Middlesex Mutual Assurance Co. v. Komondy

991 A.2d 587, 120 Conn. App. 117, 2010 Conn. App. LEXIS 107
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedMarch 30, 2010
DocketAC 29665
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 991 A.2d 587 (Middlesex Mutual Assurance Co. v. Komondy) 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
Middlesex Mutual Assurance Co. v. Komondy, 991 A.2d 587, 120 Conn. App. 117, 2010 Conn. App. LEXIS 107 (Colo. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

Opinion

BEACH, J.

The defendant, Marguerite A. Komondy, appeals from the judgment of the trial court granting the application to confirm an arbitration award filed by the plaintiff, Middlesex Mutual Assurance Company, and denying her motion to vacate the award. The defendant claims that the court improperly (1) confirmed the award and denied her motion to vacate and (2) failed to issue an order specifying the manner of payment of the award. We reverse in part the judgment of the trial court.

The following facts are relevant to our resolution of the defendant’s appeal. The defendant owned a home in Chester. She purchased the home before she married Christopher Komondy and has been at all relevant times the sole owner of the property. The defendant was [119]*119insured against loss to her home pursuant to a “restora-tionist” policy (policy) issued by the plaintiff. The policy provides coverage that includes payment of the amount necessary to restore a home to its original state after a fire or other loss.

On March 5, 2005, while the policy was in effect, the defendant’s home was destroyed in a fire. The defendant and the plaintiff were unable to agree on an estimate of an amount necessary to restore the property, and the plaintiff demanded arbitration to resolve the dispute. Following a provision in the policy, the parties submitted the dispute to arbitration by appraisers. The submission directed the arbitrators to determine the actual cash value and the replacement cost of the property.1 Each party appointed an appraiser to act on its own behalf, and the appraisers in turn selected an umpire for the arbitration.

Arbitration proceeded. A total award in the amount of $1,794,919.76 for “replacement cost damage” was signed by the two appraisers and the umpire on August 1, 2007.2 David C. Jones, the appraiser appointed by the defendant, sent a letter providing notice of the award to the defendant’s address. The letter was dated August 9, 2007, and was mailed on August 14, 2007. The envelope containing the letter was addressed only to Christopher Komondy; the salutation of the letter itself was to [120]*120“Chris and Marguerite.” Jones also faxed a copy of the award to Christopher Komondy on August 14,2007. The cover sheet of the fax was directed to “Chris.” The defendant testified that she recognized the letter as a document that Christopher Komondy had received from Jones.

The plaintiff filed an application for confirmation of the award on August 27, 2007. On October 10, 2007, the defendant objected to the application and moved to vacate the award. On February 19, 2008, the court confirmed the award and denied the defendant’s motion to vacate as untimely because it was not filed within thirty days of notice of the reward, as required by General Statutes § 52-420 (b).3 The court concluded that the defendant “received actual notice via her husband [Christopher Komondy],” and “[t]here is no dispute that [Christopher] Komondy was serving de facto, as [the defendant’s] agent and representative in the discussions and negotiations with [the plaintiff].” (Emphasis in original.) This appeal followed.

I

We first address the defendant’s claim that the court improperly confirmed the arbitration award and denied her motion to vacate, in which she claimed that she never properly received written notice of the award. We disagree with her claim.

Unless a provision in the arbitration agreement provides otherwise, General Statutes § 52-416 requires that notice of an arbitration award be given to parties within thirty days from the date the hearing or hearings are completed. Hayes v. Travelers Indemnity Co., 26 Conn. App. 418, 421, 601 A.2d 555 (1992). Section 52-416 (b) specifically states that “[w]ritten notice of the award [121]*121shall be given to each party.” The statute does not specify the manner in which notice must be given to the parties.4 The arbitration hearings were completed on August 1, 2007. The letter and the fax were sent by Jones on August 14, 2007, within the prescribed period.

The defendant, however, argues that there is no evidence in the record that anyone gave written notice of the award to her personally. This argument is based on the facts that the defendant at all times relevant was the sole owner of the property, and both the fax and the envelope containing the letter were addressed to Christopher Komondy. We disagree with the defendant because Christopher Komondy possessed apparent authority5 to receive the written notice on the defendant’s behalf.

We begin with the applicable standard of review. Whether Christopher Komondy had apparent authority to accept notice on behalf of the defendant is an issue of fact that we review under the clearly erroneous standard. See Host America Corp. v. Ramsey, 107 Conn. App. 849, 858, 947 A.2d 957 (“[t]he issue of apparent authority is one of fact” [internal quotation marks omitted]), cert. denied, 289 Conn. 904, 957 A.2d 870 (2008); Union Trust Co. v. McKeon, 76 Conn. 508, 514, 57 A. [122]*122109 (1904) (“the existence of an apparent agency is essentially a question of fact”). The clearly erroneous standard of review provides that “[a] court’s determination is clearly erroneous only in cases in which the record contains no evidence to support it, or in cases in which there is evidence, but the reviewing court is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Considine v. Waterbury, 279 Conn. 830, 858, 905 A.2d 70 (2006). Because the defendant does not claim that the notice given to Christopher Komondy was defective, we must determine only whether the court’s finding that Christopher Komondy had apparent authority was clearly erroneous.

“Apparent authority must be derived not from the acts of the agent but from the acts of his principal. [T]he acts of the principal must be such that (1) the principal held the agent out as possessing sufficient authority to embrace the act in question, or knowingly permitted him to act as having such authority, and (2) in consequence thereof the person dealing with the agent, acting in good faith, reasonably believed, under all the circumstances, that the agent had the necessary authority.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Hallas v. Boehmke & Dobosz, Inc., 239 Conn. 658, 674, 686 A.2d 491 (1997).

“[A] course of conduct . . . may give rise to the apparent authority of one spouse to act on behalf of the other. ... [A spouse] habitually permitted by [the other spouse] to attend to some of [his or her] business matters may be found to have authority to transact all of [his or her] business affairs. . . . An act routinely performed by one spouse for the other may give rise to apparent authority for that spouse to perform the same or a closely related act.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Lopez v. United States,

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Middlesex Mutual Assurance Co. v. Komondy
991 A.2d 587 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
991 A.2d 587, 120 Conn. App. 117, 2010 Conn. App. LEXIS 107, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/middlesex-mutual-assurance-co-v-komondy-connappct-2010.