LPP Mortgage Ltd. v. Underwood Towers Ltd. Partnership

Summary

The Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed a second judgment of strict foreclosure, holding that the doctrine of res judicata barred the defendants Underwood Towers Limited Partnership and CDC Management Corporation from relitigating their claim that the substitute plaintiff lacked standing to foreclose, because that claim had been squarely presented and fully and finally rejected in a prior appeal. The court rejected the defendants' argument that Bank of New York Mellon v. Tope had overruled New England Savings Bank v. Bedford Realty Corp. sub silentio and changed the law of foreclosure standing, reasoning that Tope was not a lost note case, neither cited nor discussed Bedford Realty, and involved facts that did not implicate Bedford Realty's principles; Bedford Realty therefore remains controlling, and a plaintiff need not be entitled to enforce a note under the UCC to pursue equitable foreclosure as owner of the debt. The court further held that the judgment remained final in the res judicata sense despite being opened on remand only for the limited purposes of setting new law days and considering attorney's fees.