Quicken Loans, Inc. v. Rodriguez

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Quicken Loans, Inc. v. Rodriguez

QUICKEN LOANS, INC. v. JOSE
RODRIGUEZ ET AL.
(AC 46309)
Suarez, Clark and Westbrook, Js.

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought to foreclose a mortgage on certain real property owned
by the defendants M and J. After defaulting the defendants for failure
to plead, the trial court rendered a judgment of foreclosure by sale. The
property was then sold to the plaintiff, and the trial court approved the
sale. M timely filed a motion to set aside the court’s approval of the
sale. The defendants, however, never marked the motion as ready for
adjudication, and, accordingly, the court did not act on it. Thereafter,
the case was administratively closed. Approximately three months later,
the defendants filed a motion to open, requesting that the trial court
vacate the administrative closure and open and vacate the judgment of
foreclosure by sale. The trial court denied the defendants’ motion to
open and sustained the plaintiff’s objection thereto, and the defendants
appealed to this court. Held:
1. This court concluded that any error by the trial court in its misinterpreta-
tion or misapplication of the applicable rule of practice (§ 63-1 (c) (1))
regarding the existence of an appellate stay following M’s filing of the
motion to set aside the approval of the sale was harmless and did not
provide a reasonable basis for reversing the trial court’s judgment on
the defendants’ motion to open: although, pursuant to Practice Book
§ 63-1 (c) (1), M’s filing of the motion to set aside the approval of the
sale extended the appellate stay that was in effect as a result of the
court’s approval of the sale until there was a ruling on that motion and
any resulting new appeal period expired, the court’s decision to enter
the administrative closure of the file either acted as an implicit denial
of M’s motion or served as notice to the parties that the court was
declining to rule on that motion, which the defendants reasonably should
have construed as an effective denial of the motion pursuant to Ahneman
v. Ahneman (243 Conn. 471); moreover, to the extent that M’s filing of
the motion to set aside the approval of the sale created the potential for
a new appeal period, it began to run with the entry of the administrative
closure and, thus, terminated approximately two months prior to the
defendants’ filing of the motion to open; furthermore, M’s motion to set
aside the approval of the sale did not assert fraud, mistake, surprise or
any other issue with regard to the judicial sale but, instead, asserted
claims directed at the judgment of foreclosure, which the defendants
had waived when they failed to timely appeal from the judgment of
foreclosure by sale.
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Quicken Loans, Inc. v. Rodriguez
2. Contrary to the defendants’ assertions, the trial court did not abuse its
discretion by deciding the motion to open on the papers without a
hearing: a motion seeking to open or set aside a judgment is not a
motion for which oral argument is as of right; moreover, although the
defendants requested oral argument, they did not identify in their motion
or their supporting memorandum the existence of any disputed factual
issues that required the taking of evidence; furthermore, although the
defendants claimed that the lack of a hearing deprived them of the
opportunity to contest one of the factual predicates underlying the
court’s rationale for denying the motion, namely, whether they diligently
pursued M’s motion to set aside the approval of the sale, that issue had
no legal bearing on the existence of an appellate stay.
3. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendants’
motion to open to the extent that it sought to set aside the administrative
closure and properly determined that the defendants’ request to open
the judgment of foreclosure was untimely and, thus, that it lacked the
authority to grant that aspect of the motion: the motion to open was
filed nearly nine months after the court rendered the judgment of foreclo-
sure by sale and, as such, was clearly outside of the applicable statutory
limit (§ 52-212a); moreover, at the time the motion was filed, title to the
property had vested in the plaintiff as the purchaser of the property
because the time to appeal from the approval of the sale had long
passed; furthermore, the motion did not raise a colorable claim that the
foreclosure judgment was the product of fraud, duress or mutual mis-
take.

