Brookstone Homes, LLC v. Merco Holdings, LLC ( 2021 )


Menu:
  • ***********************************************
    The “officially released” date that appears near the be-
    ginning of each opinion is the date the opinion will be pub-
    lished in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it was
    released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the be-
    ginning of all time periods for filing postopinion motions
    and petitions for certification is the “officially released”
    date appearing in the opinion.
    All opinions are subject to modification and technical
    correction prior to official publication in the Connecticut
    Reports and Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of
    discrepancies between the advance release version of an
    opinion and the latest version appearing in the Connecticut
    Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports
    or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest version is to
    be considered authoritative.
    The syllabus and procedural history accompanying the
    opinion as it appears in the Connecticut Law Journal and
    bound volumes of official reports are copyrighted by the
    Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut, and may not
    be reproduced and distributed without the express written
    permission of the Commission on Official Legal Publica-
    tions, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut.
    ***********************************************
    BROOKSTONE HOMES, LLC, ET AL. v.
    MERCO HOLDINGS, LLC, ET AL.
    MERCO HOLDINGS, LLC, ET AL. v.
    CT KARKA, LLC, ET AL.
    (AC 44704)
    Bright, C.J., and Alvord and Clark, Js.
    Syllabus
    In this joint appeal, the appellants were the plaintiffs in a breach of contract
    action and the defendants in a separate action brought by various limited
    liability companies to discharge lis pendens filed against their properties
    in connection with the breach of contract action. The appellees were
    various limited liability companies with rental properties. Sixteen of the
    appellees filed an application pursuant to statute (§ 52-325a) to discharge
    the lis pendens. The trial court granted the application, concluding
    that the appellants had not shown probable cause that their breach of
    contract case was an action intended to affect the real property on
    which the lis pendens had been filed. Pursuant to the applicable statute
    (§ 52-325c), the appellants appealed to this court from the order discharg-
    ing the lis pendens and indicated on the appeal form that the appeal
    was also being filed in connection with their breach of contract action.
    Thereafter, the appellants filed a motion to stay the order discharging
    the lis pendens pending the appeal pursuant to § 52-325c, which the
    trial court denied. The appellants then filed a motion for review pursuant
    to the applicable rule of practice (§ 66-6), challenging the denial of their
    motion to stay, but failed to request a stay of execution of the trial
    court’s judgment until this court had ruled on their motion for review.
    The appellees recorded the order discharging the lis pendens on the
    land records. Thereafter, this court dismissed the appellants’ motion
    for review and ordered the parties to file memoranda to address whether
    the appeal should be dismissed as moot as to the lis pendens case and
    for lack of a final judgment as to the breach of contract case. The
    appellants filed a memorandum of law opposing dismissal. The appellees
    did not file a response to the order. Held:
    1. The portion of the appeal challenging the trial court’s judgment in the lis
    pendens case was moot: pursuant to § 52-325c, a stay is automatic for
    only seven days from the date of the court’s order discharging the lis
    pendens unless, during that period, the aggrieved party appeals the order
    and applies for a further stay pending appeal; moreover, because the
    trial court denied the appellants’ motion for stay and the appellants
    never sought a stay from this court, there was no stay in effect when
    the clerk delivered the order discharging the lis pendens or when the
    appellees recorded the order on the land records; furthermore, that the
    appellants timely filed their appeal within the seven day period mandated
    by § 52-325c did not overcome the fact that this court could not grant
    the appellants any practical relief in the appeal because the appellees
    effected the discharge of the lis pendens on filing the trial court’s order
    on the land records, when there was no appellate stay in effect, and
    the lis pendens could not be resurrected after they were discharged;
    additionally, the question presented in this appeal did not qualify for
    review under the capable of repetition yet evading review exception to
    mootness because the appeal was rendered moot not due to the inher-
    ently limited duration of the proceeding but due to the appellants’ failure
    to seek the appropriate remedy from this court and, therefore, the
    appellants failed to demonstrate that the substantial majority of appeals
    from orders discharging lis pendens would become moot before those
    appeals could be decided.
    2. The portion of the appeal with respect to the breach of contract case
    was not taken from a final judgment and, accordingly, this court lacked
    subject matter jurisdiction to entertain it: at the time the appeal was filed,
    the appellees had not filed any pleadings in response to the complaint
    and the trial court had not issued any order from which an appeal could
    be filed.
    Considered August 31—officially released November 23, 2021
    Procedural History
    Application, in one case, to discharge lis pendens filed
    against certain of the plaintiffs’ real property, brought
    to the Superior Court in the judicial district of Hartford,
    where the court, Noble, J., granted the plaintiffs’ appli-
    cation to discharge the lis pendens and rendered judg-
    ment thereon, and, action, in a second case, to recover
    damages for, inter alia, breach of contract, and for other
    relief, brought to the Superior Court in the judicial dis-
    trict of Waterbury and transferred to the judicial district
    of Hartford, Complex Litigation Docket; thereafter, the
    defendants in the first case and the plaintiffs in the
    second case filed a joint appeal to this court; subse-
    quently, the court, Noble, J., denied the motion to stay
    the order discharging the lis pendens filed by the defen-
    dants in the first case; thereafter, this court dismissed
    the motion for review filed by the named defendant
    et al. in the first case, and ordered the parties to file
    memoranda to address whether the appeal should be
    dismissed. Appeal dismissed.
    Taryn D. Martin, for the appellants (defendants in
    the first case and plaintiffs in the second case).
    Robert M. Fleischer, for the appellees (plaintiffs in
    the first case and defendants in the second case).
    Opinion
    BRIGHT, C. J. This joint appeal was filed in two trial
    court cases to challenge the trial court’s order in one
    case granting an application to discharge the lis pendens
    filed against multiple properties. We ordered the parties
    to file memoranda to address (1) whether this appeal
    should be dismissed as moot as to the order granting
    the application to discharge the lis pendens because
    that order has been recorded on the land records and
    (2) whether the appeal should be dismissed for lack of
    a final judgment as to the portion of the appeal taken
    as to the underlying breach of contract case that is still
    pending before the trial court.1 Having considered the
    memorandum submitted by the appellants, we dismiss
    the appeal.2
    This appeal involves two related cases, though the
    cases were not consolidated at the trial court. In Merco
    Holdings, LLC v. CT Karka, LLC, Superior Court, judi-
    cial district of Hartford, Docket No. CV-XX-XXXXXXX-S
    (breach of contract case), five plaintiffs, who are the
    appellants here, filed a complaint against twenty-six
    limited liability companies (LLCs) sounding in, inter
    alia, breach of contract.3 The plaintiffs in the breach of
    contract case are Merco Holdings, LLC; DetailManage-
    ment, LLC; Elite Investment Properties, Inc.; David Mer-
    enstein; and Esther Merenstein. The defendants in the
    breach of contract case are CT Karka, LLC; CT Deros,
    LLC; Meknes, LLC; Farmington Real Estate Holdings,
    LLC; Renwood Real Estate Holdings, LLC; North Haven
    Apts, LLC; Bunker Hill Properties, LLC; Austin Heights
    CT, LLC; Diamond Court CT, LLC; Waterbury Plaza,
    LLC; Valley View Townhouse, LLC; Pine Meadow Town-
    house, LLC; Forest Park Apartment Homes, LLC; Briar-
    wood Hills, LLC; Hunters Crossing, LLC; Renwood
    Apartments, LLC; Oakridge Realty, LLC; Brookstone
    Homes, LLC; Ivy Woods CT, LLC; Forest Park Office
    Green, LLC; Fieldside Apartments, LLC; Seramonte
    Estates, LLC; Seramonte Estates AB, LLC; Alabama
    Brook, LLC; Alabama Brook #2, LLC; and Orohena, LLC.
    The claims in the breach of contract case are essentially
    that the five plaintiffs were partial owners of, had inter-
    ests in, or provided management services to the twenty-
    six defendant LLCs but had been deprived of their share
    of the profits from or management fees related to the
    rental properties owned by the LLCs. In connection
    with the filing of the complaint, the five plaintiffs filed
    eleven lis pendens against sixteen properties owned by
    the LLC defendants. No judgment had been rendered in
    the breach of contract case when this appeal was filed.
