DocketNumber: No. SPWA9511 15883
Citation Numbers: 1996 Conn. Super. Ct. 2851-WWW
Judges: JONES, JUDGE.
Filed Date: 4/3/1996
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 4/17/2021
On or about July 25, 1995, plaintiff T.D.B. International became the owner of a two-thirds, undivided interest in real property located at 1750 Highland Avenue, Waterbury, Connecticut.1 Sometime after June 12, 1995, but before July 25, 1995, the defendant entered into an oral, one year lease with the prior owners, Jo, Marie and Carmine Fidanza, for the rear building of 1750 Highland Avenue. After the conveyance of a two-thirds interest to plaintiff, T.D.B. International, Carmine Fidanza, now Fidanza herein, retained the remaining one-third share.
The plaintiff has brought this summary process action seeking possession of the premises. Plaintiff claims that defendant's month-to-month lease has terminated pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. §
Conversely, Fidanza asserts that plaintiff has no right to maintain an action in summary process for the following reasons 1) plaintiff has only a two-thirds interest in the property and 2) the owner of the other one-third interest is opposed to this summary process action. Without his consent, Fidanza claims, plaintiff's notice to quit is defective because its issuance is not authorized by all of the owners of the property. Therefore, Fidanza argues, an invalid notice to quit deprives this court of jurisdiction.
STANDARDS FOR MAINTAINING A SUMMARY PROCESS ACTION
The standards for summary process are found in statute and case law. "The applicable principles of Connecticut law are codified in General Statutes [Sec.]
Because case law provides no fixed meaning for the word "owner"3 as used in Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec.
Research into the legislative history of the statute provided no fruitful results, and so the court must address the language of the statute, as well as its underlying policy. In construing a statute, the court is bound by what the legislature actually said in the statute. It must be assumed that no word used in the statute is superfluous.
Applying this construction to the case at bar, the court looks to the wording of Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec.
The legislature must have felt it necessary to use "the" to modify "owner" of it would have used another word. Black's Law Dictionary defines "the" as "[a]n article which particularizes the subject spoken of[.]" and notes that "'[t]he most unlettered persons understand that ``a' is indefinite, but ``the' refers to a certain object.'" Black's Law Dictionary, supra, 1324. Given the particular meaning of "the," it is clear that the statute's language, "the owner," refers to an inclusive group which by definition connotes unanimity of interest.5
This finding is further supported by using a common sense approach in construing the statute. Because the statute is aimed at providing possession of real property to those entitled to it, it follows that all owners have an interest in the disposition of the property. To effectuate the statutory intent, it is imperative that all of the owners act as one when bringing a summary process action. Only with a consensus can all the owners unanimity of interest be represented. Therefore, the act of one owner against the wishes of the other owners, CT Page 2854 clearly goes against the statutory purpose of insuring that the owners decide how the property should be utilized.
This court finds that the plaintiff does not fit the definition of the term "the owner" under Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec.
CLARANCE J. JONES, J.