In this commercial foreclosure action, the plaintiff, LendingHome Funding Corporation, obtained a judgment of strict foreclosure on November 5, 2018. On November 9, 2018, subordinate lienholder Homeowners Finance Co. (H Co.) filed a motion seeking to “enter a judgment of foreclosure by sale” on the grounds that it was willing to bid $25,000 more than the appraised value. This motion was not decided, and the plaintiff proceeded to notify all parties of the entered judgment, which set out law days to commence on February 25, 2019, with the title set to vest in the plaintiff on February 27, 2019. Years later, Homeowners Finance Co. (H Co.) reopened the motion, which was eventually marked off, and then moved to open the judgment, which was denied. H Co. appealed on the grounds that the initial motion served to extend the appellate stay until said motion was decided.

The appellate court rejected the appellant’s arguments, looking to “substance over form” and holding that the “five sentence” motion was not a request to alter the judgment of strict foreclosure and thus not a Practice Book § 63-1(c)(1) motion. Accordingly, there was no appellate stay in place and absolute title vested in the plaintiff when the law days passed without redemption.

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