Opinion ID: 2299356
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Statute of Limitations for Declaratory Judgment Actions Generally

Text: The Court of Special Appeals also held that [e]ven if [petitioners'] conversion claims were properly brought as declaratory judgment claims, the statute of limitations nevertheless bars the action. Allied Inv. Corp., 123 Md.App. at 108, 716 A.2d at 1094. The court, citing Commercial Union Ins. Co. v. Porter Hayden Co., 116 Md.App. 605, 659, 698 A.2d 1167, 1192-93, cert. denied, 348 Md. 205, 703 A.2d 147 (1997), noted that when a claim for declaratory judgment is based upon the breach of an underlying obligation that triggers legal or equitable liability, the statute of limitations for the declaratory relief claim is the same as the statute of limitations for the legal or equitable remedy. Allied Inv. Corp, 123 Md.App. at 108-09, 716 A.2d at 1094-95. The Court of Special Appeals recognized in Commercial Union, 116 Md. App. at 657-58, 698 A.2d at 1192, however, that declaratory relief may be sought prior to a breach. See § 3-407 of the Courts & Judicial Proceedings Article. When a declaratory judgment is sought prior to a breach, the Commercial Union court reasoned, the statute of limitations does not apply at all. Id. at 659, 698 A.2d at 1193 (quoting Maguire v. Hibernia Sav. & Loan Soc'y, 23 Cal.2d 719, 146 P.2d 673, 681 (1944)). We neither accept nor disagree with the portion of Commercial Union discussing the statute of limitations as it pertains to a declaratory relief claim. Either way, the Court of Special Appeals was incorrect in this case when it held that because the underlying cause of action in the instant case, namely conversion, is barred by the statute of limitations, [petitioners'] claim for declaratory relief based thereon is also barred. Allied Inv. Corp., 123 Md.App. at 109, 716 A.2d at 1095. For all the reasons stated, supra, petitioners have not alleged in their pleading any act that could constitute a cause of action for conversion. Thus, the claims in counts one and two for declaratory relief are not barred by the statute of limitations applicable to conversion because they are not conversion claims or declaratory judgment claims based on underlying facts alleging a conversion.