U.S. Bank National Assn. v. Melcon

Citations

• 234 Conn. App. 667

Syllabus

The defendant property owners appealed from the trial court's denial of their second motion to open a judgment of strict foreclosure rendered for the plaintiff. The defendants had filed their first motion to open the judgment of strict foreclosure on the defendants' law day, which the court denied that same day without explanation. The defendants did not appeal from the denial of the first motion to open. The defendants claimed that the court incorrectly determined that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to open the judgment of strict foreclosure on the ground that title already had vested in the plaintiff, thereby rendering the defendants' second motion to open moot. Held: The trial court improperly denied the defendants' second motion to open, as, pursuant to the rule of practice ((2023) § 61-11 (a)) and relevant case law, vesting of title to the property could not occur during the twenty day appeal period after the denial of the first motion to open, and, because law days do not automatically reset after the conclusion of an appeal period in which no appeal is filed, the court retained subject matter jurisdiction over the motion because title had not yet vested in the plaintiff. Argued January 15—officially released August 26, 2025