Parrott v. Colon

Citations

• 213 Conn. App. 375

Syllabus

The plaintiff tenants, J and S, sought, inter alia, an order to compel the defendants to use the money collected from them for rent to make certain repairs to their leased premises. The plaintiffs, who had entered into a residential lease agreement with the defendants, filed a complaint for housing code enforcement, pursuant to the applicable statute (§ 47a- 14h), with the town in which the premises was located, alleging that the defendants had violated the statute (§ 47a-7) when they failed to repair and maintain certain conditions at the premises, including, inter alia, the swimming pool, furnace, and chimneys. The trial court deter- mined that only the plaintiffs' alleged violations concerning the furnace and chimneys arguably fell within the statutory criteria. During the bench trial, W, a town building official, testified that he notified D, a sanitarian for the local health district that enforces the health code, of the complaint because the alleged issues were property maintenance matters to be addressed by the local health district. D attested that after reviewing the complaint and speaking to J on the phone, she concluded that the alleged violations did not rise to the level of a health, fitness, or habitability concern and further determined that the defendants could not be cited for any code violations as the furnace reached a level of sixty-five degrees, which was legally sufficient, especially in July, and the housing code did not require chimneys or fireplaces to be provided or maintained. In its memorandum of decision, the court determined, inter alia, that based on the record and the evidence presented, the plaintiffs failed to prove by a fair preponderance of the evidence that the violations alleged in the complaint rose to the level of violations materially affecting the health, safety, and habitability of the premises and, therefore, rendered judgment in favor of the defendants. Thereafter, the plaintiffs appealed to this court, arguing that their