MTGLQ Investors, L.P. v. Hammons

Citations

• 196 Conn. App. 636

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought to foreclose a mortgage on certain real property owned by the defendant H. The plaintiff moved for summary judgment as to liability only to which H objected, arguing that the plaintiff had failed to comply with the statutory (§ 8-265ee (a)) notice requirement of the Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program, which requires a mortgagee to provide certain specific notice to the mortgagor before it can com- mence a foreclosure of a qualifying mortgage. H argued that this failure deprived the trial court of subject matter jurisdiction. The plaintiff argued that this requirement was satisfied and relied on the notice sent prior to the commencement of a previous foreclosure action brought by its predecessor in interest, that was later dismissed for failure to prosecute. Although the trial court acknowledged the plaintiff's failure to comply with the notice requirement and its attempts to import the notice from the previous action, it granted the motion for summary judgment. The trial court granted the plaintiff's motion for a judgment of strict foreclosure and rendered judgment thereon, from which H appealed to this court. Held that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the plaintiff failed to comply with the notice require- ment § 8-265ee (a), a jurisdictional necessity; as a matter of first impres- sion, the notice requirement of § 8-265ee (a), when applicable, is a condition precedent to the commencement of a foreclosure action and the failure to comply deprives the trial court of subject matter jurisdic- tion; moreover, the plaintiff could not prevail on its claim that it was entitled to rely on the notice sent in a separate foreclosure action by its predecessor in interest. Argued January 22—officially released March 24, 2020