Cimminello v. A. M. S. Corp.
Cimminello v. A. M. S. Corp.
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiffs brought suit for an injunction and for damages against the defendants, abutting landowners, for altering the natural flow of surface waters and depositing them on the plaintiffs’ land, to their substantial injury. On the institution of the action, the plaintiffs filed a lis pendens in the
Lis pendens, which existed at common law; 34 Am. Jur., Lis Pendens, § 5; has been enacted into § 52-325 of the General Statutes, and the pertinent portion thereof provides for the filing of a “notice of the pendency of the action” in any action “if the same is intended to affect real estate.” Lis pendens is defined as follows: “Literally, a pending suit; but as applied to the doctrine which is thus named, it is the jurisdiction, power or control which courts acquire over property involved in a suit, pending the continuance of the action, and until its final judgment therein; that the court having jurisdiction of the suit or action is entitled to proceed to the final exercise of that jurisdiction, and that it is beyond the power of any of the parties to the action to prevent its doing so by any transfer or other act made or done after the service of the writ or the happening of such other act as may be necessary to the commencement of lis pendens.” Ballentine, Law Dictionary; see 34 Am. Jur., Lis Pendens, § 1. Lis pendens is used where the plaintiff is seeking to establish or enforce an interest previously acquired. Stephenson, Conn. Civil Proc. § 15.
It follows therefore that the trial court had no jurisdiction to hear this “Application . . . for Discharge.” The question of jurisdiction may be raised suo motu by this court. Hoberman v. Lake of Isles, Inc., 138 Conn. 573, 574; see Marcil v. Merriman 3 Sons, Inc., 115 Conn. 678, 682; In re Application of Title 3 Guaranty Co., 109 Conn. 45, 51. Since the trial court had no power to discharge a lis pendens, it was without jurisdiction to act on the application of the defendant Yelardi. If the filing of the lis
There is error in the form of the judgment, it is set aside, and the court is directed to render judgment dismissing the application for discharge of lis pendens for lack of jurisdiction.
In this opinion Dearington and Kinmonth, Js., concurred.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Louis J. Cimminello v. A. M. S. Corporation
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published