PPC Realty, LLC v. Hartford, 350 Conn. 347 (2024)

Citation: PPC Realty, LLC v. Hartford, 350 Conn. 347 (2024)
Parent Document: PPC Realty, LLC v. Hartford, 350 Conn. 347 (2024)
Jurisdiction: Connecticut (state)
Effective Date: 2024-08-12
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10266509/ppc-realty-llc-v-hartford/ ↗

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The trial court issued a memorandum of decision,
         ruling in the plaintiff’s favor and finding ‘‘by clear and
         convincing evidence, and as a matter of law . . . [t]hat
         the invalidity of the [defendant’s] lien is established.’’
         The court stated: ‘‘[I]t is undisputed that arson led to
         the displacement of the tenants, not municipal code
         enforcement activities based on the landlord’s viola-
         tions of any code. The statutory liens authorized by the
         [act] are not applicable in this context.’’2 The trial
         court’s apparent reasoning was consistent with the
         plaintiff’s position that, because the plaintiff’s actions
         did not cause the fire, the residents were not displaced
         as a direct result of the defendant’s condemnation of
         the building, thereby preventing the defendant from
         recovering relocation costs under the act.
            The trial court explained that the interplay of General
         Statutes §§ 8-268, 8-270 and 8-270a supported its deter-
         mination that the lien was improper because the plain-
         tiff’s actions did not cause the displacement of the
         apartment building’s tenants. In particular, the court
         pointed out that, although §§ 8-268 and 8-270 allow a
         municipality to file a lien to recover relocation costs
         from a landlord, § 8-270a provides that, if a city has
         brought a civil action against a landlord under the act
         to recover displacement costs, ‘‘it shall be an affirmative
         defense for the landlord that the displacement was not
         the result of the landlord’s violation of [General Statutes
         §] 47a-7.’’ The court recognized that the proceeding
         before it was not a civil action brought by the defendant
         but nonetheless ruled that the plaintiff could invoke § 8-
         270a because, otherwise, ‘‘inconsistent outcomes would
         occur even [if the] cases were based on very similar
         facts,’’ and ‘‘[t]he legislature cannot have intended such
         inconsistent, bizarre results.’’ The defendant appealed
           2
             The trial court also held that the defendant’s lien was invalid under
         General Statutes §§ 49-73a and 49-73b. The defendant has not relied on these
         statutes in this appeal.
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