Octogenarian gets $1M verdict against his daughter

An 86-year-old man has been awarded more than $1 million in his lawsuit against his daughter, stemming from a dispute over the Dundalk property where he used to live.

Conrad C. Snedegar alleged his daughter, Janice L. Hundt, attempted to sell the house and adjacent parcels below their agreed-upon asking price and demolished the house over his objections.

The jury award, following a two-day trial in Baltimore County Circuit Court, includes $660,000 in non-economic damages, which would not be capped under Maryland law.

“I think the jury did a great job following the judge’s instructions,” said Marc E. Mandel, one of Snedegar’s lawyers.

Howard J. Schulman, a lawyer for Hundt, has filed motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and a new trial.

“These types of damages are completely off-kilter,” Schulman said, adding that he believed there was no actual malice in the case.

Snedegar and Hundt jointly owned three parcels of land on Battle Grove Road in Dundalk, one of which was waterfront property, according to court documents. Hundt became involved in her father’s affairs as Snedegar got older, Mandel said.

Father and daughter settled a 2004 lawsuit over the property in 2006, agreeing to sell the property and split the net proceeds, according to court documents. The agreement called for the property to be listed at $1 million and for the price to drop no lower than $800,000 if it were not to sell.

In the current litigation, Snedegar alleged the property was not listed in a timely manner and that Hundt “unilaterally” reduced the listing price to $600,000 in 2009.

The property still had not sold at the time the lawsuit was filed in October 2011.

Hundt countered that the property drew two offers in 2007 — which were rejected — but none for several years after that, leading to the drop in sales price. The property’s Realtor advised Hundt to take the property off the market in March 2010 because of the poor housing market, according to the post-trial motions filed late last month.

As part of Snedegar and Hundt’s 2006 agreement to sell the property, Snedegar moved out of the house. Hundt testified during the trial, as an adverse witness called by Mandel, that she leased the home to two people. “I think the jury was infuriated by the conduct of the defendant in this case,” said Mandel, of the Law Office of Marc E. Mandel LLC in Towson.

Schulman, of Schulman & Kaufman LLC in Baltimore, said Hundt rented out the house to someone in exchange for the renter fixing up the house.

The house, according to defense motions, “had a poor layout, was never updated and needed substantial repair and renovations.” Hundt spent her own money to tear down the house, Schulman said, in an attempt to better market the property to commercial developers.

“Even if you accept there was a breach of contract, there’s no proof that the property didn’t sell because of what Mrs. Hundt did,” Schulman said.

The jury of five women and one man deliberated for two hours before reaching its verdict Sept. 17.

The property is still jointly owned by Snedegar and Hundt. Schulman, as part of his appeal, is seeking a judicial sale of the property.

CONRAD SNEDEGAR V. JANICE HUNDT

Court:

Baltimore County Circuit Court

Case No.:

03C11010496

Judge:

Jan Marshall Alexander

Outcome:

Plaintiff’s verdict for $1,016,000, including $660,000 in punitive damages

Dates:

Incident: June 2006 – May 2009

Suit filed: Oct. 21, 2011

Verdict: Sept. 17, 2013

Post-trial Motions filed: Sept. 26, 2013 (JNOV/new trial)

Plaintiffs’ Attorneys:

Marc E. Mandel and Maureen Thornton Beery of the Law Office of Marc E. Mandel in Towson

Defendant’s Attorney:

Howard J. Schulman and Marie J. Ignozzi of Schulman & Kaufman LLC in Baltimore

Counts:

Breach of contract, waste, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty