Opinion
No. CV 05 4002696
August 9, 2005
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS
Plaintiff brings this summary process action against the defendants in two counts, the first of which alleges defendants' failure to comply with their obligations under the lease, and the second of which is premised on lapse of time. Defendants have moved the court to dismiss the first count of plaintiff's complaint on the basis that the defendants were not provided written notice of the alleged violations.
C.G.S. Sec. 47a-15 generally requires that, before commencing summary process proceedings on the basis of noncompliance with a tenant's responsibilities, the landlord must provide notice to the tenant of the alleged deficiencies and provide the tenant with 15 days in which to remedy the noncompliance. This notice has come to be known, in Housing Court parlance, as the "Kapa" notice — see Kapa Associates v. Flores, 35 Conn.Sup. 274 (1979) — and failure to provide such notice is fatal to the plaintiff seeking eviction premised on non-exempt noncompliance bases. This "Kapa" notice statute is contained in Chapter 830 of the Connecticut General Statutes. Although Chapter 830 does not itself so state, it has been held that this chapter's application is limited to residential, and not commercial, tenancies. Johnson v. Fuller, 190 Conn. 552 (1983); Hoban v. Masters, 36 Conn.Sup. 611 (1980). It is on this basis that the plaintiff has opposed the defendants' motion to dismiss.
Until 1997, Chapter 830 contained no references to commercial rental arrangements, and that certainly afforded a substantial basis for the limited application of that chapter. However, in 1997 the General Assembly added a requirement to the landlord's responsibilities under Chapter 830 as to commercial leases in shopping centers (C.G.S. Sec. 47a-4b) and also added "commercial" tenancies to the statute governing the measure of damages provisions of C.G.S. Sec. 47a-11c. In light of those changes, Chapter 830 clearly is not limited to residential tenancies.
The above-cited cases discussing the limitation of Chapter 830 to residential leases: (1) predate the 1997 legislative enactments; and (2) do not address the application of C.G.S. 47a-15. A review of C.G.S. 47a-15 reflects the clear intention of affording an opportunity for a tenant to remedy deficiencies so as to avoid the harsh consequences of termination of the rental agreement. There does not appear to be a rationale for permitting a residential, but not a commercial, tenant the statutory right to correct alleged noncompliance with tenant responsibilities, and, indeed, it would appear that promoting the availability of such remedies would enhance health and safety without resort to litigation. In addition, Chapter 830 cannot certainly any longer be considered limited to "residential" leases in light of the present directives of the statutes contained in that chapter.
In light of the above, the defendants' motion to dismiss the first count of plaintiff's complaint is granted.
Epstein, J.