Argued April 22—officially released September 10, 2024

Procedural History

Action to foreclose a mortgage on certain real prop-
erty owned by the named defendant et al., and for other
relief, brought to the Superior Court in the judicial dis-
trict of New Britain, where the defendant Capital One
Bank (USA), N.A., was defaulted for failure to appear;
thereafter, Rocket Mortgage, LLC, was substituted as
the plaintiff; subsequently, the named defendant et al.
were defaulted for failure to plead; thereafter, the court,
Hon. Joseph M. Shortall, judge trial referee, granted
the substitute plaintiff’s motion for a judgment of fore-
closure by sale and rendered judgment thereon; subse-
quently, the defendant Michelle Rodriguez filed a
motion to set aside the court’s approval of the sale of
the real property; thereafter, the court, Hon. Joseph M.
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Quicken Loans, Inc. v. Rodriguez

Shortall, judge trial referee, issued a notice of adminis-
trative closure; subsequently, the court, Hon. Joseph
M. Shortall, judge trial referee, denied the motion to
vacate the administrative closure and to open and
vacate the judgment of foreclosure by sale filed by the
named defendant et al. and sustained the plaintiff’s
objection thereto, and the named defendant et al.
appealed to this court. Affirmed.
John A. Sodipo, for the appellants (named defendant
et al.).
Geoffrey K. Milne, for the appellee (substitute plain-
tiff).
Opinion

WESTBROOK, J. In this residential mortgage foreclo-
sure action, the defendants Jose Rodriguez and Michelle
Rodriguez1 appeal from the judgment of the trial court
denying their motion to open, which sought to set aside
the court’s administrative closure of the file following
the approval of a committee sale and to open the judg-
ment of foreclosure by sale rendered in favor of the
plaintiff, Rocket Mortgage, LLC.2 The defendants claim
that the court improperly (1) misinterpreted and misap-
plied Practice Book § 63-1 when it concluded that no
appellate stay was in effect that barred the transfer of
title to the plaintiff following the approval of the sale,
(2) found that the defendants had not diligently pursued
a motion to set aside the approval of the sale, (3) failed
to conduct an evidentiary hearing on the defendants’
Capital One Bank (USA), N.A., is named as an additional defendant in
1

the complaint by virtue of its interest in a judgment lien on the property.
The trial court defaulted Capital One Bank (USA), N.A., for failure to appear,
and it has not participated in the current appeal. Accordingly, all references
in this opinion to the defendants collectively are to Jose Rodriguez and
Michelle Rodriguez only.
2
After commencing the action, Quicken Loans, Inc., changed its name to
Rocket Mortgage, LLC, and the court granted a motion to substitute Rocket
Mortgage, LLC, as the plaintiff in this action.
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motion to open, and (4) determined that the motion to
open was untimely as to the judgment of foreclosure
by sale and, thus, that it lacked the authority to open
that judgment. For the reasons that follow, we affirm
the judgment of the court.

The record reveals the following relevant undisputed
facts and procedural history. On October 30, 2019, the
plaintiff commenced this action to foreclose a mortgage
on property owned by the defendants at 267 Culver
Street in Newington. Following unsuccessful court-
sponsored mediation, the court defaulted the defen-
dants for failure to plead. On November 24, 2021, the
plaintiff filed a motion for a judgment of strict foreclo-
sure. The plaintiff also filed a foreclosure worksheet
and other documents, including an affidavit of compli-
ance with the Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program
(EMAP), General Statutes § 8-265cc et seq.3 The defen-
dants took no action to set aside the default or to oppose
the motion for a judgment of foreclosure.

