Connecticut Housing Finance Authority v. John Fitch Court Associates Ltd. Partnership

713 A.2d 900, 49 Conn. App. 142, 1998 Conn. App. LEXIS 268
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedJune 23, 1998
DocketAC 17299
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 713 A.2d 900 (Connecticut Housing Finance Authority v. John Fitch Court Associates Ltd. Partnership) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Appellate Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Connecticut Housing Finance Authority v. John Fitch Court Associates Ltd. Partnership, 713 A.2d 900, 49 Conn. App. 142, 1998 Conn. App. LEXIS 268 (Colo. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

Opinion

SPEAR, J.

The plaintiff, Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA),1 commenced mortgage foreclosure proceedings against the defendants, John Fitch Court Associates Limited Partnership (Fitch) and Carr Property Management, Inc. (Carr Management).2 The subject commercial property, located in Windsor, secured a promissory note in the amount of $1,985,600. CHFA sought foreclosure based on several alleged defaults by Fitch under the terms of the note and the mortgage deed.

The defendants appeal from the summaiy judgment that was rendered in favor of the plaintiff on the complaint and on the defendants’ counterclaim. They assert that summaiy judgment was improper because (1) Carr Management was a third party beneficiary of the note and the mortgage deed between Fitch and CHFA, and was therefore entitled to pursue a counterclaim against CHFA, (2) the counterclaim for wrongful acceleration was legally sufficient and was supported by evidence that raised genuine issues of material fact, and (3) Fitch’s special defense that alleged breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing was valid and was also supported by evidence that raised genuine issues of material fact. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The record reveals the following relevant facts and procedural history. To secure a promissory note in the [144]*144amount of $1,985,600, Fitch, the record owner of the subject property, executed and delivered a mortgage deed, dated January 22, 1988, in favor of CHFA with respect to all of Fitch’s rights in the property.3 Fitch also executed a declaration and agreement of restrictive covenants in favor of CHFA on the same date in which Fitch agreed to be “regulated and restricted” by CHFA as “provided by the mortgage loan documents.”

When Fitch subsequently defaulted under the terms of the note and the mortgage deed, CHFA exercised its option to declare the entire balance on the note due and payable. By letter dated February 24, 1993, CHFA informed Fitch that Fitch had ten days from the date of the letter to cure the listed defaults4 or CHFA would pursue its available legal remedies. Fitch countered by letter dated March 8, 1993, in which it disputed the claimed monetary defaults because the thirty day grace period, as provided for by the terms of the note and the mortgage deed, had not yet expired as to the February 1, 1993 payment. Fitch claimed that it would not be in default as to the February 1, 1993 payment until March 2, 1993. CHFA responded by letter dated March 11, 1993, which stated that as to the monetary defaults that were still unpaid, the thirty day grace period had expired and, if the February payments were made [145]*145immediately, CHFA would allow Fitch until March 25, 1993, to cure the nonmonetary defaults.5

CHFA commenced foreclosure proceedings in May, 1993. In July, 1993, CHFA and Fitch entered into a lockbox agreement, whereby all rents and moneys received from the property would be paid into an account for CHFA’s benefit. In the agreement, Fitch confirmed that it was in default under the terms of the mortgage deed.6 During a deposition on March 8, 1994, Fitch’s general partner, Christopher Carr,7 testified that Fitch was in default for, inter alia, failure to make timely payments as they became due under the note. Fitch subsequently failed either to make payments or to effect a cure of the alleged defaults. The trial court granted CHFA’s motion for summary judgment as to the complaint and the counterclaim, and this appeal followed.

Preliminarily, we note that “[o]ur standard of review of atrial court’s decision to grant a motion for summary judgment is well established. Practice Book § 384 [now Practice Book (1998 Rev.) § 17-49] provides that summary judgment ‘shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, affidavits and any other proof submitted show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.’ ” Zichichi v. Middlesex Memorial Hospital, 204 Conn. 399, 402, 528 A.2d 805 (1987). Further, “the [146]*146moving party for summary judgment has the burden of showing the absence of any genuine issue as to all the material facts, which, under applicable principles of substantive law, entitle him to a judgment as a matter of law. ... To satisfy his burden the movant must make a showing that it is quite clear what the truth is, and that excludes any real doubt as to the existence of any genuine issue of material fact. ... As the burden of proof is on the movant, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the opponent.” (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) D.H.R. Construction Co. v. Donnelly, 180 Conn. 430, 434, 429 A.2d 908 (1980). Moreover, if the evidence presented by the moving party is sufficient to establish that judgment is warranted as a matter of law, it is not rebutted by the bald statement that an issue of fact does exist. Hammer v. Lumberman’s Mutual Casualty Co., 214 Conn. 573, 579, 573 A.2d 699 (1990).

I

The defendants first claim that summary judgment on the counterclaim8 was improper as to Carr Management because a genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether Carr Management was an intended third party beneficiary of the note and the mortgage deed between Fitch and CHFA. We are unpersuaded.

Whether a party is a third party beneficiary of a contract is a question of the intent of the contracting parties. “Although ordinarily the question of contractual intent presents a question of fact for the ultimate fact finder, where the language is clear and unambiguous it [147]*147becomes a question of law for the court.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Gateway Co. v. DiNoia, 232 Conn. 223, 232, 654 A.2d 342 (1995). “[O]ur courts have continued to refer to the intent of the parties to create a direct obligation between the promisor and the beneficiary as the test for determining whether a nonparty to the contract is a third party beneficiary thereof. . . . In determining whether a person has a right of action as a third party beneficiary, [t]he ultimate test to be applied ... is whether the intent of the parties to the contract was that the promisor should assume a direct obligation to the third party [beneficiary] and . . . that intent is to be determined from the terms of the contract read in the light of the circumstances attending its making, including the motives and purposes of the parties.” (Citation omitted; emphasis added; internal quotation marks omitted.) Grigerik v. Sharpe, 45 Conn. App. 775, 783-84, 699 A.2d 189, cert. granted on other grounds, 243 Conn. 918, 701 A.2d 342 (1997). Further, “[t]heintention of the parties to a contract is to be determined from the language used interpreted in the light of the situation of the parties and the circumstances connected with the transaction.

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Bluebook (online)
713 A.2d 900, 49 Conn. App. 142, 1998 Conn. App. LEXIS 268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/connecticut-housing-finance-authority-v-john-fitch-court-associates-ltd-connappct-1998.