Millrace Condo. v. Shapiro Sher etc., PA

Summary

The Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed dismissal of a malicious use of process class action brought by two homeowners associations and their board members who had defeated a developer's SLAPP under CJP § 5-807. The Court held that litigation expenses, temporary diminution in property value, emotional distress, and an alleged—but unactualized—chilling of constitutional rights do not differ in kind from the burdens of defending any civil action and therefore are not the 'special injury' the tort requires. It further declined to adopt a per se rule that SLAPP victims inherently suffer special injury, reasoning that the anti-SLAPP statute supplies only procedural remedies and the General Assembly has repeatedly rejected proposals to expand them. No separate opinions were filed.