On March 28, 2022, the court, Hon. Joseph M.
Shortall, judge trial referee, rendered a judgment of
foreclosure by sale.4 It found, inter alia, that the amount
of the outstanding debt owed by the defendants was
3
Attached as an exhibit to the affidavit is a copy of the letter that the
plaintiff averred it had sent to the defendants via certified mail on July
23, 2019, prior to the commencement of the foreclosure action. The letter
contained proper notice of EMAP and, inter alia, advised the defendants of
their rights under General Statutes § 8-265ee. Although the defendants assert
that they never received the letter, proof of actual receipt of an EMAP notice
is not relevant to the issue of whether a mortgagee properly has complied
with EMAP notice requirements. See Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Melahn, 222
Conn. App. 828, 844–45, 307 A.3d 911 (2023), cert. denied, 348 Conn. 951,
308 A.3d 1038 (2024).
4
‘‘In Connecticut, strict foreclosure is the rule, foreclosure by sale the
exception.’’ National City Mortgage Co. v. Stoecker, 92 Conn. App. 787, 793,
888 A.2d 95, cert. denied, 277 Conn. 925, 895 A.2d 799 (2006). ‘‘The decision
whether to order a strict foreclosure or a sale lies within the discretion of
the court.’’ Id., 794.
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$194,535.31 and that the fair market value of the prop-
erty was $225,000. The court set a sale date of June 4,
2022. The defendants did not file an appeal challenging
the judgment of foreclosure, including any claim of
noncompliance with the EMAP notice requirements.
On April 28, 2022, the court, Morgan, J., issued notice
that, due to the length of time that the action had been
pending on the docket, the court was placing the matter
on the court’s docket management calendar.5 On May
24, 2022, the plaintiff filed a form request for exemption
from dismissal under the docket management program,
noting that the court had set a foreclosure sale date of
June 4, 2022. The court granted the plaintiff’s request
for exemption but also provided notice ‘‘that if a motion
for supplemental judgment is not filed within [ninety]
days of the foreclosure sale date, an administrative clo-
sure shall enter in this case without further notice,
unless for good cause shown the court extends this
deadline.’’6
The foreclosure sale went forward as ordered, and
the property was sold at auction to the plaintiff for
$213,800. On June 6, 2022, the committee filed a motion
The notice provided in relevant part: ‘‘The above case, with a return date
5

prior to April 28, 2020, has not been disposed of (a judgment of foreclosure
by sale is not a final disposition). The court shall dispose of or dismiss this
case unless appropriate paperwork, such as a withdrawal or affidavit of
bankruptcy, is filed prior to June 1, 2022. If counsel obtains judgment prior
to June 1, 2022, then the case will be marked off of the docket management
calendar.’’ (Emphasis omitted.)
6
‘‘[T]he supplemental judgment [in a foreclosure action] performs a variety
of functions. Not only does it ratify and confirm the sale, but it also deter-
mines the priorities of the encumbrancers and finds the debt due to each,
as well as orders disbursement of the expenses of the sale and possession
to the successful bidder.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Citibank,
N.A. v. Lindland, 310 Conn. 147, 163, 75 A.3d 651 (2013); see also City
National Bank v. Stoeckel, 103 Conn. 732, 744, 132 A. 20 (1926) (‘‘[t]he
decree of foreclosure by sale should not adjudicate the rights of the parties
to the fund or funds realized, but such rights should be determined by way
of supplementary judgment’’).
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for approval of the sale and deed and for acceptance
of the committee’s report. The defendants did not
oppose the motion for approval of the sale. On June
20, 2022, Judge Shortall granted the committee’s motion
and approved the sale and deed. The court further
ordered that ‘‘[t]he plaintiff’s counsel must file a motion
for supplemental judgment within thirty days of this
notice, or a final disposition of the case will be ordered
by the court.’’ (Emphasis added.)
On July 11, 2022—the final day on which to timely
file an appeal from the court’s approval of the sale—
Michelle Rodriguez filed a motion asking the court to
set aside its approval of the sale. The motion provided
in relevant part that ‘‘[Michelle Rodriguez] would like
to inform the court that at no time did she receive an
EMAP letter from [the plaintiff] as required. [Michelle
Rodriguez] disputes receiving notice of default [on the
note and mortgage] as claimed at paragraph six of the
complaint. Additionally, COVID and the lack of
response from [the plaintiff] hindered [Michelle Rodri-
guez’] ability to pursue meaningful loss mitigation.
[Michelle Rodriguez] would also need additional time
to consult with and hire an attorney to pursue these
issues further.’’7 The motion did not contain an indica-
tion on the bottom of the first page that it was intended
as a Practice Book § 11-11 motion or identify the judge
that had approved the sale.8 Neither the committee nor
the plaintiff filed an opposition to the motion to set aside
the approval of the sale. The trial court file indicates that
7
At the time she filed the motion, Michelle Rodriguez was a self-repre-
sented party. Attorney John A. Sodipo, who represents the defendants in
this appeal, filed an appearance for the defendants on September 23, 2022.
8
Practice Book § 11-11 provides in relevant part that a party filing a motion
that, pursuant to Practice Book § 63-1 (c) (1), could effect the timing of the
appeal period, ‘‘shall set forth the judgment or decision which is the subject
of the motion, the name of the judge who rendered it, the specific grounds
upon which the party relies, and shall indicate on the bottom of the first page
of the motion that such motion is a [Practice Book §] 11-11 motion. . . .’’
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the motion first appeared on a July 25, 2022 nonarguable
short calendar but that the defendants never marked
the motion ‘‘ready’’ for adjudication. Accordingly, it was
not acted on by the court.9
On August 15, 2022, the committee filed a motion for
advice. In that motion, the committee represented to
the court that, despite making proper demand, the plain-
tiff had not paid it the fees and expenses ordered by
the court. The committee asked the court for an order
of payment and also requested an additional $300 in
fees related to its filing of the motion for advice. On
August 29, 2022, the court issued an order directing the
plaintiff’s counsel ‘‘to file a motion for supplemental
judgment by no later than September 13, 2022, and to
pay the committee $300 in addition to the fee already
approved by the court.’’
On September 26, 2022, Judge Shortall issued the
following order: ‘‘The plaintiff having failed to comply
with the order of the court (Morgan, J.) that a motion
for supplemental judgment be filed within ninety days
of the sale date ([docket entry] #120.01), this file is
administratively closed.’’ Notice of the court’s adminis-
trative closure of the file was issued to all parties,
including the defendants. The defendants did not file
an appeal challenging the administrative closure, let
alone raise the ground that the court’s closure of the
file arguably was in violation of an automatic appellate
stay in place as a result of the filing of the motion to
set aside the approval of the sale, nor did they move
The defendants attached as an exhibit to a subsequent motion a copy
9

of a short calendar reclaim form that purports to show that they later
reclaimed the motion to set aside for adjudication. Our review of the trial
court’s file, however, shows that, although the motion appeared again on
an October 11, 2022 calendar, the defendants, who by then were represented
by counsel, again failed to mark the motion ‘‘ready.’’ It is axiomatic that it
is not the responsibility of the court to decide a motion in the absence of
a party marking the motion ready for adjudication. See Curry v. Allan S.
Goodman, Inc., 95 Conn. App. 147, 153, 895 A.2d 266 (2006).
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the court within the appeal period to open or set aside
the administrative closure and restore the case to the
docket for the purpose of adjudicating the motion to
set aside approval of the sale. The plaintiff recorded
the committee deed on October 11, 2022.
Rather, on December 16, 2022, nearly three months
after the court issued notice of the administrative clo-
sure, the defendants filed what they captioned a
‘‘motion for order,’’ in which they argued that the plain-
tiff had prematurely recorded the court-approved deed.
According to the defendants, the plaintiff never
acquired title to the foreclosed property due to the
appellate stay of execution that remained in effect as
a result of the unadjudicated motion to set aside the
approval of the sale. Judge Morgan rejected the motion
for order, stating: ‘‘This case has been administratively
closed. Consequently, a motion to reopen must be filed
and granted, and the required filing fee paid, before this
motion may be considered by the court.’’
On December 21, 2022, the defendants then filed the
motion to open that is the subject of the present appeal.
In that motion, the defendants moved the court to
vacate the administrative closure ‘‘pursuant to its inher-
ent supervisory authority and [Practice Book §] 10-10’’10
and also to open and vacate the judgment of foreclosure
by sale. The defendants argued that the court ‘‘has con-
tinuous jurisdiction under [General Statutes §] 52-212
to grant the relief as requested by the defendants’’ and
that, ‘‘while the appellate stay [was] in effect pursuant
to Practice Book [§] 63-1, the plaintiff or . . . its agents
interfered with the defendants’ right to redeem by lock-
ing the defendants out of their property and removed
10
Practice Book § 10-10 provides in relevant part: ‘‘Supplemental pleadings
showing matters arising since the original pleading may be filed in actions
for equitable relief by either party. . . .’’ A postjudgment motion to open
is not a pleading. See Practice Book § 10-6. Thus, it is unclear how Practice
Book § 10-10 is applicable.
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Quicken Loans, Inc. v. Rodriguez

