James Clark McReynolds

“ When the mortgage was executed, section 720, c. 123, Acts Md. 1898, was in force. It provided:
'In all cases of conveyances of lands or hereditaments or of chattels real, or goods and chattels personal, situate in the said City, wherein the mortgagor shall declare his assent to the passing of a decree for the sale of the same, it shall be lawful for the mortgagee or his assigns at any time after filing the same to be recorded, to submit to either of the Circuit Courts of Baltimore City the said conveyances or copies thereof, under seal of the Superior Court ”

“ And we find nothing which requires us to accept any other meaning.
It follows that the challenged act cannot properly be said to impair the obligation of the agreement between the parties within the meaning of the Federal Constitution. ”

“ Owings (1898) 86 Md. 663, 39 A. 100, construed the provisions of section 720, and ruled that one who owned part of a mortgage upon property in Baltimore, by proceeding under provisions of that section, might obtain the decree there provided for. ”