Pino v. Clay

Marbury, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This controversy began when the appellee, Arbell M. Clay, as natural mother and next friend of the two infant appellees, Joan Jeannette Ciuffreda and John B. Ciuffreda, and appellee, Mary Anna Graham, filed a bill of complaint for the sale in lieu of partition of real property. The said two infants, together with Mary Anna Graham and the defendant below, Michael J. Rybikowsky (why his name is Rybikowsky and not Ciuffreda is undisclosed by the record) are the four surviving children, heirs at law and next of kin of Alfred Michael Ciuffreda, who died intestate on September 8, 1960, while seized of the real estate here involved. The defendants below were Michael J. Rybikowsky, Theresa A. Nolan, the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank, and the appellants Joseph B. Pino and his wife, Mary T. Pino.

Theresa A. Nolan was the assignee of Rybikowsky’s one-fourth interest in his father’s estate under an assignment dated August 16, 1962. She in turn had assigned the one-fourth interest to appellants Pino under an assignment dated September 21, 1964. The validity of these assignments was established by the lower court, and is not questioned on this appeal. The Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank was the holder of a note secured by a deed of trust on the subject property.

On October 27, 1960, the administrator of Alfred Ciuffreda’s estate erroneously contracted with the appellants to sell the property to them for a total purchase price of $15,000.00, including the balance owing on the trust note. In connection with this purported agreement the Pinos paid to a real estate broker the amount of $500.00 as a deposit and an additional $4,315.43 to the administrator. Pursuant to the agreement the appellants have occupied the subject property, making improvements, paying taxes and insurance, and making payments on the note secured by the deed of trust on the premises. As earlier pointed out, they subsequently acquired a one-fourth interest of one of the decedent’s heirs. ⁴⁵⁶ The real property was sold on May 31, 1967, at public sale to Joseph B. Pino, one of the appellants, for the sum of $11,-600.00, subject to a balance of $3,554.21 due the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank on its trust note.

By order of the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County dated November 18, 1966, the appellants and any other party were allowed to file claims for any allowances they felt they had “with respect to any part of the net proceeds resulting from said sale . . . .” After such claims had been made by the appellants and the appellees had filed their opposition, the court referred the matter to the court auditor. The auditor filed reports granting certain of the claimed allowances and denying others. In addition to other claims allowed the Pinos, he allowed the aggregate amount of the monthly payments made by the Pinos on the trust note toward principal and interest. However, he disallowed their claim in the amount of $3,823.98, representing the curtailments they had made against the principal balance of said trust note.

In their brief, appellants stated that these curtailments were made by them on January 5, 1962, in the amount of $911.99, and on February 2, 1962, in the amount of $2,911.99, totaling $3,823.98. Thus the auditor allowed the aggregate of the individual monthly