Iadanza v. Toor

Citations

• 226 Conn. App. 736

Syllabus

The plaintiff landlord and the defendant tenant entered into a lease agree- ment with an option to purchase certain real property occupied by the defendant. Each party claimed that the other had breached the lease agreement, and the parties agreed to resolve their competing claims by way of a stipulated judgment, which provided, inter alia, that judgment of possession would enter for the plaintiff with a final stay of execution based upon certain conditions, including that the defendant could pur- chase the property if he deposited a certain sum into his attorney's trust account by an agreed upon deadline and that time was of the essence. Failure to make the deposit would void the defendant's right to purchase the property and the plaintiff could immediately obtain a summary process execution for possession without any additional court hearings. Shortly after the stipulated judgment was rendered, the plaintiff removed from an unoccupied accessory apartment several appliances that he believed he owned. The defendant complained about their removal and the plaintiff ultimately returned them. Shortly thereafter, the plaintiff filed an affidavit of noncompliance in which he averred that the defen- dant had materially breached the stipulated judgment by not making the deposit in accordance with the terms of the stipulation, and he requested that the court issue a summary process execution. After a hearing, the court granted the plaintiff's request and ordered the clerk's office to issue the execution, finding that the removal of the appliances was not a material violation of the stipulation. On the defendant's appeal, held that the defendant could not prevail on his claim that the trial court improperly found that the plaintiff's removal of the appliances was not a material breach of the stipulated judgment that relieved him of his obligation to make the required deposit by the deadline: the court consid- ered and applied the standards for materiality set forth in § 241 o