    In Brookstone Homes, LLC v. Merco Holdings, LLC,
    Superior Court, judicial district of Hartford, Docket No.
    CV-XX-XXXXXXX-S (lis pendens case), sixteen of the LLCs
    named as defendants in the breach of contract case,
    namely, those owning the properties that are the sub-
    jects of the lis pendens in the breach of contract case,
    filed as an independent action an application pursuant
    to General Statutes § 52-325a to discharge the lis pen-
    dens filed against their properties.4 The application to
    discharge the lis pendens named as defendants the five
    plaintiffs in the breach of contract case. The defendants
    in the lis pendens case filed an objection to the applica-
    tion to discharge the lis pendens. On May 6, 2021, the
    trial court granted the application to discharge the lis
    pendens on the basis of the court’s finding that the
    defendants had not shown probable cause that their
    breach of contract case was an action intended to affect
    the real property on which the lis pendens had been
    filed.
    On May 12, 2021, the appellants timely filed this
    appeal within seven days of the judgment in the lis
    pendens case granting the application to discharge lis
    pendens, as required by General Statutes § 52-325c (b).5
    The appeal form also indicated that the appeal was
    being filed in connection with the breach of contract
    case.
    Also on May 12, 2021, the appellants filed in the lis
    pendens case a timely motion to stay the order discharg-
    ing the lis pendens pending appeal, pursuant to § 52-
    325c (b). The appellees objected to that motion. The
    trial court denied the motion for stay on June 14, 2021.
    The appellants filed a timely motion for review pursu-
    ant to Practice Book § 66-6 on June 23, 2021, challenging
    the denial of their motion for stay. The appellants, how-
    ever, did not file a request, pursuant to Practice Book
    § 61-14, for a stay of execution of the trial court’s judg-
    ment until this court had ruled on their motion for
    review. On July 6, 2021, the appellees filed a memoran-
    dum in opposition to the motion for review in which
    they stated that they already had recorded the dis-
    charges of lis pendens on the land records. We dis-
    missed the appellants’ motion for review on July 28,
    2021, and ordered the parties to file memoranda to
    address whether the appeal should be dismissed as
    moot as to the lis pendens case and for lack of a final
    judgment as to the breach of contract case. The appel-
    lants filed a memorandum of law opposing dismissal.
    The appellees did not file a memorandum in response
    to our July 28, 2021 order.
    I
    We first address whether the portion of this appeal
    challenging the trial court’s May 6, 2021 judgment in
    the lis pendens case is moot. The appellants argue that
    we should not dismiss the appeal as moot because (1)
    they timely filed a motion for review of the order deny-
    ing their motion for stay, (2) they have a statutory right
    to appeal the judgment granting the application to dis-
    charge their lis pendens, and (3) even if this appeal is
    moot, the appeal satisfies the exception to mootness
    for matters that are capable of repetition yet evading
    review. We are not persuaded by the appellants’ argu-
    ments.
    A
    The appellants argue that, because they filed a timely
    motion for review of the trial court’s order denying their
    motion for stay, they have complied with the necessary
    requirements to preserve their appellate rights and their
    appeal is, therefore, not moot. Essentially, the appel-
    lants’ argument is that, in light of their timely motion
    for review, the trial court’s judgment discharging the
    lis pendens could not be recorded on the land records
    until this court decided the motion for review. The
    problem with the appellants’ argument is that it is predi-
    cated on the erroneous premise that, after the trial court
    denied their motion for a discretionary stay, there was
    an automatic stay of that order while the motion for
    review was pending. A discussion of the interplay of
    the applicable statutes and rules of practice makes clear
    the appellants’ error.
    Section 52-325c provides the procedures by which a
    party whose lien has been ordered discharged pursuant
    to General Statutes § 52-325b (b) may stay the effect
    of that order. Section 52-325c (b) requires that an appeal
    be taken within seven days of the court’s judgment and
    provides for an automatic stay during that period. The
    appealing party may also, within that seven day window,
    apply for a stay of the effect of the order pending appeal.
