Bill Text: CT HB06493 | 2011 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An Act Permitting Appeals Of Small Claims Matters.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-04 - Public Hearing 03/09 [HB06493 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2011-HB06493-Introduced.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 6493
January Session, 2011		LCO No. 3999
		*03999_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on Judiciary
Introduced by:
(JUD)

AN ACT PERMITTING APPEALS OF SMALL CLAIMS MATTERS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 51-15 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011):

(a) In accordance with the provisions of section 51-14, the judges of the Superior Court shall make such orders and rules as they deem necessary or advisable concerning the commencement of process and procedure in flowage petitions, paternity proceedings, replevin, summary process, habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, ne exeat, quo warranto, forcible entry and detainer, peaceable entry and forcible detainer, for paying rewards, for cases filed on and after January 1, 1994, which are expedited process cases pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of section 52-195b, and for the hearing and determination of small claims, including suitable forms of procedure in such cases, exclusive of fees.

(b) The judges of the Superior Court shall adopt orders and rules for the hearing and determination of small claims that shall include: (1) Provisions for the institution of small claims actions by attorneys-at-law on suitable forms to be served by a proper officer or indifferent person upon the defendant in the same manner as complaints are served in civil actions; (2) notice by mail; (3) provisions for the early hearing of actions and rules for hearings in accordance with sections 51-193t and 52-549a, and the elimination of any and all fees or costs, except a fee for small claims procedure as prescribed in section 52-259; (4) modification of any or all existing rules of pleading, practice and evidence; [and] (5) a stay of the entry of judgment or of the issuance of execution and an alternative procedure according to the usual rules of practice, and (6) procedures for the appeal of small claims actions pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. Such orders and rules shall permit the institution of a small claims action against a nonresident defendant who owns real or personal property in this state and against an out-of-state corporation.

(c) Upon the taking effect of such orders and rules, all provisions of statute, both public and private, and the provisions of any orders or rules adopted by the judges of the Superior Court prior to July 1, 1957, inconsistent with or superseded by them, shall be deemed to be repealed, to the extent necessary to render the orders and rules effective.

(d) The procedure for the hearing and determination of small claims as the same may be prescribed, from time to time, by the judges of the Superior Court shall be used in all small claims sessions of the court. The small claims procedure shall be applicable to all actions, except actions of libel and slander, claiming money damages not in excess of five thousand dollars, and to no other actions. If an action is brought in the small claims session by a tenant pursuant to subsection (g) of section 47a-21 to reclaim any part of a security deposit which may be due, the judicial authority hearing the action may award to the tenant the damages authorized by subsection (d) of said section and, if authorized by the rental agreement or any provision of the general statutes, costs, notwithstanding that the amount of such damages and costs, in the aggregate, exceeds the jurisdictional monetary limit established by this subsection. If a motion is filed to transfer a small claims matter to the regular docket in the court, the moving party shall pay the fee prescribed by section 52-259. The Attorney General or an assistant attorney general, or the head of any state agency or his or her authorized representative, while acting in his or her official capacity shall not be required to pay any small claims court fee. There shall be no charge for copies of service on defendants in small claims matters. Any person aggrieved by the final determination in a small claims action claiming money damages in excess of two hundred fifty dollars may appeal therefrom to the Superior Court for a trial de novo.

(e) The orders and rules for the expedited hearing and determination of cases maintained pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of section 52-195b shall include, but shall not be limited to: The modification of any or all existing rules of pleading, practice and evidence; the adoption of procedures for disclosure of material facts at the time of filing of the matter in court; the waiver of the right to appeal a final judgment entered; the transfer of cases under this subsection to the regular docket of the court; an expedited pretrial conference; an expedited assignment for trial on the merits; and the waiver of the right to a record of the trial proceedings. All expedited process cases shall be heard by a judge of the Superior Court.

Sec. 2. Section 51-197a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011):

(a) Appeals from final judgments or actions of the Superior Court shall be taken to the Appellate Court in accordance with section 51-197c, except for small claims, which are not appealable to the Appellate Court, appeals within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as provided for in section 51-199, appeals as provided for in sections 8-8 and 8-9, and except as otherwise provided by statute.

(b) The Appellate Court may issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of its jurisdiction and agreeable to the usages and principles of law.

(c) All matters pending in the appellate session of the Superior Court on July 1, 1983, shall be construed as pending with the same status in the Appellate Court on said date.

(d) Notwithstanding subsection (c) of this section, the appellate session of the Superior Court shall continue to have jurisdiction over appeals which it heard prior to July 1, 1983, pursuant to the provisions which were applicable at such time.

(e) Except as otherwise provided in sections 2-40, 2-42, 7-143, 7-230, 8-8, 8-9, 8-132, 8-132a, 10-153e, 12-4, 13a-76, 31-63, 31-109, 31-118, 31-249b, 31-272, 31-301b, 31-301c, 31-324, 31-491, 31-493, 38a-470, 46a-94, 46a-95, 46b-142, 46b-143, 46b-150c, 51-1a, 51-14, 51-49, 51-50j, 51-164x, 51-165, 51-197a, 51-197b, 51-197c, 51-197e, 51-197f, 51-199, 51-201, 51-202, 51-203, 51-209, 51-210, 51-211, 51-213, 51-215a, 51-216a, 52-235, 52-257, 52-259, 52-263, 52-267, 52-405, 52-434, 52-434a, 52-470, 52-476, 52-477, 52-592, 54-63g, 54-95, 54-96, 54-96a, 54-96b and 54-143, all jurisdiction conferred upon and exercised by the appellate session prior to July 1, 1983, of the Superior Court shall be transferred to the Appellate Court.

