Mase v. Riverview Realty Associates, LLC

Citations

• 208 Conn. App. 719

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought to foreclose a mortgage on certain real property owned by the defendant R Co. At the conclusion of a bench trial, the trial court, in an oral decision, rendered a judgment of strict foreclosure against R Co. Prior to the expiration of the law day, R Co. appealed, claiming that the court erred in denying its motion to dismiss the action, that the judgment of strict foreclosure was defective, and that the court's appoint- ment of a receiver was improper. After the appeal was filed, the court filed an order, dated as of the date of the trial, in which it stated that a judgment of strict foreclosure shall enter and in which it made a finding as to the amount of the debt. The defendant did not amend its appeal to challenge this order. Held that the appeal was dismissed because it was not taken from a final judgment: the trial court, by means of its order, dated as of the date of the trial, but not filed until after the appeal was filed, effectively issued a nunc pro tunc order, making its finding concerning the amount of the debt effective as of the date of its judgment of strict foreclosure, but the court's nunc pro tunc order could not rectify the jurisdictional defect that existed at the time the appeal was taken; there could be no dispute that a condition precedent to the taking of an appeal, namely, a finding with respect to the amount of the debt, was made only after the appeal was filed and after the law day was set to expire, and, thus, at the time that R Co. filed the appeal, a final judgment did not exist, and, accordingly, in the absence of a final judgment, this court dismissed the appeal. Argued November 19, 2020—officially released November 16, 2021