 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Landsman v. Maryland Home Improvement Commission12/22/2003
dment will be applied retroactively. The Commission adheres to the position it took below, arguing that the 2000 amendment is neither procedural nor remedial in nature, and that it affects the substantive rights of home improvement contractors in this State. Landsman of course takes a contrary position. He does not argue that the amendment is procedural, but does argue that it is purely remedial.
The question whether the 2000 amendment to § 8-405(a)(1) is purely remedial is one that has not been resolved by either this Court or the Court of Appeals. Our decision in Brzowski, however, sheds some light on the issue because we had occasion in that case to construe portions of Subtitle 4 of the Home Improvement Law. In the course of doing so, we examined the legislative history of the subtitle.
Brzowski involved a contractor's challenge to the Commission's compensation of a claimant through the Fund pursuant to an arbitration award that did not comply with § 8-409(a)(2). That section requires that an arbitration award contain a statement by the arbitrator that he "expressly found on the merits that the claimant is entitled to recover under § 8-405(a) of this subtitle." Brzowski, 114 Md. App. at 621-22.
After a thorough examination of the history of the Home Improvement Law, we concluded in Brzowski that the law was enacted for the protection of the public, and that the Fund provides "an additional remedy for homeowners who suffered actual loss" due to the actions or omissions of a contractor. Id. at 627. We conclude, here, that the 2000 amendment increasing the maximum award that can be awarded from the Fund is likewise remedial in the sense that it improves a remedy "already existing for the enforcement of rights and the redress of injuries." Langston, 359 Md. at 408.
Our determination that the amendment is remedial in this sense does not end the inquiry, however, because we must also determine whether retrospective application of the amendment would "interfere with vested or substantive rights." Id. at 408, 418. As we consider this aspect of the issue, we bear in mind that "` tatutes which do not destroy a substantial right, but simply affect procedure or remedies, are not considered as destroying or impairing vested rights, for there is no vested right in any particular mode of procedure for the enforcement or defense of the right.'" Rawlings, 362 Md. at 561 (quoting Winston v. Winston, 290 Md. 641, 650 (1981)); accord Dua v. Comcast Cable of Maryland, Inc., 370 Md. 604, 625-26 (2002).
In this case, the Commission interpreted the 2000 amendment to § 8-405(e)(1) to apply only to actions arising out of contracts entered into on or after October 1, 2000, because of the increased "penalty" to the contractor. In affirming that decision, the circuit court found that the 2000 amendment of § 8-405(e)(1) "clearly creates new rights, new duties and new obligations thus effecting the substantive rights" of both Landsman and the contractor. We of course do not review the decision of the circuit court; instead, we review that of the Commission. Mehrling v. Nationwide Ins. Co., 371 Md. 40, 57 (2002). Regardless, we do not agree with the court that the 2000 amendment created new rights, duties, or obligations of either Landsman or Somerville.
Indeed, insofar as Landsman is concerned, the Commission does not even discuss the extent to which, if at all, the amendment created a new substantive right of Landsman and comparably situated homeowners. In any case, Landsman did not have a vested, legally enforceable right to compensation from the Fund until July 24, 2001, the date on which the Commission determined that he was entitled to compensation. We so conclud
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Maryland Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|