Centrix Management Co., LLC v. Fosberg

Citations

• 349 Conn. 765

Syllabus

Pursuant to statute (§ 42-150bb), when a consumer contract or lease includes a unilateral attorney's fees provision benefiting the commercial party, a prevailing consumer is entitled to an award of attorney's fees, the size of which ''shall be based as far as practicable upon the terms governing the size of the fee for the commercial party.'' The plaintiff landlord brought this summary process action, seeking to gain possession of an apartment occupied by the defendant tenant. After the trial court rendered judgment for the defendant, the defendant filed a motion for attorney's fees pursuant to § 42-150bb, relying on the unilat- eral provision in the party's lease agreement providing that, if the plaintiff prevailed in an action on the lease agreement, the defendant would be responsible for reasonable attorney's fees up to $750. The trial court 766 OCTOBER, 2024 349 Conn. 765 Centrix Management Co., LLC v. Fosberg granted the defendant's motion and awarded him $3500 in attorney's fees. In doing so, the court relied on the equitable purpose of § 42-150bb, that is, to achieve parity between the parties, and reasoned that limiting the defendant's recovery to the maximum amount allowed by the lease agreement would not result in true parity between the parties. On appeal, the plaintiff challenged the trial court's award of attorney's fees, claiming that, under § 42-150bb, the court had the discretion to award the defen- dant only up to $750, which was the maximum amount of attorney's fees that the plaintiff could have recovered pursuant to the terms of the lease agreement. Held that, although trial courts, pursuant to § 42-150bb, have discretion to award a prevailing consumer reasonable attorney's fees in excess of the maximum amount that a prevailing commercial party could recover under the terms of the consumer contract or lease when the court determines that it is not practicable to base the award of attorney's fees on those contractual or lease terms, in the present