thousands of dollars worth of personal belongings.’’
That same day, the court issued an order directing the
plaintiff to file a response to the defendants’ motion to
open by December 30, 2022, and further ordered that
‘‘the property in question not be sold or otherwise alien-
ated (e.g., leased) until this motion is acted upon.’’
The plaintiff filed an objection to the motion to open
on December 27, 2022. It argued that the defendants
had failed to establish good cause to open the judgment,
the motion was untimely, and, because title to the prop-
erty had already transferred to the plaintiff, the motion
was not properly before the court.
On January 19, 2023, the court sustained the plaintiff’s
objection and denied the defendants’ motion to open.
The court explained: ‘‘As far as the judgment of foreclo-
sure by sale is concerned, the motion is untimely, and
the court lacks authority to open the judgment. . . . As
far as the order for administrative closure is concerned,
assuming the defendants have standing to address an
order entered because of the plaintiff’s failure to comply
with a court order, their motion is not verified by an
appropriate oath, as required by [§] 52-212 (c), and fails
to state any reasonable cause for opening that order.
[Michelle Rodriguez’] motion for order [docket entry
#125] did not purport to be a [Practice Book §] 63-
1 motion nor comply with Practice Book [§] 11-11’s
requirements for a [Practice Book §] 63-1 motion. There-
fore, there was no extended appeal period and no appel-
late stay in effect when the court-approved deed was
recorded in the Newington land records. Even consid-
ered as such a motion, the defendant[s] never pursued
resolution of the motion so that a new twenty day appeal
period could begin. . . . The defendants’ remedies for
an alleged[ly] illegal entry upon the premises and dispo-
sition of their property lie elsewhere, and it appears
from their memorandum in support of this motion to
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open that they are pursuing those remedies.’’11 (Cita-
tions omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) The
court also vacated its prior order restraining disposition
of the property. The defendants filed a motion to recon-
sider, which the court granted, but it ‘‘decline[d] to
depart from its earlier order.’’ This appeal followed.

We begin our discussion with general principles of
law that guide our review of the court’s denial of the
defendants’ motion to open, including our standard of
review. ‘‘It is well established that [a] foreclosure action
is an equitable proceeding . . . [and that] [t]he deter-
mination of what equity requires is a matter for the
discretion of the trial court. . . . Similarly, the determi-
nation of whether to grant a motion to open a judgment
rests in the trial court’s sound discretion.’’ (Citation
omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Citibank,
N.A. v. Lindland, 310 Conn. 147, 166, 75 A.3d 651 (2013).
‘‘We do not undertake a plenary review of the merits
of a decision of the trial court to grant or to deny a
motion to open a judgment. . . . In an appeal from a
denial of a motion to open a judgment, our review is
limited to the issue of whether the trial court has acted
unreasonably and in clear abuse of its discretion. . . .
In determining whether the trial court abused its discre-
tion, this court must make every reasonable presump-
tion in favor of its action. . . . The manner in which
[this] discretion is exercised will not be disturbed so
long as the court could reasonably conclude as it did.’’
(Internal quotation marks omitted.) McGovern v.
McGovern, 217 Conn. App. 636, 646, 289 A.3d 1255, cert.
11
In an affidavit filed in support of the motion to open, the defendants’
counsel averred that he was representing the defendants as plaintiffs in
separate entry and detainer actions. See Rodriguez v. DeCaro, Superior
Court, judicial district of New Britain, Housing Session, Docket No. CV-22-
5004001-S; Rodriguez v. DeCaro, Superior Court, judicial district of New
Britain, Housing Session, Docket No. CV-XX-XXXXXXX-S. Those actions remain
pending as of the date of the official release of this opinion.
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Quicken Loans, Inc. v. Rodriguez

