Compass Bank v. Dunn

Citations

• 196 Conn. App. 43

Syllabus

The plaintiff bank sought to foreclose a mortgage on certain real property owned by the defendants J and D. Following its motion for judgment of strict foreclosure, the plaintiff filed a demand for disclosure of defense under the applicable rule of practice (§ 13-19). J and D timely responded with a disclosure of defense. The trial court thereafter granted the plaintiff's motion for default for failure to disclose a ''proper defense'' as a means to delay the action and overruled J and D's objection. The court granted the plaintiff's motion for judgment of strict foreclosure and rendered judgment thereon, from which J and D appealed to this court. Held that the trial court improperly granted the plaintiff's motion for default and, accordingly, the judgment of the trial court was reversed; J and D properly complied with the requirements of § 13-19 by timely disclosing their defense, stating their counsel's belief that the defense was bona fide and setting forth the nature or substance of the defense, and the court made no findings as to the good faith and intentions of the defendants' counsel in filing the defense as required by Jennings v. Parsons (71 Conn. 413). Argued September 24, 2019—officially released February 25, 2020