Rocamora v. Heaney
Rocamora v. Heaney
Opinion of the Court
In this consolidated action to quiet title, the plaintiff, Joanne Rocamora, appeals from the trial court’s judgments quieting title in favor of the defendants in the first case, Peter H. Heaney, Patricia Heaney Farr, Helen Heaney, and Michael K. Heaney, and the defendants in the second case, Patricia Acton and Marilyn Moss, determining that a map prepared by the defendants’ expert established the boundary lines and titles to the plaintiffs property and three other lots.
The record reveals the following facts and procedural history. The parties are the owners of lots 11, 12, 13 and 14 depicted on a 1919 map entitled “Plan of Beach Point on West Bank of Niantic River, East Lyme, Conn.”
At issue in the quiet title actions are the parties’ conflicting opinions of the location of the boundaries between the properties, and the impact of the boundary locations on ownership of triangular sections of land along those boundaries, especially between the Acton and Rocamora lots and between the Rocamora and Heaney lots. The parties stipulated to, among other items, the following: “The plaintiff asserts that there
The plaintiff first claims that the court erred in failing to resolve the quiet title action in a manner consistent with intent of the original grantor and grantees. In support of this claim, the plaintiff argues that because Smith included in the four original deeds an express condition that the 1919 map determined the property boundaries, any lines or boundaries that do not agree with the map must be rejected. We begin with the relevant legal principles concerning the construction of deeds. “[T]he determination of the intent behind language in a deed, considered in the fight of all the surrounding circumstances, presents a question of law on which our scope of review is plenary. . . . The meaning and effect of the [language in the deed] are to be determined, not by the actual intent of the parties, but by the intent expressed in the deed, considering all its relevant provisions and reading it in the fight of the surrounding circumstances.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Simone v. Miller, 91 Conn. App. 98, 108, 881 A.2d 397 (2005).
“In the construction of a deed or grant, the language is to be construed in connection with, and in reference to, the nature and condition of the subject matter of the grant at the time the instrument is executed, and the obvious purpose the parties had in view. . . . [I]f the meaning of the language contained in a deed or conveyance is not clear, the trial court is bound to
As demonstrated by this court’s holding in Simone, descriptions on a map referred to in a deed are to be credited “as fully and effectually” as if they were words in the deed. Simone v. Miller, supra, 91 Conn. App. 109. It is true, as the plaintiff contends, that the relevant deeds all refer to the 1919 map and all contain a condition that the grantees agreed to the lines depicted on it. The plaintiff argues that this express condition renders the intent provided in the deed “clear and unequivocal.” It is also true, however, that each original deed contains, after the language of conveyance and immediately after the reference to the map, the words “and bounded and described as follows,” followed by a metes and bounds description of the property boundaries. Those descriptions, which include references to monuments, correspond to the locations of monuments found by Pfanner.
The plaintiff argues that because the deed descriptions do not match the 1919 map, and because of discrepancies in distance ranging from zero feet to two
The plaintiff has provided no authority for the proposition that terms and descriptions on a map, even when recorded or made a condition of a deed, take precedence over other descriptive terms or references to monuments in a deed. Instead, our law is clear on the proper method of resolving such discrepancies. “[W]hen a deed sets forth two different descriptions of the property to be conveyed, the one containing the less certainty must yield to that possessing the greater, if apparent conflict between the two cannot be reconciled.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Simone v. Miller, supra, 91 Conn. App. 109. “[W]here the testimony of witnesses as to the location of the land described in deeds is in conflict, it becomes a question of fact for the determination of the court which may rely upon the opinions of experts to resolve the problem and it is the court’s duty to accept that testimony or evidence which appears more credible.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Har v. Boreiko, 118 Conn. App. 787, 796, 986 A.2d 1072 (2010). “The credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be accorded to their testimony
After our plenary review of the record, we conclude that the conflicting descriptions in the deeds between the map and the metes and bounds descriptions rendered the intent in the deed unclear, and therefore, the court was correct in considering “any relevant extrinsic evidence introduced by the parties”; (internal quotation marks omitted) Simone v. Miller, supra, 91 Conn. App. 109; to determine the intent expressed in the deed. Because the court’s determination of that intent was based largely on its assessment of each expert’s credibility, we will not overturn it on that basis.
