Opinion
No. 27, Sept. Term, 2019
02-28-2020
Bettye Jean MCFARLAND v. BALTIMORE COMMUNITY LENDING, INC.
Argued by David Ludwig (Thomas Dunlap, Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig, PLLC, Vienna, VA), on brief, for Petitioner. Argued by Scott B. Wheat (Law Offices of Hunter C. Piel, LLC, Towson, MD), on brief, for Respondent.
Argued by David Ludwig (Thomas Dunlap, Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig, PLLC, Vienna, VA), on brief, for Petitioner.
Argued by Scott B. Wheat (Law Offices of Hunter C. Piel, LLC, Towson, MD), on brief, for Respondent.
Argued before: Barbera, C.J., McDonald, Watts, Hotten, Booth, Glenn T. Harrell, Jr. (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned) Clayton Greene, Jr., (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned) JJ.
PER CURIAM ORDER The petition for writ of certiorari in the above-entitled case having been granted and argued, it is this 28th day of February, 2020, ORDERED, by the Court of Appeals of Maryland, that the writ of certiorari be, and it is hereby, dismissed with costs, the petition having been improvidently granted.
McDonald, J., concurs.
Concurring Opinion by McDonald, J.
I agree with the Court's decision to dismiss the petition in this case as improvidently granted. See Sturdivant v. Md. Dep't of Health & Mental Hygiene , 436 Md. 584, 589, 84 A.3d 83 (2014). I write simply to point out that neither this Court nor the Court of Special Appeals has yet to determine, in the context of a joint bank account, whether to adopt a "full ownership" or "equal shares" presumption concerning ownership of the funds in such an account. See Morgan Stanley & Co. v. Andrews , 225 Md. App. 181, 192 n.9, 123 A.3d 640 (2015) ("[W]e need not determine precisely which type of presumption of ownership is appropriate under Maryland law."). Perhaps a different case will present an opportunity for this Court to provide clarity on this important question.