§ 49-35a — Application for reduction or discharge. Forms. Hearing. Entry fee.

(a) Whenever one or more mechanics' liens are placed upon any real estate pursuant to sections 49-33, 49-34, 49-35 and 49-38, the owner of the real estate, if no action to foreclose the lien is then pending before any court, may make application, together with a proposed order and summons, to the superior court for the judicial district in which the lien may be foreclosed under the provisions of section 51-345, or to any judge thereof, that a hearing or hearings be held to determine whether the lien or liens should be discharged or reduced. The court or judge shall thereupon order reasonable notice of the application to be given to the lienor or lienors named therein and, if the application is not made by all owners of the real estate as may appear of record, shall order reasonable notice of the application to be given to all other such owners, and shall set a date or dates for the hearing or hearings to be held thereon. If the lienor or lienors or any owner entitled to notice is not a resident of this state, the notice shall be given by personal service, registered or certified mail, publication or such other method as the court or judge shall direct. At least four days' notice shall be given to the lienor, lienors or owners entitled to notice prior to the date of the hearing. (b) The application, order and summons shall be substantially in the following form: APPLICATION FOR DISCHARGE OR REDUCTION OF MECHANIC'S LIEN To the .... Court of .... The undersigned represents: 1. That .... is the owner of the real estate described in Schedule A attached hereto. 2. That the names and addresses of all other owners of record of such real estate are as follows: 3. That on or about ...., (date) ...., (name of lienor) of .... (address of lienor) placed a mechanic's lien on such real estate and gave notice thereof. 4. That there is not probable cause to sustain the validity of such lien (or: That such lien is excessive). 5. That the applicant seeks an order for discharge (or reduction) of such lien. Name of Applicant By .... Applicant's Attorney ORDER The above application having been presented to the court, it is hereby ordered, that a hearing be held thereon at .... a.m. and that the applicant give notice to the following persons: (Names and addresses of persons entitled to notice) of the pendency of said application and of the time when it will be heard by causing a true and attested copy of the application, and of this order to be served upon such persons by some proper officer or indifferent person on or before .... and that due return of such notice be made to this court. Dated at .... this .... day of .... 20... SUMMONS To a state marshal of the county of ...., or either constable of the town of ...., in said county, Greeting: By authority of the state of Connecticut, you are hereby commanded to serve a true and attested copy of the above application and order upon ...., of .... by leaving the same in such person's hands or at such person's usual place of abode (or such other notice as ordered by the court) on or before .... Hereof fail not but due service and return make. Dated at .... this .... day of .... 20... .... Commissioner of the Superior Court (1) If the clerk, upon receipt of all the documents in duplicate, finds them to be in proper form, the clerk shall fix a date for a hearing on the application and sign the order of hearing and notice. An entry fee of twenty dollars shall then be collected and a copy of the original document shall be placed in the court file. (2) The clerk shall deliver to the applicant's attorney the original of the documents for service. Service having been made, the original documents shall be returned to the court with the endorsement by the officer of such officer's actions. (c) If an action for foreclosure of the lien is pending before any court, any party to that action may at any time prior to trial, unless an application under subsection (a) of this section has previously been ruled upon, move that the lien be discharged or reduced. (d) No more than one application under subsection (a) hereof or motion under subsection (c) hereof shall be ruled upon with respect to any single mechanic's lien, except that the foregoing shall not preclude an application or motion by a person not given notice of the prior application or not a party to the action at the time the prior motion was ruled upon.

Legislative History

(P.A. 75-418, S. 4, 10; P.A. 76-290, S. 3, 6; 76-436, S. 658, 681; P.A. 79-602, S. 89; P.A. 82-472, S. 132, 183; P.A. 00-99, S. 101, 154; P.A. 01-195, S. 47, 181; P.A. 03-19, S. 113.) History: P.A. 76-290 made minor change in wording of Subsec. (b)(1); P.A. 76-436 deleted reference to applications to court of common pleas in Subsec. (a), effective July 1, 1978; P.A. 79-602 substituted “the” or “that” for “such” where appearing; P.A. 82-472 deleted obsolete reference in Subsec. (a) to court for the “county”; P.A. 00-99 replaced reference to sheriff and deputy sheriff with state marshal in Subsec. (b), effective December 1, 2000 (Revisor's note: The references in Subsec. (b) of this section to the date “19..” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “20..” to reflect the new millennium); P.A. 01-195 made technical changes in Subsec. (b) for purposes of gender neutrality, effective July 11, 2001; P.A. 03-19 made a technical change in Subsec. (b)(1), effective May 12, 2003. Cited. 177 C. 295; 180 C. 501; 181 C. 592; 183 C. 108. Challenge by general contractor to constitutionality of mechanic's lien statutes discussed. 185 C. 583. Cited. 188 C. 253; 209 C. 185; 210 C. 511; 217 C. 361; 235 C. 595. Cited. 6 CA 180; 10 CA 45; 27 CA 199. Trial court did not improperly discharge a lien under section without first holding a required hearing because, despite defendant's earlier filing for a continuance, defendant failed to appear at the hearing and forfeited his rights against plaintiff. 54 CA 355. Cited. 33 CS 552; 42 CS 460.