denied, 346 Conn. 1018, 295 A.3d 111 (2023). With these
principles in mind, we turn to the defendants’ claims.
I
The defendants first claim that the court misinter-
preted or misapplied Practice Book § 63-1 in rejecting
the defendants’ argument in their motion to open that
an appellate stay existed at the time the plaintiff
recorded the court-approved deed of sale. According
to the defendants, because a motion to set aside the
approval of the sale was filed before the appeal period
for challenging the approval of the sale expired, an
appellate stay existed with respect to the approval of
the sale and, thus, absolute title to the property could
not have passed to the plaintiff while that motion
remained unresolved. Second, and relatedly, the defen-
dants claim that the court erroneously concluded that
the motion to set aside the sale had no impact on the
issue of the appellate stay because the defendants had
failed to diligently pursue adjudication of that motion.
Because our resolution of the defendants’ first and sec-
ond claims is somewhat intertwined, we address them
together. As we set forth in detail subsequently in this
opinion, although we agree in part with some of the
defendants’ arguments regarding the appellate stay, we
nonetheless conclude that, under the particular proce-
dural posture of the present case, any error by the court
in its reasoning regarding the existence of an appellate
stay was harmless and does not provide a reasonable
basis for reversing the court’s judgment on the defen-
dants’ motion to open.
Whether the court properly construed our rules of
practice in determining that no appellate stay was in
effect as a result of the filing of the motion to set aside
the approval of the sale in this case raises a question
of law over which we exercise plenary review. See Ion
Bank v. J.C.C. Custom Homes, LLC, 189 Conn. App.
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Quicken Loans, Inc. v. Rodriguez

30, 38, 206 A.3d 208 (2019); see also Wells Fargo Bank,
N.A. v. Treglia, 156 Conn. App. 1, 10, 111 A.3d 524
(2015) (‘‘principles of statutory interpretation also apply
to our review of rules of practice’’ and ‘‘our rules of
practice should be construed harmoniously and not in
a way that would render one provision superfluous as
a result of the existence of another’’ (internal quotation
marks omitted)). In deciding whether an appellate stay
exists in noncriminal cases, such as foreclosure actions;
see Alberta v. Alberta, 58 Conn. App. 89, 93, 754 A.2d
165 (2000); we look to both Practice Book §§ 61-11 and
63-1.
Practice Book § 61-11 (a) provides in relevant part
that, ‘‘[e]xcept where otherwise provided by statute
or other law, proceedings to enforce or carry out the
judgment or order shall be automatically stayed until
the time to file an appeal has expired. . . .’’ (Emphasis
added.) In other words, ‘‘an appellate stay of execution
arises from the time [an appealable] judgment is ren-
dered until the time to file an appeal has expired. . . .
If an appeal is [timely] filed, any appellate stay of execu-
tion in place during the pendency of the appeal period
continues until there is a final disposition of the appeal
or the stay is terminated. . . . If no appeal is filed, the
stay automatically terminates with the expiration of the
appeal period.’’ (Citations omitted.) Sovereign Bank v.
Licata, 178 Conn. App. 82, 99, 172 A.3d 1263 (2017).
The temporary stay that exists during the pendency of
the appeal period is necessary ‘‘to protect the full and
unhampered exercise of the right to appellate review.’’
(Internal quotation marks omitted.) Ruiz v. Victory
Properties, LLC, 180 Conn. App. 818, 833, 184 A.3d
1254 (2018).
Relatedly, Practice Book § 63-1 governs when the
appeal period begins and how the appeal period may
be expanded. Unless a different statutory appeal period
applies, which is not the case here, an appeal ordinarily
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Quicken Loans, Inc. v. Rodriguez

must be filed within twenty days from the date that
notice of the appealable judgment is given. See Practice
Book § 63-1 (a). If, however, ‘‘a motion is filed within
the appeal period that, if granted, would render the
judgment . . . ineffective . . . a new twenty day
period . . . for filing the appeal shall begin on the day
that notice of the ruling [on the motion] is given . . . .’’
Practice Book § 63-1 (c) (1). It follows, therefore, that
the practical effect of the filing of a Practice Book § 63-
1 (c) (1) motion on the automatic appellate stay is that
any existing stay remains in effect until the Practice
Book § 63-1 (c) (1) motion is decided and through the
pendency of the resulting new appeal period.12

