On July 20th and 22nd, HSIA held community meetings to inform Hillsmere property owners about the beach strip lawsuit and answer their questions. Approximately 350 people attended the first meeting and about 150 attended the second. HSIA President, Bill Shuman, and HSIA attorney, Mike Ragland, explained the current situation with the lawsuit and answered resident’s questions. While the term “residents” in used in this article, only property owners are defendants in this lawsuit.

As each person came in they were directed to tables at the rear of the Key School gymnasium where they were given packets of information. A copy of the packet has been mailed to those residents who could not attend one of the meetings. Five hundred and ninety seven packets were handed out saving HSIA over $400 in postage.

The primary question on resident’s minds was “What should I do?”. Because HSIA cannot legally represent individual residents who were sued we can only explain your options. We cannot give you legal advice. However, we are trying to provide legal forms that you can use for your own defense, if you choose to.

Lawsuit Background

This lawsuit is an attempt by three East Bay View residents to seize community property between their homes and the water by adverse possession (Who are the plaintiffs?). In December 2005, the Court of Special Appeals ordered that since all property owners in Hillsmere have an interest in the beach strip property (HSIA contends that interest is actual ownership), the plaintiffs have to include everyone in their suit if they wanted to go forward. The plaintiffs, Gregory & Susan Singleton (117 East Bay View), Edward & Leah Hertz (129 East Bay View), and Parviz Sahandy(133 East Bay View) filed suit against 1,976 Hillsmere property owners. Last month residents began receiving notice via certified mail that they were defendants. Many people refused to sign for the certified package.  Click here for a copy of the complete package.

Have You Been Served?

The first question we tried to answer was “Have I been served?”. There was a great deal of confusion about the notices residents have received. When the plaintiffs amended their original lawsuit to include all Hillsmere property owners they sent a copy to our attorney, Mike Ragland. Mike immediately filed a Preliminary Objection. When this happened, the court set a date for a hearing on the objection for October 2, 2006. The court then sent a letter to each defendant notifying them of the hearing. Most residents received that letter before the certified package and thought that was their “service”. You are not officially served until you sign for the certified package. You are also considered “served” if you sign any document related to the case and submit it to the court. Many people refused to sign for the certified package. While our legal opinion is that you are not served until you sign, it is unclear what the court will require. However, if a slip was left in your mail box and you do not pick it up then the plaintiffs will have to find some other way to serve you such as a process server. While there is no benefit to HSIA to delay this case, it does cost the plaintiffs additional money to resend the certified package or hire a process server. The certified package cost $10 to send for a total of nearly $20,000.

Packet Handed Out At Meetings

The packet handed out at the meeting (and mailed to those who did not attend) contained several legal documents. The reason that it has been sent to each resident is that any pleading (document) filed with the court must be sent to each party. The packet contained the following:

Motion for Continuance
On October 2, 2006 our attorney, Mike Ragland, will be out of the country on a prearranged trip. The Motion for Continuance asks the court to reschedule the hearing for October 16, 2006. This date has already been agreed to by both sides so it is likely the court will reschedule the hearing. If they do then you will likely receive another letter informing you of the change. This is only a hearing on the motions, not a trial. You do NOT have to attend.

Withdrawal of Stipulation
In the first trial, HSIA stipulated to certain facts. Since then, additional information has come to light. Residents have come forward who walked the disputed property during the 20 years from 1983 to 2003 and HSIA records have been found that were previously thought to have been lost. Because of this, we are withdrawing our previous stipulation.

Motion To Strike
This is a motion that says the plaintiffs have NOT served all the property owners in Hillsmere. We contend that all mortgage holders are property owners under Maryland law and therefore should be served as well. We are asking the court to order the plaintiffs to include those parties (banks and mortgage companies) in the lawsuit. We are also asking the court to give the plaintiffs no more than 30 days to comply (as the court procedures require). This is the motion that the October hearing was scheduled for although it is likely that additional motions will be heard as well.

Motion to Dismiss
We have been asking if anyone knows of a tax sale in Hillsmere during the 20 years from 1983 to 2003. The reason was that when a tax sale occurs a new title is issued by the state and any pending claim of adverse possession must start it’s 20 year possession period again. We are arguing that because the right to use the beach strip is part of each property deed in Hillsmere, no claim of adverse possession can take away that right without starting the 20 year period over again. We have found a tax sale that occurred in 1996, during the 20 year period that the plaintiffs are claiming they adversely possessed the beach strip. If the court agrees with us then that would invalidate their claim. By coincidence, the property we found was purchased at tax sale by one of the plaintiffs, Parviz Sahandy! The Motion to Dismiss seeks to have the case dismissed in our favor based on the tax sale.

Response – Joining Motion Raising Preliminary Objections
This document is explained in detail on the “What Should I Do?” page. Basically, you have 30 days to file an answer with the court in the lawsuit or you lose by default. By filing this document you join HSIA in raising preliminary objections and assert your right to not have to answer the suit until the objections are ruled upon, probably sometime in November.

Rest of The Meeting

We also discussed signing a “Waiver of Service”. Every time we file any pleading with the court we have to send all parties a copy. We spent $2,400 in printing alone for the packet handed out, not including the postage to mail it to people who weren’t there. The “Waiver of Service” says that you do not need to be mailed any pleadings made by HSIA or any other defendants. That allows us to avoid the costs associated with people who sign the waiver. It also says that any pleadings made by the plaintiffs still must be mailed to you. Clipboards were passed out so people could sign. This is explained in more detail on the “What Should I Do?” page.

The rest of the meetings were devoted to answering questions from the residents. We continued until all questions were answered. Click here to view  the questions asked and the answers given.

We want to thank all the volunteers who helped with the meetings. People helped set up and put away 300 chairs at each meeting. They helped hand out packets, direct residents to the meeting, and anything else that was needed. We also want to thank the Key School for their cooperation.

The meetings were a great success. The overwhelming majority of those present supported HSIA’s defense of community property. They were orderly and, for the most part, civil. It is unfortunate that we have to spend so much time and energy defending our property. We want to thank everyone who attended the meeting, no matter how you feel about the issues.