Maryland Code, PUBLIC SAFETY 14-213
Terms Used In Maryland Code, PUBLIC SAFETY 14-213
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Person: includes an individual, receiver, trustee, guardian, personal representative, fiduciary, representative of any kind, corporation, partnership, business trust, statutory trust, limited liability company, firm, association, or other nongovernmental entity. See
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
(i) the person or the person’s assignee received under the contract a deposit or installment of the purchase price of the property from another person or the assignee of that person who, after making the deposit or installment, became a person in emergency management service or person suffering injury or damage; and
(ii) the attempt to exercise the right or option under the contract occurred while the person who made the deposit or installment was a person in emergency management service or person suffering injury or damage.
(2) Paragraph (1) of this subsection does not apply if a court allows the person or the person’s assignee to exercise the right or option under the contract.
(3) This subsection does not prevent the parties to a contract or their assignees from mutually agreeing in an executed writing, after the making of the contract and during or after the period that a party to the contract is a person in emergency management service, to:
(i) modify, terminate, or cancel the contract; or
(ii) repossess or retain the property purchased or received by that party under the contract.
(b) (1) After a hearing on the action:
(i) the court may order the repayment of all or part of any prior installment or deposit as a condition of terminating the contract and resuming possession of the property;
(ii) 1. on its own initiative the court may stay the action; and
2. except as provided in § 14-215 of this subtitle, on motion by a person in emergency management service, person suffering injury or damage, or another person acting on behalf of that person, the court shall stay the action; or
(iii) the court may otherwise dispose of the case as it considers equitable to preserve the interests of the parties.
(2) The court need not stay the action if the court finds that the ability of the defendant to comply with the terms of the contract was not materially affected because the defendant was a person in emergency management service or person suffering injury or damage.