LLC v. Courtney Autorino et al. (2011)

JUDGMENT AFTER HEARING IN DAMAGES

This action, by verified complaint claiming damages and equitable relief, came to this Court on December 13, 2010 and to a hearing in damages on May 2, 2011.   The action stems from the plaintiff's representation of the defendants in a real estate transaction involving the defendants' purchase of a condominium.   The defendants gave the plaintiff a check, which it deposited in its client fund account, and which was subsequently returned by the bank for insufficient funds, after the closing was completed.   Checks from the plaintiff's client fund account were used to pay the seller as well as the other closing costs.   The defendants received title to the property and one of them presently resides there.

The Court finds that the plaintiff served the defendants with said verified complaint and that the defendants defaulted by failing to appear within the time permitted by law.   Based on the affidavits submitted, the court finds that the defendants are not in the military service.

The Court, having examined the plaintiff's affidavit of debt, and considered the testimony and evidence presented at the hearing in damages, finds that the plaintiff has sustained damages as alleged in its complaint in the amount of $232,828.08, together with $10,798.58 in interest.

Whereupon, it is adjudged that the plaintiff recover of the defendants, jointly and severally, damages in the amount of $243,626.66 which, after trebling those damages pursuant to General Statutes § 52–564, equals $730,879.98, together with attorneys fees and disbursements through March 31, 2011 (exclusive of certain costs reflected in the plaintiff's Bill of Costs), in the amount of $18,766.70, and costs taxed at $1,053.00, for a total monetary judgment in the amount of $750,699.68.

The plaintiff also requests that the court utilize its broad equitable powers to award the plaintiff title to the condominium.   The condominium is described more particularly in the verified complaint as 8 Dewberry Way, Unit No. 4, Bramble Ridge PC, in Suffield, Connecticut.   However, pursuant to the provisions of Practice Book § 17–41, “[u]pon a default, the plaintiff can have no greater relief than that demanded in the complaint ․” Here the complaint seeks “[a] declaration pursuant to Practice Book §§ 17–54–56 that the Gagliardi Firm has a sixty-five (65) percent ownership interest in the Condominium and that its ownership interest was valid and effective as of November 19, 2010.”   The sixty-five percent number is evidently based on the amount of the purchase price which was paid with the plaintiff's funds, that is, $232,828.08, as a percentage of the purchase price of $355,000.00, which is sixty-five (65) percent.   Since the complaint did not seek title to one hundred percent of the ownership interest in the condominium, the court cannot order such relief.   Therefore the court also enters judgment declaring that the Gagliardi Firm has a sixty-five (65) percent ownership interest in the condominium and that its ownership interest was valid and effective as of November 19, 2010.

Jan S. Scholl, J.

Scholl, Jane S., J.