Montanaro v. Pandolfini
| Decision Date | 21 February 1961 |
| Citation | 148 Conn. 153,168 A.2d 550 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | Patrick J. MONTANARO v. Vincenzo PANDOLFINI. Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut |
Myron Friedman, Hartford, with whom, on the brief, were Samuel H. Friedman and A. R. Friedman, Hartford, for appellant (defendant).
John Poulos, with whom was Daniel Blume, Hartford, for appellee (plaintiff).
Before BALDWIN, C. J., KING, MURPHY and MELLITZ, JJ., and ALCORN, Superior Court Judge.
The plaintiff brought this action for specific performance to compel the defendant to carry out the terms of a written agreement to sell to the plaintiff a ten-family house on Albany Avenue, Hartford, which the defendant owned. The plaintiff also sought damages. The defendant demurred to the complaint on the ground that the agreement did not comply with the requirements of the Statute of Frauds and, more specifically, that the terms of the purchase money mortgage provided for in the agreement were uncertain and indefinite. The trial court overruled the demurrer. Thereupon the defendant filed an answer in which he set up in a special defense his claim as to the interpretation of the agreement. Upon trial, the issues were found for the plaintiff and judgment was rendered in his favor. The defendant has appealed. We shall take up the assignment of error relating to the overruling of the demurrer.
The plaintiff in his complaint alleged the execution by the parties on February 24, 1958, of the agreement, a copy of which was attached to the complaint and marked exhibit A. He alleged also that on May 1, 1958, in accordance with the terms of the agreement, he tendered the balance of the cash payment to the defendant, together with an executed purchase money mortgage in the amount and on the terms specified in the agreement, and demanded a conveyance of the premises. Upon the defendant's refusal to convey, he instituted this suit. It is unnecessary to recite all of the provisions of exhibit A. The parties are named, the property is described, the price is stated and the agreement is signed. Suffice it to say that while the demurrer is addressed to the entire complaint, only the portion of the agreement providing for the purchase money mortgage is under attack. It reads as follows: The trial court in its memorandum of decision on the demurrer concluded that the agreement provided for the principal of the mortgage to be paid with interest at the rate of 5 per cent in equal monthly instalments for a period of fifteen years and that the contract was definite, certain and not in violation of the Statute of Frauds. General Statutes § 52-550.
That the provision in question is susceptible to at least two interpretations is evidenced by the construction which has been placed upon it by each of the parties. The plaintiff claims that the $18,000, together with interest at the rate of 5 per cent per annum, was payable in successive equal monthly payments of $142.35, starting one month after title passed and continuing over a period of fifteen years. Under this construction, the amount of the total monthly payment would be constant, but the allocation of it to principal and interest would vary. The allotment to principal would increase progressively each month from $67.35 the first month to $139.74 on the final payment, whereas the allotment to interest would decrease each month from $75 the first month to 58 cents the last month. The defendant claimed that the principal of $18,000 was payable in equal monthly instalments of $100 each for a period of fifteen years with interest on the unpaid balance at the rate of 5 per cent per annum payable monthly. Under this construction, the amount of the total monthly payment would not be constant, though the instalments on the principal would. The interest payments would decrease each month as the unpaid balance of the principal became less.
It is to be noted that the mortgage provision in the agreement does not specify when the monthly payments are to commence, nor does it state the amount of each payment. It does not state that the payments...
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Breen v. Phelps
...175 Conn. 112, 117-22, 394 A.2d 716 (1978); Stocker v. Waterbury, 154 Conn. 446, 449, 226 A.2d 514 (1967); Montanaro v. Pandolfini, 148 Conn. 153, 157, 168 A.2d 550 (1961). We conclude, therefore, that we may review the ruling of the trial court striking the first count of the complaint in ......
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Town of East Haven v. City of New Haven
...v. Mongillo, 96 Conn. 541, 545, 114 A. 914.' See also Marsico v. Kessler, 149 Conn. 236, 237, 178 A.2d 154; Montanaro v. Pandolfini, 148 Conn. 153, 157, 168 A.2d 550; Garre v. Geryk, 145 Conn. 669, 672, 145 A.2d The court's memorandum of decision indicates that it inferred the existence of ......
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Botticello v. Stefanovicz
...of the sale, the terms of it and the parties to it, so as to furnish evidence of a complete agreement." Montanaro v. Pandolfini, 148 Conn. 153, 157, 168 A.2d 550, 552 (1961); Santoro v. Mack, 108 Conn. 683, 687-88, 145 A. 273 (1929). There is no dispute in this case concerning the subject o......
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DeLuca v. C. W. Blakeslee & Sons, Inc.
...v. Mongillo, 96 Conn. 541, 545, 114 A. 914.' See also Marsico v. Kessler, 149 Conn. 236, 237, 178 A.2d 154; Montanaro v. Pandolfini, 148 Conn. 153, 157, 168 A.2d 550; Garre v. Geryk, 145 Conn. 669, 672, 145 A.2d It is also well settled that the requirements of § 52-550 apply equally to acti......