Last month I received a letter from a law firm in Maryland. It appears that the were pursuing action against a former owner of my current property in a lead poisoning case. They files a Motion for Equity Discovery to find evidence in my property.
The letter gave me 7 days to grant their request or they would seek a court order against me. Maybe it's just me, but if you are seeking someone's aid...you don't threaten them with court action. I was incensed by their letter so I drafted my standard 4 documents.
I looked at the time deadline they gave me. The letter was dated 9/23. They mailed it 9/25 regular 1st class mail. And I received it on Sept 28th. I had only 2 days to reply. It appeared that they did not want to give me time to reply.
I immediately looked at the Maryland Rules Book for time deadlines. It basically states that time deadlines must be met. But there is an exception: Deadlines of 7 days or less require an additional 3 days for mail delivery.
The Law Firm ignored this rule and filed for a Summary Judgment against me on the 7th day. In my documents to the court I cited the rule and appropriate case law.
My other standard document was a Conditional Acceptance of their offer to contract...on my terms. Which was reasonable compensation.
On the day of the hearing the attorney thought she had a slam-dunk case against this lowly Pro Per opponent.
During my turn, I cited my case law and the Conditional Acceptance which I filed into the court records. The judge then asked the attorney if there is any rule or case law that prevents the property owner from receiving reasonable compensation...there was no answer.
The judge then ruled in my favor. And Dismiss the case as Moot...because of the existing counter-offer. And outside of the court order, instructed the attorney to pay me for reasonable compensation. I got $40 buck for the 1/2hr inspection.
If you want to view the court record here is the case# 24-C-14-004375. The website is:casesearch.courts.state.md.us
