Landsman v. Maryland Home Improvement Commission

We are asked to decide in this case whether the General Assembly’s 2000 amendment to the Home Improvement Guaranty Fund, increasing by a third the maximum amount a homeowner can recover for actual loss due to the unsatisfactory work of a contractor, applies retroactively to contracts entered into before the effective date of that amendment. For the reasons that follow, we hold that it does.

BACKGROUND

The underlying facts are not in dispute. Appellant, Sheldon I. Landsman, entered into a contract for a home improvement project with David Somerville, t/a Somerville Construction, on January…