Opinion
No. CV06-5005611S
June 1, 2007
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION
This is a civil suit wherein the plaintiff is seeking money damages from the defendant, a former tenant. The defendant has been defaulted for failure to appear. This court heard the matter as a hearing in damages on May 31, 2007. The defendant is not in the military service.
In the first count the plaintiff claims that the defendant was a tenant, in an apartment owned by the plaintiff, from 2001 through April 30, 2005, and that the defendant has failed to pay for the use and occupancy of said premises in the amount of $ 11,950.00 covering the period from March 1, 2004 through April 30, 2005. It is also claimed that after the defendant vacated the premises, the plaintiff was required to expend $ 1,300.00 to repair damage caused by the defendant.
In the second count the plaintiff claims that on December 15, 2004 the defendant issued a check to the plaintiff for the use and occupancy charges in the amount of $ 8,350.00 and that the check was returned for insufficient funds. The plaintiff claims that this conduct constituted a larceny and he seeks treble damages pursuant to the theft statute, General Statutes Section 52-564. The third count seeks money damages and attorneys fees for what the plaintiff describes as fraud. "The tort of `[c]onversion occurs when one, without authorization, assumes and exercises ownership over property belonging to another, to the exclusion of the owner's rights." (Emphases added; internal quotation marks omitted.) Wellington Systems, Inc. v. Redding Group, Inc., 49 Conn.App. 152, 169, 714 A.2d 21, cert., denied, 247 Conn. 905, 720, A.2d 516 (1998). Similarly `[s]tatutory theft under [General Statutes] § 52-564 is synonymous with larceny [as provided in] General Statutes § 53a-119 . . . Pursuant to § 53a-119, [a] person commits larceny when, with intent to deprive another of property or to appropriate the same to himself or a third person, he wrongfully takes, obtains or [withholds] such property from [the] owner." (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Suarez-Negrete v. Trotta, 47 Conn.App. 517, 520-21, CT Page 8776 705 A.2d 215 (1998).
The conduct of the defendant violated General Statutes Section 53a-138 entitled "issuing a bad check." The plaintiff has failed to prove that the defendant committed either a theft or a fraud.
The evidence showed that the defendant paid $ 500.00 towards her obligation. The plaintiff has proven that he is entitled to $ 11,750.00 for the use and occupancy, and $ 1,300.00 for the cost of repairs, less the $ 500.00 payment.
Judgment may enter on the first count in the amount of $ 12,550.00 The second and third counts are dismissed.