Freidburg v. Kurtz

Citations

• 210 Conn. App. 420

Syllabus

The plaintiff landlord sought to recover damages for, inter alia, the defen- dants' alleged violations of a lease agreement entered into in connection with the rental of a furnished, single-family home. Within thirty days of the termination of their tenancy, the plaintiff sent to the defendants an accounting of their security deposit and the alleged damages to the leased property, which indicated that there had been more than $50,000 in damages and that the deposit had been fully expended to cover certain of the expenses incurred in connection therewith. The defendants filed a counterclaim in which they alleged that the plaintiff violated the security deposit statute (§ 47a-21) and the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA) (§ 42-110a et seq.). Following a bench trial, the trial court rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff on his complaint and on the defendants' counterclaim, and the defendants appealed to this court. Held: 1. The defendants could not prevail on their claim that the trial court erred in rendering judgment against them for damages to the premises without determining the age and condition of the property at the time of the commencement of the tenancy and the relative wear and tear of the items at the time of the termination of the tenancy: the trial court had ample evidence before it that supported its calculation of damages, including a comprehensive list of the damaged items and fixtures, photo- graphs of the damage, and receipts for repairs and replacement pur- chases; moreover, any wear and tear of the individual items was insignifi- cant, given the scope of the documented damage; accordingly, the trial court's damages award was not improper. 2. The defendants could not prevail on their claim that the trial court erred in failing to render judgment in their favor on the counterclaim: a. The trial court's finding with respect to the amount of the security deposit paid to the plaintiff was not clearly erroneous: the lease agree- ment, w