    See General Statutes § 52-325c (b). The filing of an
    application for a stay automatically extends the initial
    seven day stay until a decision on the application is
    rendered. See General Statutes § 52-325c (b). Accord-
    ingly, a stay is only automatic, under § 52-325c, for seven
    days from the date of the court’s order discharging
    the lis pendens unless, within those seven days, the
    aggrieved party appeals the order and applies for a
    further stay pending appeal, in which case the seven day
    stay automatically is extended until the court renders
    its decision as to whether to stay the effect of its order
    until the appeal is decided. If the court denies a request
    for a stay, however, there is no further automatic stay
    provided by § 52-325c. Once the trial court denies a
    motion for stay, the clerk of the court may deliver to
    the parties certified copies of the order discharging the
    lis pendens. General Statutes § 52-325c (d).
    The automatic appellate stay generally provided in
    noncriminal cases by Practice Book § 61-11 (a) does
    not apply to orders discharging lis pendens because the
    stay of execution in lis pendens cases is provided by
    statute.6 The appellants’ motion for review filed pursu-
    ant to Practice Book §§ 61-14 and 66-6 did not create
    a stay of execution because the trial court had denied
    the appellants’ request for a discretionary stay pursuant
    to § 52-325c (b). If the appellants wanted a further stay
    while their motion for review was pending before this
    court, they needed to file a motion directed to this court
    requesting a temporary stay of execution until their
    motion for review was decided. Indeed, Practice Book
    § 61-14 provides in relevant part: ‘‘In any case in which
    there is no automatic stay of execution and in which
    the trial court denies, or refuses to rule on, a motion
    for stay, an aggrieved party may file a motion requesting
    a stay of execution of the judgment from the court
    having appellate jurisdiction pending the filing of and
    ruling upon a motion for review. . . .’’
    The clerk of the court delivered the order discharging
    the lis pendens to the parties on June 23, 2021, nine
    days after the trial court had denied the appellants’
    motion for stay. On June 29, 2021, the appellees recorded
    the order discharging the lis pendens on the land
    records. Because the trial court denied the appellants’
    motion for stay on June 14, 2021, and the appellants
    never sought a stay from this court pursuant to Practice
    Book § 61-14, there was no stay in effect when the clerk
    delivered the order discharging the lis pendens or when
    the appellees recorded the order on the land records.
    Thus, the appellees were well within their rights when
    they filed on the land records the order discharging the
    lis pendens.
    B
    The appellants also argue that we should not dismiss
    their appeal as moot because they timely filed their
    appeal within the seven day appeal period mandated
    by § 52-325c. This argument, however, does not over-
    come the fact that we cannot grant the appellants any
    practical relief in this appeal because the appellees
    effected the discharge of the lis pendens on filing the
    court’s order on the land records on June 29, 2021,
    when there was no appellate stay in effect.
    ‘‘Mootness implicates [this] court’s subject matter
    jurisdiction and is thus a threshold matter for us to
    resolve. . . . It is a [well settled] general rule that the
    existence of an actual controversy is an essential requi-
    site to appellate jurisdiction; it is not the province of
    appellate courts to decide moot questions, discon-
    nected from the granting of actual relief or from the
    determination of which no practical relief can follow.
    . . . An actual controversy must exist not only at the
    time the appeal is taken, but also throughout the pen-
    dency of the appeal. . . . When, during the pendency
    of an appeal, events have occurred that preclude an
    appellate court from granting any practical relief
    through its disposition of the merits, a case has become
    moot. . . . [A] subject matter jurisdictional defect may
    not be waived . . . [or jurisdiction] conferred by the
    parties, explicitly or implicitly. . . . [T]he question of
    subject matter jurisdiction is a question of law . . .
    and, once raised, either by a party or by the court itself,
    the question must be answered before the court may
    decide the case.’’ (Citation omitted; internal quotation
    marks omitted.) Lichtman v. Beni, 
    280 Conn. 25
    , 30,
    
    905 A.2d 647
     (2006).
