The mission of the Connecticut Judicial Branch is to serve the interests of justice and the public by resolving matters brought before it in a fair, timely, efficient and open manner.

Property Law Appellate Court Opinion

by Zigadto, Janet

 

AC44622 - Fairlake Capital, LLC v. Lathouris ("The defendant Number Six, LLC (Number Six), appeals from the order of the trial court denying its motion to discharge a notice of lis pendens (motion to discharge) recorded by the plaintiff, Fairlake Capital, LLC. Number Six also appeals from the order of the court denying its motion to lift a discretionary stay in the underlying proceedings to allow it to pursue the motion to discharge. Our disposition of this appeal hinges on two issues that concern the denial of the motion to discharge. First, as a threshold matter implicating our subject matter jurisdiction, we must determine whether the denial of the motion to discharge is a final judgment for appeal purposes. If we answer that question in the affirmative, the second issue is whether the court abused its discretion by denying the motion to discharge, without holding a hearing and adjudicating the merits of the motion in accordance with General Statutes §§ 52-325a and 52-325b, solely on the procedural ground that the discretionary stay was in place. Number Six claims that the denial of the motion to discharge is a final judgment and that the court improperly denied the motion to discharge on the basis of the discretionary stay. The plaintiff, on the other hand, maintains that (1) no final judgment exists, or, alternatively, (2) the court properly denied the motion to discharge on the basis of the discretionary stay. We conclude that (1) the denial of the motion to discharge is a final judgment for appeal purposes and (2) the court abused its discretion when it relied on the discretionary stay to deny Number Six's motion to discharge. We further conclude that our resolution of Number Six's claim concerning its motion to discharge necessarily resolves the question of whether the court should have lifted the discretionary stay to permit a hearing on that motion. . . .

The judgment is reversed as to the denial of Number Six's motion to discharge the notice of lis pendens and the case is remanded with direction to lift the discretionary stay for the purpose of holding a prompt hearing and adjudicating the merits of the motion to discharge in accordance with General Statutes §§ 52-325a and 52-325b and consistent with this opinion.")

  • AC44622 Concurrence - Fairlake Capital, LLC v. Lathouris