DocketNumber: FILE NO. 1156
Citation Numbers: 441 A.2d 869, 37 Conn. Super. Ct. 889, 37 Conn. Supp. 889
Judges: DALY, J.
Filed Date: 1/29/1982
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 1/12/2023
Alleging that the defendants had rented the plaintiffs' residence under an oral month-to-month lease which had expired by lapse of time, the plaintiffs instituted this action to recover possession of the premises located on Henry Sanford Road in Bridgewater. With their answer denying these allegations, the defendants filed a special defense averring that they had contracted for the purchase and sale of the plaintiffs' premises and had paid to the plaintiffs $6000 as "deposit and earnest money" under the contract. The defendants further alleged that after signing the purchase and sale contract, the plaintiffs had orally agreed to extend the closing date and to allow the defendants to take possession of the premises pending the closing on the condition that they pay the plaintiffs $600 per month, to be applied to the purchase price. Based on these allegations, the defendants denied any tenancy of the premises and claimed a right to possession of the premises by virtue of an equitable title. *Page 890
The trial court rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiffs for immediate possession of the premises, directing the defendants to pursue their rights and remedies under General Statutes
It is undisputed that the trial court rejected as irrelevant any evidence submitted by the defendants in support of their special defense. As we have observed, "[n]ow that a one-tier Superior Court system has been created, it would be impractical and a waste of judicial time to require a defendant in a summary process action to bring a separate suit in the same court in order to raise his equitable defenses." Steinegger v. Fields,
There is error, the judgment is set aside and a new trial is ordered.
In this opinion BIELUCH and COVELLO, Js., concurred.