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LPP Mortgage Ltd. v. Underwood Towers Ltd. Partnership
LPP MORTGAGE LTD. v. UNDERWOOD TOWERS
LIMITED PARTNERSHIP ET AL.
(SC 21236)
Mullins, C. J., and McDonald, D’Auria,
Ecker, Dannehy and Bright, Js.
Syllabus
The substitute plaintiff, L Co., sought to foreclose a mortgage on certain commercial property leased by the named defendant, U Co., from the defendant city of Hartford. In a prior appeal before the Appellate Court from the judgment of strict foreclosure rendered in favor of L Co., the city claimed that New England Savings Bank v. Bedford Realty Corp. (238 Conn. 745), on which the trial court relied in determining that L Co. had standing to pursue foreclosure, was overruled sub silentio in subsequent decisions by this court. The Appellate Court rejected the city’s claim, affirmed the judgment of strict foreclosure, and remanded the case for the setting of new law days. On remand, the city filed a motion for determination of priorities in which it proposed a list of law days to reflect its earlier claim that L Co. lacked standing to pursue foreclosure. The trial court denied that motion, and the city appealed, challenging, inter alia, the denial of that motion. On appeal before this court, the city argued, inter alia, that the doctrine of res judicata did not bar it from relitigating its claim regarding L Co.’s standing on the ground that this court’s decision in Bank of New York Mellon v. Tope (345 Conn. 662), which was released after the Appellate Court resolved the city’s appeal in favor of L Co., changed the law governing L Co.’s standing in the present case. Held:
This court concluded that the doctrine of res judicata barred the city from relitigating its claim regarding L Co.’s standing.
In so concluding, this court was guided by its decision in the companion case of LPP Mortgage Ltd. v. Underwood Towers Ltd. Partnership (355 Conn. 316), in which the court determined that its decision in Tope did not change the law governing the issue of L Co.’s standing.
Argued May 13—officially released August 11, 2026
Procedural History
Action to foreclose a mortgage on certain real property owned by the defendant city of Hartford in which
the named defendant held a leasehold interest, and for
other relief, brought to the Superior Court in the judicial district of Hartford and transferred to the Complex Litigation Docket; thereafter, LPP Mortgage, Inc.,
was substituted as the plaintiff; subsequently, the case
was tried to the court, Schuman, J.; judgment of strict
LPP Mortgage Ltd. v. Underwood Towers Ltd. Partnership
foreclosure, from which the defendant city of Hartford
appealed to the Appellate Court, Cradle, Alexander and
Lavine, Js., which affirmed the trial court’s judgment
and remanded the case for the purpose of setting new
law days; thereafter, on remand, the court, Farley, J.,
granted the substitute plaintiff’s motion to open; subsequently, the court, Farley, J., denied the motions to
dismiss filed by the named defendant et al. and denied
the motion filed by the defendant city of Harford for
determination of priorities; thereafter, the court, Farley, J., rendered judgment of strict foreclosure, from which
the defendant city of Hartford appealed. Affirmed.
David R. Roth, with whom were Shana Hurley and, on
the brief, David S. Hoopes, Jay R. Lawlor and Stephen
T. Price, for the appellant (defendant city of Hartford).
Michael S. Taylor, with whom were Brendon P.
Levesque and, on the brief, Nicholas P. Vegliante, J.
David Folds, pro hac vice, and John G. McJunkin, pro
hac vice, for the appellee (substitute plaintiff).
Opinion
MULLINS, C. J. This is the companion case to LPP
Mortgage Ltd. v. Underwood Towers Ltd. Partnership,
355 Conn. 316, A.3d (2026), which we also decide
today. In this commercial foreclosure action, the defendant city of Hartford1 appeals from the trial court’s
judgment of strict foreclosure rendered in favor of the
substitute plaintiff, LPP Mortgage, Inc.2
Our decision in the companion case details the facts
and procedural history of this case. See id., .
On appeal, the defendant challenges, among other
things, the trial court’s denial of its motion for
1
Underwood Towers Limited Partnership, CDC Management Corporation, Greystone Servicing Corporation, Inc., Mac-Gray Services, Inc., United Way of the Capital Area, Inc., and Xerox-Hartford Associates also were named as defendants. For convenience, we refer to the city of Hartford as the defendant.
2
LPP Mortgage Ltd. commenced this foreclosure action in 2006. Thereafter, LPP Mortgage, Inc., was substituted as the plaintiff.
LPP Mortgage Ltd. v. Underwood Towers Ltd. Partnership
determination of priorities, in which it proposed a list
of law days “to reflect [its] claim that the plaintiff lacks standing, or is otherwise not entitled, to foreclose its
mortgage as to Note B.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) In support of its claim, like the defendants Underwood Towers Limited Partnership and CDC Management
Corporation in the companion case, the defendant asserts
that this court’s decision in Bank of New York Mellon v.
Tope, 345 Conn. 662, 286 A.3d 891 (2022), changed the
law of standing, such that res judicata and the law of the case doctrine did not bar the defendant from reviving its claim that the plaintiff lacked standing to foreclose the mortgage. Guided by our decision in LPP Mortgage Ltd.
v. Underwood Towers Ltd. Partnership, supra, 355 Conn.
, in which we determined that Tope did not change
the law, we conclude that the doctrine of res judicata
precludes the defendant from revisiting the issue of the
plaintiff’s standing in the present case.3 Accordingly,
we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The judgment is affirmed and the case is remanded for
further proceedings according to law.4
In this opinion the other justices concurred.
Accordingly, for convenience, we refer to the substitute plaintiff as the plaintiff throughout this opinion.
3
Having concluded that the doctrine of res judicata applies, we need not determine whether the law of the case doctrine also precludes the defendant from relitigating its standing claim.
4
See Wahba v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 349 Conn. 483, 508 n.10, 316 A.3d 338 (2024).