Fowler v. Fitzgerald

WILNER, Judge.

The principal dispute in this case involves an issue that has plagued the Court of Appeals and its Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure for more than a decade: what, if any, limits there should be on fees paid to an auctioneer who, on behalf of a trustee or sheriff, conducts a forced sale of real property.

The underlying facts here are not in dispute. In 1987, three judgments were entered against Claude and Delores Goldsmith in the Circuit Court for St. Mary’s County. One, in the amount of $51,980, was in favor of John Fowler and Fred Pumphrey; the second, in the…