Kazemi v. Allen

Citations

• 214 Conn. App. 86

Syllabus

The plaintiffs sought to recover damages from the defendants, A and G Co., for, inter alia, vexatious litigation, in connection with a prior quiet title action regarding a disputed area of real property. A acquired a parcel of real property in 1996, and, in 2014, the plaintiffs acquired the adjoining property. Subsequently, the defendants notified the plaintiffs of their claim to a strip of land along the northern boundary of the plaintiffs' property. In October, 2015, the plaintiffs filed on the land records a notice of intent to dispute and prevent the defendants from acquiring the right to possess the disputed area. The plaintiffs then commenced the action to quiet title to their property and to obtain a declaration that the defendants did not have an interest in the area. In response, the defendants asserted a two count counterclaim sounding in adverse possession and trespass, alleging that they had been in possession of the disputed portion of the plaintiffs' property for more than fifteen years prior to the filing of notice on the land records. Following a trial, the trial court found for the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs then filed the underlying action in relation to the defendants' counterclaim, and, following trial, the court found that the plaintiffs successfully had demon- strated that the defendants lacked probable cause to bring the counter- claim and that the defendants had failed to prove their defense of advice of counsel. On the defendants' appeal to this court, held: 1. This court determined that the defendants properly appealed from a final judgment in light of the fact that the trial court, although it did not explicitly address the plaintiffs' trespass count in its decision, implicitly disposed of that count; according to the testimony at trial, the plaintiffs incurred expenses to remove structures that had been placed on the property following judgment in the action to quiet title and the court awarded the plaintiffs costs to remove those structu