Grant v. Allied Developers, Inc.

Gilbert, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. We are here presented with a question of the power of the ⁵⁶¹ equity court to appoint a receiver, upon the application of a dissident shareholder, for an ostensibly solvent corporation. Donald A. Grant, the appellant and a stockholder 1 in Allied Developers, Inc. (Allied), is of the mind that Jesse Bloodsworth and Carl A. Phillipps, 2 the appellees, along with Allied, have endeavored to defraud him. Grant sought relief in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, sitting as a court of equity.

He requested that a receiver be appointed for Allied and an accounting be undertaken. That tribunal treated a motion to dismiss, made by the appellees, as a motion for summary judgment. It denied Grant’s prayer that a receiver pendente lite be appointed, but, inasmuch as the appellees conceded that the accounting was appropriate, the chancellor ordered an auditor to review the corporate records. Pursuant to Md. Rule 605 a the trial court determined that there was no just reason for delaying the entry of final judgment on his denial of the receivership.

Judgment was entered, and the appellant noted this appeal. Grant raises three questions for our consideration, scilicet “I. Should the Circuit Court have granted defendants’ motion for Summary Judgment and denied appellant the appointment of a receiver, in light of circumstances indicating illegality, fraud, oppression, mismanagement, misapplication of assets, and the existence of a deadlock?

II

Does the Circuit Court have the jurisdiction and authority to appoint a receiver of a Maryland corporation owning real property in North Carolina?

III

Was the granting of a Summary Judgment in this case proper where genuine disputes about material facts existed and defendants were not entitled to judgment as a matter of law?” ⁵⁶² The posture of the matter requires that we discuss only the second issue. Our recitation of the factual predicate will, thus, be limited. — THE FACTS — On November 18,1971, Grant, Bloodsworth, and Phillipps organized Allied for the purpose of dealing in real estate. At that time each individual contributed $500 in capital and received 500 shares of stock. Phillipps, who was to oversee the day-to-day operations of the venture, became the president, and Grant and Bloodsworth held the other corporate offices.

Each stockholder sat as a director on a three-man board. Allied almost immediately borrowed additional funds from Phillipps’ wife and from one Helen Brown, a client of Phillipps. Those funds, along with others, were used to purchase the assets of the corporation, which consist of two motels and two checking accounts, all located in the State of North Carolina. Apparently disenchanted as the result of what he perceived to be a number of improprieties, Grant filed a bill of complaint against the appellees on August 15, 1978. 3 The bill sought four specific and one general form of relief, namely: (1) an injunction to restrain the corporation from holding an annual meeting on August 17, 1978; (2) the appointment of the receiver; (3) an accounting; (4) costs and attorney’s fees; and (5) general relief.

Five weeks later Grant filed an amended bill containing essentially the same allegations and requesting the identical relief. The appellees, on January 9, 1979, moved to dismiss the bill. As we have already stated, the circuit court treated the motion to dismiss as a motion for summary judgment. 4 By order dated April 4,1979; the motion for summary judgment in favor of Allied was granted as to the appointment of a receiver. ⁵⁶³ — THE LAW — We said, in Di Grazia v. County Executive, 43 Md. App. 580 , 406 A.2d 660, 662-63 (1979), that: “The standards for ruling upon a motion for summary judgment have been the subject of numerous opinions of both this Court and the Court of Appeals. Md. Rule 610 a 1 provides that a ‘party ... may at any time make a motion for summary judgment... on the ground that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.’ The trial judge is to render judgment only if ‘the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.’ Md. Rule 610 d 1.

Summary judgment is not a substitute for a trial but only a procedure to determine whether a trial is necessary. Kirsner v. Fleischman, 261 Md. 164, 169 , 274 A.2d 339, 342 (1971); Mazur v. Scavone, 37 Md. App. 695, 698-99 , 378 A.2d 1355, 1357 (1977). When ruling on such a motion, the trial judge does not decide disputed facts but, rather, decides whether any real dispute exists as to material facts. Washington Homes, Inc. v. Interstate Land Development Co., Inc., 281 Md. 712, 716 , 382 A.2d 555, 557 (1978); Lipscomb v. Hess, 255 Md. 109, 118 , 257 A.2d 178, 183 (1969); Vanhook v. Merchants Mutual Insurance Co., 22 Md. App. 22, 25 , 321 A.2d 540, 542 (1974).

All duly shown facts which would be admissible at trial, and all reasonable inferences deducible therefrom, must be considered in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion and against the party making the motion. Washington Homes v. Interstate Land Development Co., Inc., 281 Md. at 718 , 382 A.2d at 557-58 ; Rooney v. Statewide Plumbing, 265 Md. 559, 563-64 , 290 A.2d 496 , 499 ⁵⁶⁴ (1972); Mazur v. Scavone, 37 Md. App. at 704 , 378 A.2d at 1359 . The function of the trial judge in deciding motions for summary judgment is much the same as that he performs at the close of all the evidence, in a jury trial when passing upon motions for directed verdict or requests for peremptory instructions. Porter v. General Boiler Casing Co., 284 Md. 402, 413 , 396 A.2d 1090, 1096 (1979); Washington Homes v. Interstate Land Development Co., Inc., 281 Md. at 711 , 382 A.2d at 557 .” It is elementary, under Di Grazia and the cases cited therein, that we may affirm the ruling of the circuit court only if the appointment of a receiver was precluded as a matter of law.

The circuit court concluded that the material facts of the alleged improprieties were in dispute, and that he “would not on that element conclude that a summary judgment should be granted----” The court opined: “[T]he authority given to me with respect to the appointment of receivers and where the property is extraterritorial is equally persuasive that were I to find grounds for the appointment of a receiver in this case — there seems to be no dispute of the facts — that leaves the conclusion inescapable that the receiver would have no power to act, that the act of appointing a receiver for this corporation by this Court would be a nullity. There is nothing for him or her to administer and take control of, and it seems equally clear