Sec. 3. Section 52-263 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011):

Upon the trial of all matters of fact in any cause or action in the Superior Court, whether to the court or jury, or before any judge thereof when the jurisdiction of any action or proceeding is vested in him, if either party is aggrieved by the decision of the court or judge upon any question or questions of law arising in the trial, including the denial of a motion to set aside a verdict, [he] such party may appeal to the court having jurisdiction from the final judgment of the court or of such judge, or from the decision of the court granting a motion to set aside a verdict, except in small claims cases, which shall not be appealable except as provided in section 51-15, as amended by this act, and appeals as provided in sections 8-8 and 8-9.

Sec. 4. Section 52-549a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011):

(a) In any small claims action, the parties may, by agreement, submit such matter to a commissioner of the Superior Court chosen on a rotating basis by the clerk of the court to which such small claim is returned, from a list of such commissioners approved by the Chief Court Administrator, in accordance with section 52-549d, and submitted to the parties by the clerk in the small claims area in which such matter is filed. If the parties fail to agree on the first commissioner so chosen, the clerk shall choose another upon whom the parties may agree on such rotating basis.

(b) If the parties consent to a hearing before a commissioner of the Superior Court, they shall sign a statement, to be filed with the clerk of the superior court in which such action is filed, containing the following: (1) Consent to hearing before such commissioner, which shall contain the name of the commissioner; (2) a brief recital of the nature of the controversy to be determined; and (3) an agreement of the parties to abide by the decision of such commissioner, subject to any appeal to the Superior Court pursuant to section 51-15, as amended by this act.

Sec. 5. Section 52-259 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011):

(a) There shall be paid to the clerks for entering each appeal or writ of error to the Supreme Court, or entering each appeal to the Appellate Court, as the case may be, two hundred fifty dollars, and for each civil cause in the Superior Court, three hundred dollars, except (1) one hundred seventy-five dollars for entering each case in the Superior Court in which the sole claim for relief is damages and the amount, legal interest or property in demand is less than two thousand five hundred dollars and for summary process, landlord and tenant and paternity actions and (2) there shall be no entry fee for making an application to the Superior Court for relief under section 46b-15, [or] for making an application to modify or extend an order issued pursuant to section 46b-15 or for an appeal of a small claims action to the Superior Court pursuant to section 51-15, as amended by this act. If the amount, legal interest or property in demand by the plaintiff is alleged to be less than two thousand five hundred dollars, a new entry fee of seventy-five dollars shall be charged if the plaintiff amends his or her complaint to state that such demand is not less than two thousand five hundred dollars.

(b) The fee for the entry of a small claims case shall be seventy-five dollars. If a motion is filed to transfer a small claims case to the regular docket the moving party shall pay a fee of one hundred twenty-five dollars.

(c) There shall be paid to the clerk of the Superior Court by any party who requests that a matter be designated as a complex litigation case the sum of three hundred twenty-five dollars, to be paid at the time the request is filed.

(d) There shall be paid to the clerk of the Superior Court by any party who requests a finding of fact by a judge of such court to be used on appeal the sum of twenty-five dollars, to be paid at the time the request is filed.

(e) There shall be paid to the clerk of the Superior Court a fee of seventy-five dollars for a petition for certification to the Supreme Court and Appellate Court.

(f) There shall be paid to the clerk of the Superior Court for receiving and filing an assessment of damages by appraisers of land taken for public use or the appointment of a commissioner of the Superior Court, two dollars; for recording the commission and oath of a notary public or certifying under seal to the official character of any magistrate, ten dollars; for issuing a certificate that an attorney is in good standing, ten dollars; for certifying under seal, two dollars; for exemplifying, twenty dollars; for making all necessary records and certificates of naturalization, the fees allowed under the provisions of the United States statutes for such services; and for making copies, one dollar a page.

(g) There shall be paid to the clerk of the Superior Court for a copy of a judgment file a fee of twenty-five dollars, inclusive of the fees for certification and copying, for a certified copy and a fee of fifteen dollars, inclusive of the fee for copying, for a copy which is not certified; and for a copy of a certificate of judgment in a foreclosure action, as provided by the rules of practice and procedure, twenty-five dollars, inclusive of the fees for certification and copying.

(h) There shall be paid to the clerk of the Superior Court a fee of one hundred seventy-five dollars at the time any application for a prejudgment remedy is filed.

(i) A fee of twenty dollars for any check issued to the court in payment of any fee which is returned as uncollectible by the bank on which it is drawn may be imposed.

(j) The tax imposed under chapter 219 shall not be imposed upon any fee charged under the provisions of this section.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2011	51-15
Sec. 2	October 1, 2011	51-197a
Sec. 3	October 1, 2011	52-263
Sec. 4	October 1, 2011	52-549a
Sec. 5	October 1, 2011	52-259

Statement of Purpose:

To permit any party aggrieved by a judgment in a small claims court to appeal the judgment to the Superior Court for a trial de novo if the amount in dispute is more than two hundred fifty dollars.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]