Altavista Investments, LLC v. Makeeva

Citations

• 226 Conn. App. 175

Syllabus

B Co., which held a note that was secured by a mortgage on the plaintiff's property, filed a motion to intervene in postjudgment summary process eviction proceedings for the limited purpose of asserting its rights with respect to use and occupancy payments made by the defendants and participating in any proceedings to determine the final distribution of those funds. The trial court held a hearing in accordance with the applicable statute (§ 47a-35b), and denied B Co.'s motion to intervene, determining that B Co. was not a proper party to the eviction action because it did not have a possessory interest in the real property. On B Co.'s appeal to this court, held that the trial court improperly failed to permit B Co. to intervene in the postjudgment proceedings as a matter of right, and, accordingly, this court reversed the trial court's judgment and remanded the case with direction to grant B Co.'s motion to inter- vene and for further proceedings in accordance with § 47a-35b: pursuant to the four factor test for intervention as of right, which the trial court improperly failed to consider, this court had jurisdiction over the appeal because B Co. demonstrated a colorable claim of intervention as of right, such that the denial of its motion for intervention was a final judgment for purposes of appeal; moreover, the trial court improperly denied the motion to intervene on its merits because the motion was clearly timely, as it was filed with the trial court during the pendency of the appeal from the judgment of possession for the express purpose of vindicating rights under § 47a-35b, pursuant to which the trial court was not required to hold a hearing until the final disposition of the appeal, B Co. had a direct right to the subject matter of the postjudgment litigation, as neither the plaintiff nor the defendants contested B Co.'s assertion that it had a contractual right to the use and occupancy pay- ments, that right was a substantial one, as reflected in the amoun