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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 911
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4578
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E OPENING OF A JUDGMENT OF STRICT
FORECLOSURE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 49-15 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 2
October 1, 2019): 3
(b) (1) Upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition by a mortgagor 4
under Title 11 of the United States Code, that also imposes an 5
automatic stay pursuant to 11 USC 362(a), and only to the extent the 6
filing of the bankruptcy petition imposes the automatic stay pursuant 7
to 11 USC 362(a), any judgment against the mortgagor foreclosing the 8
title to real estate by strict foreclosure shall be opened automatically 9
without action by any party or the court, provided, the provisions of 10
such judgment, other than the establishment of law days, shall not be 11
set aside under this subsection, provided no such judgment shall be 12
opened (A) after the title has become absolute in any encumbrancer or 13
the mortgagee, or any person claiming under such encumbrancer or 14
mortgagee, and (B) if the automatic stay pursuant to 11 USC 362(a) 15 Raised Bill No. 911
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does not come into existence upon the filing of the bankruptcy 16
petition. 17
(2) If a mortgagor files a bankruptcy petition under Title 11 of the 18
United States Code that does not impose an automatic stay pursuant to 19
11 USC 362(a), but a bankruptcy court subsequently orders a stay 20
during the pendency of the bankruptcy petition, and title to the subject 21
real property has not yet vested in the plaintiff, then upon the 22
imposition of the stay, any judgment against the mortgagor foreclosing 23
the title to real estate by strict foreclosure shall be opened 24
automatically without action by any party or the court, provided, the 25
provisions of such judgment, other than the establishment of law days, 26
shall not be set aside under this subsection, provided no such 27
judgment shall be opened after the title has become absolute in any 28
encumbrancer or the mortgagee, or any person claiming under such 29
encumbrancer or mortgagee. 30
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, no judgment 31
shall be opened, despite the filing of a bankruptcy petition, if (A) a 32
prior order granting in rem relief from the automatic stay has been 33
issued pursuant to 11 USC 362(d)(4) in favor of the plaintiff or the 34
plaintiff's predecessor in interest regarding the subject property, (B) 35
such order has been recorded on the appropriate land records, and (C) 36
such in rem relief is still binding on the subject property at the time of 37
the filing of the bankruptcy petition. 38
(4) The mortgagor shall file a copy of the bankruptcy petition, or an 39
affidavit setting forth the date the bankruptcy petition was filed, with 40
the clerk of the court in which the foreclosure matter is pending. 41
[Upon] (5) If an automatic stay under 11 USC 362 was applicable, 42
upon the termination of the automatic stay authorized pursuant to 11 43
USC 362, the mortgagor shall file with such clerk an affidavit setting 44
forth the date the automatic stay was terminated. Any party, person or 45
entity taking title by virtue of a judgment of strict foreclosure may, at 46
any time, file with the court an affidavit or other document that 47 Raised Bill No. 911
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evidences that the judgment was not opened pursuant to the 48
provisions of this subsection, notwithstanding the filing of a 49
bankruptcy petition by a mortgagor. 50
(6) After an automatic stay is terminated, the court is limited to 51
resetting the law days and making appropriate findings for the 52
purposes of determining redemption under section 49-20. 53
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 49-15(b)
Statement of Purpose:
To clarify state law with respect to reopening a judgment of strict
foreclosure when a bankruptcy petition has been filed.
[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.]