    The timely filing of an appeal does not, by itself,
    preclude an appeal from becoming moot. See, e.g., 
    id.,
    31–33 (appeal was dismissed where plaintiffs recorded
    order discharging mechanic’s lien on land records after
    defendant filed timely appeal of order); Lucas v.
    Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., 
    103 Conn. App. 762
    ,
    767–68, 
    931 A.2d 378
     (appeal was moot where defendant
    recorded certified copy of order discharging judgment
    lien after plaintiff filed timely appeal of order), cert.
    denied, 
    284 Conn. 934
    , 
    935 A.2d 151
     (2007). Without a
    valid stay in effect, the appellants were able to perfect
    the court’s order of discharge by recording it on the
    land records. See Lichtman v. Beni, 
    supra,
     
    280 Conn. 31
    –33; Lucas v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co.,
    supra, 767–68. That action renders this appeal moot as
    to the appellants’ lis pendens. The lis pendens cannot
    be resurrected after they have been discharged.
    Our Supreme Court’s decision in Lichtman v. Beni,
    
    supra,
     
    280 Conn. 25
    , is instructive. Lichtman concerned
    a trial court’s order discharging a mechanic’s lien pursu-
    ant to General Statutes § 49-35b. Id., 29. Our Supreme
    Court dismissed the defendant’s appeal as moot
    because the plaintiffs had properly filed the certified
    copy of the court’s discharge order on the land records
    after the defendant failed to request a stay following
    the trial court’s order discharging the mechanic’s lien.
    Id., 33. The court concluded: ‘‘Because the discharge
    order was duly issued and recorded, the lien no longer
    exists. We are unwilling to undermine the integrity of
    the land records and, therefore, are unable to provide
    the defendant with any practical relief.’’ Id., 36.
    Practice Book § 61-14 provides appellants challeng-
    ing judgments discharging lis pendens with a remedy
    of receiving a temporary stay from this court pending
    the filing of and ruling on a motion for review. In failing
    to avail themselves of that option, the appellants bore
    the risk that the appellees would record the discharge
    order on the land records before their motion for review
    could be decided. As with the mechanic’s lien in Licht-
    man, because the order discharging the appellants’ lis
    pendens was duly issued and recorded, the lis pendens
    no longer exist. We are, therefore, unable to provide
    the appellants with any practical relief.
    C
    The appellants argue that, even if their appeal from
    the order discharging the lis pendens is moot, we should
    nevertheless consider the merits of their appeal because
    it presents a matter that is capable of repetition yet
    evading review. We do not agree.
    ‘‘We note that an otherwise moot question may qualify
    for review under the capable of repetition, yet evading
    review exception. To do so, however, it must meet three
    requirements. First, the challenged action, or the effect
    of the challenged action, by its very nature must be of
    a limited duration so that there is a strong likelihood
    that the substantial majority of cases raising a question
    about its validity will become moot before appellate
    litigation can be concluded. Second, there must be a
    reasonable likelihood that the question presented in the
    pending case will arise again in the future, and that
    it will affect either the same complaining party or a
    reasonably identifiable group for whom that party can
    be said to act as surrogate. Third, the question must
    have some public importance. Unless all three require-
    ments are met, [the appeal] must be dismissed as moot.’’
    (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Tappin v. Home-
    comings Financial Network, Inc., 
    265 Conn. 741
    , 747,
    
    830 A.2d 711
     (2003). We conclude that this lis pendens
    case does not meet the first requirement for review
    under the capable of repetition yet evading review
    exception.
    The appellants claim that an order discharging lis
    pendens is necessarily of limited duration because the
    party challenging the order must move quickly to pre-
    vent the order from being recorded on the land records.
    They note that in this case the same trial court dis-
    charged the lis pendens and then denied their motion
    to stay. They argue that, ‘‘[w]hen it denied the motion
    to stay, the trial court also effectively denied the [appel-
    lants] an opportunity to appeal the ruling on discharging
    the lis pendens.’’ We disagree.
