Brook Run Development Corp. v. Noon, 230 Conn. App. 424 (2025)

had not vacated upon receiving notice to quit. The court
       agreed with the plaintiff that paragraph 10 (A) of the
       lease provides that, ‘‘unless the [plaintiff] takes an
       action for nonrenewal, the lease would renew under
       its terms.’’ The court also found that the September 19,
       2021 letter provided notice to the defendant that the
       lease would no longer automatically renew.
          The court further found that the lease contained a
       ‘‘holdover’’ provision that covered the circumstance of
       a tenant who remains on the premises after the expira-
       tion of the lease, converting the tenancy to a month-
       to-month tenancy. The court concluded that, ‘‘if no
       action is taken to the contrary, the terms of the lease
       are assumed to be the terms from the prior month
       especially as to the monthly rental amount. If the parties
       do not agree on the rental amount, there is no agreement
       for that month’s tenancy between the parties. The plain-
       tiff offered a new month-to-month rental at $1300 per
       month by letter dated December 27, 2022, and the defen-
       dant did not accept the new lease term and only contin-
       ued to pay $1200 per month as use and occupancy.
       Accordingly, the defendant has not accepted a new
       month-to-month lease and has become a tenant at suf-
       ferance.’’ (Emphasis in original.)
          The court noted that the defendant, as a protected
       tenant under § 47a-23c, could not be evicted in the
       absence of ‘‘good cause,’’ even as a tenant at sufferance.
       The court accordingly concluded that the defendant’s
       failure to pay a fair rent increase constitutes good cause,
       citing our Supreme Court’s ruling in O’Brien Properties,
       Inc. v. Rodriguez, 215 Conn. 367, 576 A.2d 469 (1990).8
         8
          In O’Brien Properties, Inc., our Supreme Court concluded, in relevant
       part, that ‘‘a landlord could still exercise his right to ‘good cause’ eviction
       against a tenant at sufferance under § 47a-23c (b) (1) (B), simply by offering
       the tenant at sufferance a rental agreement at a fair and equitable rent.
       Thereafter, if the tenant at sufferance refused to accept the rental agreement,
       the landlord’s recourse to ‘good cause’ eviction would be appropriate.’’
       O’Brien Properties, Inc. v. Rodriguez, supra, 215 Conn. 374.
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