Cheswold (TL), LLC, BMO Harris Bank, N.A. v. Kwong

Citations

• 196 Conn. App. 279

Syllabus

The plaintiff, C Co., sought to foreclose municipal tax liens on certain real property owned by the defendant K. Following K's failure to pay his property taxes for a number of years, the town of Newtown imposed liens on the subject property and recorded them on the town land records. Thereafter, the tax liens were assigned to C Co., which recorded the assignment on the town land records. After C Co. had commenced this action, it assigned the tax liens to A Co., which was substituted as the plaintiff. The assignment to A Co. was not recorded on the town land records. K thereafter moved to dismiss the action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction on the ground that A Co. lacked standing to foreclose the property because the assignment of the tax liens to it was not recorded. The trial court denied K's motion to dismiss, concluding that A Co.'s failure to record the assignment did not deprive it of standing. Thereafter, the trial court rendered a judgment of foreclosure by sale, from which K appealed to this court. Held that the trial court properly denied K's motion to dismiss, as that court correctly determined that A Co. had standing to pursue the foreclosure action; contrary to K's claim, A Co.'s failure to record the assignment of the tax liens on the town land records did not deprive it of standing, as the more specific statute (§ 12-195h) and rule of practice (§ 10-70) governing the assign- ment and foreclosure of tax liens, which do not require recordation to confer standing, take precedence over the more general land transfer statute (§ 47-10), which does require it, and, furthermore, a tax lien, similar to a mechanic's lien, is more analogous to a transfer of debt than to a transfer of title and, as such, is not considered a conveyance under § 47-10. Argued November 18, 2019—officially released March 3, 2020