial of the declaratory judgment was not yet appealable. See Schuman v. Greenbelt Homes, Inc., No. 1538, September Term, 2010 (Md.Ct.Spec.App. June 8, 2011). This Court concluded that Schuman could not attack the circuit court’s ruling to grant the preliminary injunction prohibiting the Popovics from smoking cigarettes inside their unit because he prevailed, albeit on the basis of consent. The Court also rejected all claims stemming from Mrs. Popovic’s smoking since the circuit court found that she no longer smoked. Thus, the only basis for Schuman’s claims was Mr. Popovic smoking on his patio.

In affirming the denial of the preliminary injunction, we determined that the evidence did not support a finding that smoking was a nuisance per se1 because the evidence of harm from secondhand smoke was only a potential risk of disease. Additionally, we concluded that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in finding a lack of irreparable injury. Schuman offered no medical testimony that he had suffered any injury. Schuman’s neighbor had testified that shutting the window and running a small fan stopped the smell of smoke. Thus, this Court determined that Schuman was not being harmed when shutting his window and turning on a fan stopped the smell. Additionally, Schuman’s expert had opined that the presence of nicotine in Schuman’s unit could only be remedied by eliminating smoking inside the Popovics’ unit. In light of this evidence, we said that the circuit court logically could have reasoned that Schuman’s problem was resolved when the [459]*459Popovics stopped smoking inside their unit. Finally, this Court said that if Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
69 A.3d 512, 212 Md. App. 451, 2013 WL 3233307, 2013 Md. App. LEXIS 83, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schuman-v-greenbelt-homes-inc-mdctspecapp-2013.