Union Investors, Inc. v. Montgomery County

Oppenheimer, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The Montgomery County Council, pursuant to statutory authority, decided to dispose of some unimproved surplus land, and offered it for bids. The appellant, Union Investors, Inc., and the appellee, Eleanor C. Huneke, submitted bids, of which Mrs. Huneke’s bid of $6 a square foot was the higher. The Council then published notice it had accepted the Huneke bid and that any objections to the sale must be received by a certain date.

The appellant filed a written objection, based on the fact that it had authorized its agent to make a bid higher than the successful one, but that the agent, in violation of the appellant’s instructions, had made a bid less than $6, and that the appellant was willing to pay S7 a square foot. The Council, through its attorney, notified the appellant that its objection was not valid, and consummated the sale to Mrs. Huneke. The appellant then filed a bill in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County to declare the sale illegal, on the grounds that the statutory requirement for giving opportunity for objections to the sale impliedly gave the right to a hearing in support of the objections; that it was entitled to a hearing as a matter of due process of law; and that the price was not fair and reasonable. Judge Mathias dismissed the biff.

We agree with his decision. ⁵⁸⁸ The basic misconception in the appellant’s argument is that the proceedings under which the Council sold its land were adversary in nature. They were not. The Council, under authority of the Legislature, was disposing of surplus property. The appellant, which owned land contiguous to the lot to be disposed of, was a prospective purchaser, but it had no rights of any kind which the proceedings affected.

The Council, under legislative authority, was acting in a legislative (or quasi-sovereign) capacity in the sale of its property. The proceedings were not even remotely quasi-judicial in nature. The fundamental distinction between administrative proceedings which are quasi-legislative in nature and those which are quasi-judicial, or adversary, has often been considered by this Court. Chief Judge Prescott, for the Court, reviewed the basic distinction and the consequent difference in the legal principles applicable to the review of the administrative action in Hyson v. Montgomery County, 242 Md. 55, 63-67 , 217 A. 2d 578 (1966).

Where the action is quasi-judicial in nature, the fundamentals of due process apply, and a hearing, however informal, is a basic requirement of that process. Hyson, supra, and authorities therein cited, and Travelers Indemnity Co. v. Nationwide Constr. Corp., 244 Md. 401 , 224 A. 2d 285 (1966). But where, as in the case before us, the action is quasi-legislative in nature, the concepts applicable to an adversary proceeding have no relevance.

Hyson , at 242 Md. 65 , and cases therein cited. Code (1957), Article 25 A, Section 5 (B), authorizes Charter Counties, of which Montgomery County is one, to dispose of surplus real estate after advertisement stating the time of the proposed sale and “giving opportunity for objections thereto.” The appellant argues that the section impliedly requires that an objector be given the opportunity to present argument and evidence before the Council to substantiate his objection. This argument rests on the erroneous assumption that the proceeding is adversary in nature. This Court has held that when the