    As set forth in parts I A and B of this opinion, the
    appellants had procedures available to them to prevent
    their appeal from becoming moot. Although they
    availed themselves of many of those procedures by
    taking a timely appeal, filing a timely motion for stay
    in the trial court, and seeking review from this court
    of the trial court’s denial of their motion for stay, the
    appellants failed to take the necessary next step of
    seeking a stay from this court pursuant to Practice Book
    § 61-14. Thus, their appeal was rendered moot not due
    to the ‘‘inherently limited duration’’ of the proceeding
    before the trial court but due to their failure to seek
    the appropriate remedy from this court. Consequently,
    the appellants have failed to demonstrate that the sub-
    stantial majority of appeals from orders discharging lis
    pendens will become moot before those appeals can
    be decided.
    II
    We also ordered the parties to file memoranda to
    address why this appeal should not be dismissed as to
    the breach of contract case because a final judgment
    had not been rendered in that matter. The appellees
    did not file a memorandum, and the appellants’ memo-
    randum did not address this issue. We conclude that
    the portion of this appeal filed in connection with the
    breach of contract case was not taken from a final
    judgment and, therefore, we lack subject matter juris-
    diction to entertain it.
    The subject matter jurisdiction of this court and our
    Supreme Court is limited by statute to final judgments.
    General Statutes § 52-263. Our appellate courts lack
    jurisdiction to hear an appeal that is not brought from
    a final judgment. See State v. Curcio, 
    191 Conn. 27
    , 30,
    
    463 A.2d 566
     (1983). ‘‘Thus, even where the appellee
    fails to bring to our attention the lack of [a] final judg-
    ment, either by motion to dismiss or in its brief, or at
    oral argument, we must, nonetheless, act sua sponte.’’
    Mac’s Car City, Inc. v. DiLoreto, 
    33 Conn. App. 131
    ,
    132, 
    634 A.2d 1187
     (1993).
    The appellants’ appeal form indicated that they were
    challenging the trial court’s order in the lis pendens
    case granting the application to discharge the lis pen-
    dens, but the appellants also listed the case name and
    docket number for the breach of contract case in the
    section of the appeal form entitled ‘‘Additional Trial
    Court Docket Numbers Appealed.’’ The appellants had
    filed an amended complaint in the breach of contract
    case fewer than two weeks before they filed this appeal.
    The appellees had not filed any pleadings in response
    to the amended complaint when this appeal was filed,
    and the trial court had not issued any orders from which
    an appeal could be filed in the breach of contract case.
    Thus, no final judgment had been rendered in the breach
    of contract case when this appeal was filed.
    The appeal is dismissed as moot to the extent that
    it challenges the judgment in Brookstone Homes, LLC
    v. Merco Holdings, LLC, Superior Court, judicial district
    of Hartford, Docket No. CV-XX-XXXXXXX-S; the appeal is
    dismissed for lack of a final judgment to the extent that
    it was filed in connection with Merco Holdings, LLC
    v. CT Karka, LLC, Superior Court, judicial district of
    Hartford, Docket No. CV-XX-XXXXXXX-S.
    In this opinion the other judges concurred.
    1
    Our July 28, 2021 order reads as follows: ‘‘In the following matter, counsel
    are hereby ordered, sua sponte, to file memoranda of not more than ten
    (10) pages on or before August 27, 2021, giving reasons, if any, why the
    portion of this appeal challenging the trial court’s May 6, 2021 judgment in
    Brookstone Homes, LLC v. Merco Holdings, LLC, Docket No. HHD-CV-21-
    6139513-S, should not be dismissed as moot because the order discharging
    the lis pendens has been recorded on the land records (see Lichtman v.
    Beni, 
    280 Conn. 25
    , 
    905 A.2d 647
     (2006); Lucas v. Deutsche Bank National
    Trust Co., 
    103 Conn. App. 762
    , 
    931 A.2d 378
    , cert. denied, 
    284 Conn. 934
    ,
    
    935 A.2d 151
     (2007)); and why the portion of this appeal from Merco Hold-
    ings, LLC v. CT Karka, LLC, Docket No. HHD-CV-XX-XXXXXXX-S, should not
    be dismissed because a final judgment has not entered in that matter. (See
    General Statutes § 52-263; State v. Curcio, 
    191 Conn. 27
    , 30, 
    463 A.2d 566
    (1983)).’’ (Footnote omitted.)
