Opinion
No. 1621
05-04-2017
MAHESH KANTILAL YAGNIK v. HOWARD BIERMAN, et al., Substitute Trustees
UNREPORTED
Krauser, C.J., Nazarian, Moylan, Charles E., Jr. (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ. PER CURIAM *This is an unreported opinion, and it may not be cited in any paper, brief, motion, or other document filed in this Court or any other Maryland Court as either precedent within the rule of stare decisis or as persuasive authority. Md. Rule 1-104.
After Manesh Yagnik, appellant, defaulted on his home loan, the Substitute Trustees, appellees, filed a foreclosure action in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County. Yagnik's home was subsequently sold at a foreclosure auction and the circuit court ratified the sale. Although Yagnik presents seven issues on appeal, they are reducible to one: whether the circuit court erred in ratifying the foreclosure sale. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
Appellees are Carrie M. Ward, Jacob Geesing, Howard N. Bierman, Pratima Lele, Tayyaba C. Monto, and Joshua Coleman. --------
Yagnik's brief is confusing and difficult to follow, but he essentially asserts: (1) that he has changed his "status" from a "registered Maryland resident/U.S Citizen" to a "pre 1933 private naturalized American;" (2) that as a result of this change in status, his property became subject to a "private sacred trust arrangement" that was "gifted by the creator;" (3) that he is the beneficiary of that "private sacred trust;" (4) that he notified appellees of his change in status and that they "accepted [his] status by acquiescence;" (5) that the private sacred trust arrangement "annihilate[ed] [the] previously recorded legal title;" (6) that as a result of the private sacred trust arrangement, any action brought in the circuit court had to "be abated;" and (7) that the circuit court violated the trust arrangement by allowing appellees to sell the property.
Although Yagnik contends otherwise, his claims are based on legal theories advanced by the proponents of the "sovereign citizen" and "redemptionist" movements, in which individuals seek to "dodge [their] legal and financial responsibilities by claiming [to be] a 'general executor,' denying [their] citizenship, or through other filings or declarations to these effects." Anderson v. O'Sullivan, 224 Md. App. 501, 512-13 (2015). However, in Anderson, we noted that such theories "have not, will not, and cannot be accepted as valid." Id. Because none of the claims raised in Yagnik's brief have any viable basis in law, he has failed to demonstrate that he had a valid defense to the foreclosure proceeding or that there were any procedural irregularities in the foreclosure sale. Consequently, the circuit court did not err in ratifying the foreclosure sale.
JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY AFFIRMED. COSTS TO BE PAID BYAPPELLANT.