Pittu v. Bugaj Contractors Co., LLC

Citations

• 234 Conn. App. 28

Syllabus

The defendant contractor appealed from the judgment of the trial court discharging a mechanic's lien that the defendant had placed on certain real property owned by the plaintiffs. The defendant claimed that the court improperly shifted the burden of proof to the defendant by requiring it to prove that it did not breach a contract entered into between the parties, rather than requiring it to prove only that there was probable cause to sustain its lien. Held: This court concluded that, although the trial court articulated the correct burdens of proof delineated in the statute (§ 49-35b) governing the hearing on the plaintiffs' application for the discharge of the mechanic's lien, the trial court's determinations rested on legally erroneous grounds, as the trial court incorrectly determined that its finding that the defendant had breached the parties' contract precluded the defendant from establishing a valid mechanic's lien, because, even though the defendant had not substantially performed under the parties' contract, the defendant could properly rely on the contract price, and the invoices and change orders submitted there- with, to demonstrate the value of its materials and services for the purposes of establishing that there was probable cause to sustain the lien. Argued January 13—officially released July 29, 2025