Middlesex Mutual Assurance Co. v. Vaszil, 873 A.2d 1030 (2005)

Citation: Middlesex Mutual Assurance Co. v. Vaszil, 873 A.2d 1030 (2005)
Parent Document: Middlesex Mutual Assurance Co. v. Vaszil, 873 A.2d 1030 (2005)
Jurisdiction: Connecticut (state)
Effective Date: 2005-06-07
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1903021/middlesex-mutual-assurance-co-v-vaszil/ ↗

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*1040 "A lease is a contract." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Central New Haven Development Corp. v. La Crepe, Inc., 177 Conn. 212, 214, 413 A.2d 840 (1979). A lease is subject to the same rules of construction as other contracts. Scoville v. Shop-Rite Supermarkets, Inc., 86 Conn.App. 426, 432, 863 A.2d 211 (2004), cert. denied, 272 Conn. 921, 867 A.2d 838 (2005). "Although ordinarily the question of contract interpretation, being a question of the parties' intent, is a question of fact ... [w]here there is definitive contract language, the determination of what the parties intended by their contractual commitments is a question of law.... When only one interpretation of a contract is possible, the court need not look outside the four corners of the contract.... On the other hand, [w]hen an ambiguous term is at issue, the trial court can examine the extrinsic evidence to resolve the question of the parties' intent.... Contract language is unambiguous when it has a definite and precise meaning about which there is no reasonable basis for a difference of opinion.... A court will not torture words to import ambiguity when the ordinary meaning leaves no room for ambiguity, and words do not become ambiguous simply because lawyers or laymen contend for different meanings." (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Rund v. Melillo, supra, 63 Conn.App. at 220, 772 A.2d 774. "When there is ambiguity, we must construe contractual terms against the drafter." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., at 222, 772 A.2d 774.

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