    2
    The appellees did not file a memorandum in response to our July 28,
    2021 order. After the appellants filed a memorandum and the deadline
    imposed by our order had passed, the appellees filed a motion for leave to
    respond to the appellants’ memorandum. Because we are dismissing this
    appeal, no action is necessary on the appellees’ motion for leave.
    3
    Most of the defendants in the breach of contract case are plaintiffs in
    Brookstone Homes, LLC v. Merco Holdings, LLC, Superior Court, judicial
    district of Hartford, Docket No. CV-XX-XXXXXXX-S (lis pendens case). The
    sixteen plaintiffs in the lis pendens case are Brookstone Homes, LLC; Bunker
    Waterbury Plaza, LLC; Valley View Townhouse, LLC; Pine Meadow Town-
    house, LLC; Forest Park Apartment Homes, LLC; Forest Park Office Green,
    LLC; Briarwood Hills, LLC; Hunters Crossing, LLC; Renwood Apartments,
    LLC; Oakridge Realty, LLC; Ivy Woods CT, LLC; Fieldside Apartments, LLC;
    and Seramonte Estates, LLC. These sixteen plaintiffs are the appellees in
    this appeal.
    CT Karka, LLC; CT Deros, LLC; Meknes, LLC; Farmington Real Estate
    Holdings, LLC; Renwood Real Estate Holdings, LLC; North Haven Apts, LLC;
    Seramonte Estates AB, LLC; Alabama Brook, LLC; Alabama Brook #2, LLC;
    and Orohena, LLC are not parties to the lis pendens case but are appellees
    in this appeal.
    4
    See footnote 3 of this opinion.
    5
    General Statutes § 52-325c provides: ‘‘(a) Any order entered as provided
    in subsection (b) of section 52-325b shall be deemed a final judgment for
    the purpose of appeal.
    ‘‘(b) No appeal shall be taken from such order except within seven days
    thereof. The effect of such order shall be automatically stayed for such
    seven-day period. If an appeal is taken within such seven-day period, the
    party taking such appeal may, within such period, file an application with
    the clerk of the court in which such order was issued, requesting a stay of
    the effect of such order pending such appeal, which application shall set
    forth the reasons for such request. A copy of such application shall be sent
    to the adverse party by the applicant. Upon the filing of such application,
    the effect of such order shall be further stayed until a decision is rendered
    thereon. A hearing on such application shall be held promptly. Such order
    shall be stayed if the party taking such appeal posts a bond, as provided in
    subsection (c) of this section.
    ‘‘(c) Upon the hearing on such application, the court shall: (1) Upon
    motion of the party taking the appeal set an amount of bond with surety
    for the stay of such order as provided in subsection (b) of this section,
    which amount shall be as the court deems sufficient to indemnify the adverse
    party for any damages which may result from the stay. If the party taking
    the appeal gives such bond the order shall be stayed; or (2) grant the stay;
    or (3) deny the stay; or (4) condition the granting of the stay upon the giving
    of such a bond.
    ‘‘(d) Any order of discharge or any order of any stay shall take effect
    upon recording of a certified copy thereof in the office of the town clerk
    in which such notice of lis pendens was recorded. The clerk of the court
    in which any such order is issued shall not deliver any certified copies
    thereof until the time for taking an appeal has elapsed or, if an appeal is
    taken and an application for a stay of such order is filed, until such time
    as a decision granting or denying such stay has been rendered.
    ‘‘(e) When a certified copy of such order of discharge of notice of lis
    pendens has been recorded, such discharged notice of lis pendens shall not
    be deemed to constitute constructive notice of the claim of the party
    recording such notice to any third party who acquires his interest in the
    particular property either before or after the recording of such discharge.’’
    6
    ‘‘Except where otherwise provided by statute or other law, proceedings
    to enforce or carry out the judgment or order shall be automatically stayed
    until the time to file an appeal has expired. . . .’’ (Emphasis added.) Practice
    Book § 61-11 (a).
    

Document Info

Docket Number: AC44704

Filed Date: 11/23/2021

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 11/22/2021