Benchmark Municipal Tax Services, Ltd. v. 899 ETG Associates, LLC

Citations

• 227 Conn. App. 474

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought to foreclose a mortgage on certain real property owned by the named defendant, E Co. E Co. executed a promissory note in the plaintiff's favor, which was secured by a mortgage on the property. E Co. subsequently entered into a modification agreement with the plaintiff that increased the amount of the principal in exchange for a six month extension of the maturity date. E Co. thereafter defaulted on the mortgage and the defendants requested a second extension, which the plaintiff refused. The plaintiff also alleged that the defendant guaran- tors had breached their guarantees. The defendants asserted the special defense of unclean hands, claiming that the parties had negotiated for an additional extension of time regarding the maturity date, which the plaintiff refused to honor. In opposition to the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment as to liability, the defendants submitted an affidavit from the defendant S, who signed the modification agreement on E Co.'s behalf. S averred that E Co. entered into the modification agreement in reliance on the plaintiff's false promise to grant an additional extension of the maturity date. The trial court granted the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, and rendered a judgment of strict foreclosure, from which the defendants appealed to this court. Held: 1. The appeal was dismissed as to the guarantor defendants for lack of standing; it was undisputed that none of the guarantor defendants was a party to the note, mortgage or modification agreement, and neither the plaintiff nor the defendants alleged that the guarantor defendants had any interest in the property or a right of redemption. 2. The trial court properly granted the plaintiff's motion for summary judg- ment as to liability: because the text of the modification agreement expressly addressed the question of further extensions, specifically pro- viding that the maturity date ''shall not be further extended'' past the initial six month extension,