545 A.2d 1094
(13244)Supreme Court of Connecticut
PETERS, C.J., SHEA, CALLAHAN, GLASS and COVELLO, Js.
The plaintiff administrator of the estate of the deceased owner of a certain mobile home sought damages from the defendant, M Co., the owner of the lot on which the mobile home was situated before M Co. removed it. The plaintiff claimed that, by removing the home, M Co. had interfered with his right to sell it in violation of the statute (21-79) prohibiting the owner of a mobile home park from restricting a “resident’s” right to sell a mobile home on-site, except for certain specified reasons. The trial court rendered judgment awarding the plaintiff compensatory damages and costs, and M Co. appealed. Held; 1. The trial court did not err in determining that the plaintiff administrator was a “resident” of a mobile home for purposes of 21-79. 2. The trial court did not err in determining that 21-79, as applied to the facts here, did not constitute a taking of property without just
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compensation in violation of the fifth amendment to the United States constitution.
Argued May 4, 1988
Decision released August 16, 1988
Action to recover damages for, inter alia, the defendant’s alleged interference with the right of the named plaintiff to sell a certain mobile home, brought to the Superior Court in the judicial district of New London and referred to George Kanabis, attorney state trial referee, who recommended judgment for the plaintiff; thereafter, the court, Hendel, J., rendered judgment in accordance with the referee’s report, from which the defendant appealed. No error.
Thomas G. Moukawsher, with whom, on the brief, was Joseph E. Moukawsher, for the appellant (defendant).
Chester Fairlie, for the appellee (plaintiff).
Stephen R. Park, assistant attorney general, with whom, on the brief, were Joseph L Lieberman, attorney general, and Robert M. Langer, William M. Rubenstein and John M. Looney, assistant attorneys general, for the state of Connecticut as amicus curiae.
PER CURIAM.
In this action the plaintiff, Morris Thompson, administrator of the estate of Frieda Sousa, owner of a mobile home, sought monetary damages against the defendant, Merlino Enterprises, Inc., which owns the lot on which the home was located before the defendant removed it in January, 1985. The administrator alleged in his complaint that the defendant had interfered with his right to sell the decedent’s mobile home in violation of General Statutes 21-79.[1] An
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attorney state trial referee, George Kanabis, recommended judgment for the administrator to recover compensatory damages in the amount of $11,500 and also
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recommended that the plaintiff be ordered to convey title to the home to the defendant. Thereafter, the court rendered judgment for the administrator to recover compensatory damages in the amount of $11,500 and costs taxed at $167.80, but sustained the defendant’s objection to the referee’s recommendation that the plaintiff should be ordered to convey title to the home to the defendant on the ground that the defendant did not want such a conveyance even if it were required to pay compensatory damages.
The defendant claims that the trial court erred in concluding: (1) that the administrator of an estate is a “resident” as defined in General Statutes 21-64 (5)[2] and 21-79; and (2) that 21-79
is constitutional as applied to the facts of this case despite the contention that the statute authorizes an unjustified taking of property in violation of the fifth amendment to the United States constitution. We conclude that the administrator was a “resident” as defined in these statutes and that the constitutional challenge must fail in view of our recent decision in Eamiello v. Liberty Mobile Home Sales, Inc., 208 Conn. 620, 546 A.2d 805 (1988), which was argued on the same day as the case at bar. Accordingly, we find no error.
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The referee in his report found the following facts, which were accepted by the court. On March 4, 1972, the plaintiff’s decedent purchased a mobile home from the defendant for a price of $6411.30. The home was purchased on-site in a lot in Long Cove Mobile Home Park (park), which the defendant owned, in the town of Groton. Prior to her death, the plaintiff’s decedent entered into an agreement with a prospective buyer to sell her home on-site for $11,500. The defendant approved the sale and stated that the prospective purchaser would be accepted as a tenant at the park. The sale was never consummated because the prospective buyer was unable to obtain financing. The plaintiff’s decedent died on September 25, 1984. At the time of her death, she resided in her home at the park. Her administrator informed the defendant of his intention to sell the home on-site, and requested its permission to do so, but it refused his request. The administrator continued to pay rent to the defendant, who accepted payment, until it removed the home from the park in January, 1985.
I
The defendant claims that the trial court erred in determining that the administrator of an estate can qualify as a “resident” under 21-64 (5) and 21-79. The referee in his report determined that “[a]fter the death of the [plaintiff’s decedent], the [administrator] became the owner of the mobile home and paid rent to the Defendant, which was accepted.” The court accepted this determination.
We conclude that the administrator of an estate may qualify as a “resident” of a mobile home park under these statutes. Section 21-79[3] prohibits the owner of a mobile home park from restricting a “resident’s” right to sell a mobile home on-site, except for statutorily
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specified reasons. Section 21-64 (5) defines “resident” for the purposes of 21-79 as follows: “`Resident’ means a person who owns, or rents and occupies, a mobile manufactured home in a mobile manufactured home park.” Section 21-64 (5) imposes no residency requirement upon the owner of a mobile home located in a mobile home park to qualify as a park resident.
In Eamiello v. Liberty Mobile Home Sales, Inc., supra, 628-29, the plaintiffs, owners of a mobile home, had moved out of their home before they attempted to sell it and this court concluded that they were entitled to compensatory damages under 21-79 because the mobile home park owner had refused to permit an on-site sale of their home at a time when they no longer resided in it. The owner of a mobile home, such as the administrator of an estate, need not actually reside in the park to qualify as a resident under 21-79. There is no logical basis under this statute for depriving the owner of a mobile home of the greater sales price that is usually obtained when it is sold on-site rather than off-site[4] merely because he resides outside of the park or is the administrator of an estate. It is undisputed that the home in this case in 1985 had a fair market value of $11,500 if it were sold on-site, but almost no value if it were sold off-site. We conclude that the administrator in this case was a “resident” of a mobile home as defined in these statutory provisions and, therefore, that the court did not err in so determining.
II
The defendant claims that the trial court erred in determining that 21-79 is constitutional, as applied
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to the facts of this case. It contends that the statute constitutes an unjustified taking of property in violation of the fifth amendment to the United States constitution. The takings clause of the fifth amendment provides: “[N]or shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
This case was argued on the same day as Eamiello v. Liberty Mobile Home Sales, Inc., supra. The mobile home park owner in each case made virtually the same arguments in contending that 21-79
violates the takings clause of the fifth amendment to the United States constitution. The defendant in this case did not contend that he could prevail even if this court should conclude that 21-79 was constitutional as applied to the facts in Eamiello.
The primary contention of the defendant is that 21-79 violates the takings clause in two ways. First, the entering into a lease by a park owner virtually grants to the tenant a leasehold in perpetuity so long as he pays rent and obeys reasonable regulations established by the park owner. Second, the tenant may resell his home on-site to a new tenant who gains the same perpetual leasehold rights, although the park owner enjoys limited authority under subsection (d) of the statute to reject a prospective buyer who is financially unqualified or intends to use the home for an improper purpose. In Eamiello v. Liberty Mobile Home Sales, Inc., supra, 638-50, we rejected these same contentions and concluded that 21-79 did not violate the takings clause. We need not repeat the analysis put forward in Eamiello. Id.
We conclude that for the purposes of the takings clause it makes no difference that the rights provided by 21-79 benefit the estate of a decedent rather than a living person. The plaintiff administrator in this case enjoys the same rights under the statute as his
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decedent during her life. Accordingly, we conclude that the court did not err in determining that 21-79, as applied to the facts of this case, does not violate the takings clause of the fifth amendment to the United States constitution.
There is no error.