With regard to the plaintiffs second claim, that the Pfanner map and the other unrecorded maps that were in evidence could not be used to determine title because they were not in the chain of title for any of the lots, the plaintiff misstates their relevance to this case. The court did not determine that any of those maps provided notice to the grantees of boundary lines or other elements of title, which was the determinative issue in the cases cited by the plaintiff. See Powers v. Olson, 252 Conn. 98, 109, 742 A.2d 799 (2000); Kulmacz v. Milas, 108 Conn. 538, 144 A. 32 (1928); Marshall v. Soffer, 58 Conn. App. 737, 743-44, 756 A.2d 284 (2000). Instead, the court noted those maps among the many sources of relevant evidence that supported Pfanner’s methodology, making his testimony more credible than that of Meehan. Because those maps were not used provide notice of title, the plaintiffs argument is, therefore, without merit.
The plaintiff next claims that the court erred in admitting the 1920 map, because as an unrecorded map outside the chain of title, it was irrelevant, and because it was hearsay that did not satisfy the requirements of a
We need not address whether the map properly satisfied either of the two hearsay exceptions under which the defendants sought to have it admitted, because even if the court erred in admitting the evidence, the party challenging its admission “bears the burden of demonstrating that the error was harmful.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) In re Galen F., 54 Conn. App. 590, 601,
Finally, the plaintiff claims that the court erroneously determined that the 1919 map could not be scaled, because Meehan testified that it could be scaled, and because on cross-examination Pfanner admitted that it could be scaled. “A finding of fact is clearly erroneous when there is no evidence in the record to support it ... or when although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Seymour v. Region One Board of Education, 274 Conn. 92, 104, 874 A.2d 742, cert. denied, 546 U.S. 1016, 126 S. Ct. 659, 163 L. Ed. 2d 526 (2005). Although the court did hear testimony that it was possible to scale the map, it also heard the previously mentioned testimony that it could not be scaled accurately or at all. On the entire evidence presented, we are not persuaded that a mistake was committed.
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
The trial court granted a motion to consolidate two quiet title actions commenced by the plaintiff. We refer in this opinion to the defendants in the first action, Peter H. Heaney, Patricia Heaney Parr, Helen Heaney, and Michael K. Heaney, collectively, as Heaney.
The named defendant in the second action was Elizabeth Acton. At trial, the parties stipulated on the record that Patricia Acton and Marilyn Moss were the real parties in interest and they were substituted as defendants. We refer in this opinion to Patricia Acton and Marilyn Moss, collectively, as Acton.
The court also approved, with the consent of all parties, the addition of defendants John P. Petrillo, Jr. and Gail Petrillo as trustees of the Petrillo Real Estate Trust, whose property was conveyed by the same owner as the other parties’ property as part of a four-lot subdivision of a single parcel.
We refer in this opinion to John P. Petrillo, Jr., and Gail Petrillo, collectively, as Petrillo. Sometime after the original conveyances from Smith, Petrillo acquired additional land to the north of their lot that was not part of the original conveyance and not included in the Petrillo lot on the 1919 map.
The dispute also involved ownership of a reserve area between the four lots and the Niantic River that was conveyed as a common ownership area to the four original grantees by Smith. The parties stipulated that each property owner would have exclusive ownership of that part of the common area adjacent to each owner’s lot, with the boundaries determined by extending to the Niantic River whatever line the court determined to be the boundary between each of the lots.
A class A-2 survey is one that meets certain standards for linear and angular precision and accuracy as specified in Regs., Conn. State Agencies § 20-300b-ll.
The surveyors testified in detail about their efforts to “scale” the map, demonstrating in the courtroom the act of measuring a distance on the map and using the distance scale on the map to calculate the actual distance that it depicted.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.