In addition to Practice Book §§ 61-11 and 63-1, we
note that Practice Book § 11-11 contains several filing
requirements applicable to motions that, pursuant to
Practice Book § 63-1, would ‘‘cause [the appeal period]
to begin again . . . .’’ Practice Book § 11-11. Specifi-
cally, the rule provides in relevant part that ‘‘[t]he party
filing any such motion shall set forth the judgment or
decision which is the subject of the motion, the name
of the judge who rendered it, the specific grounds upon
which the party relies, and shall indicate on the bottom
of the first page of the motion that such motion is a
[Practice Book §] 11-11 motion. . . .’’ Practice Book
12
To be clear, the plain language of Practice Book § 63-1 provides that
the filing of a timely Practice Book § 63-1 (c) (1) motion does not extend
or toll the original appeal period but, rather, creates a new appeal period
that commences upon disposition of the motion. The rule further provides
in relevant part that an ‘‘appeal may be filed either in the original appeal
period, which continues to run, or in the new appeal period. . . .’’ (Empha-
sis added.) Practice Book § 63-1 (a). Thus, it is possible that the initial appeal
period may lapse prior to the creation of a new appeal period. Nevertheless,
in order to fully protect a party’s right to effective appellate review, the
appellate stay of execution, which by rule persists ‘‘until the time to file an
appeal has expired’’; Practice Book § 61-11 (a); does not lapse along with
the original appeal period if no appeal is filed therein but, instead, remains
in effect, at the least, through the pendency of any new appeal period.
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§ 11-11. As this court recently clarified, ‘‘[a]lthough fail-
ure to comply with the technical requirements of Prac-
tice Book § 11-11 may provide a proper ground for deny-
ing the motion, such failure is not a sufficient basis to
render ineffective for the purpose of creating a new
appeal period a motion that otherwise adheres to the
substance of Practice Book § 63-1 (c) (1). . . . It is the
content of the motion . . . that is determinative of
whether the motion creates a new appeal period and
extends the automatic appellate stay.’’ (Citation omit-
ted; emphasis added.) Finance of America Reverse,
LLC v. Henry, 222 Conn. App. 810, 826–27, 307 A.3d
300 (2023). With this understanding of the relevant rules
in mind, we turn to their application in the present case.
‘‘[T]here [generally] are three appealable determina-
tions in a case involving a foreclosure by sale: [1] the
judgment ordering a foreclosure by sale, [2] the
approval of the sale by the court and [3] the supplemen-
tal judgment [in which proceeds from the sale are dis-
tributed].’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Toro
Credit Co. v. Zeytoonjian, 341 Conn. 316, 322, 267 A.3d
71 (2021). ‘‘A judicial sale is one made as a result of
judicial proceedings by a [committee of sale] legally
appointed by the court for [that] purpose. . . . The
court is the vendor, and the [committee] appointed to
make the sale is the mere agent of the court. . . . Only
after a sale has been confirmed and ratified by the court
does it become complete. . . . Following confirmation
of the sale, a judicial sale generally will not be set aside
in the absence of fraud, mistake or surprise.’’ (Citations
omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Citicorp
Mortgage, Inc. v. Burgos, 227 Conn. 116, 120, 629 A.2d
410 (1993). ‘‘[T]he court’s approval of a sale extin-
guishes the rights of redemption of other parties [but]
. . . does not automatically vest title with the pur-
chaser.’’ National City Mortgage Co. v. Stoecker, 92
Conn. App. 787, 795, 888 A.2d 95, cert. denied, 277 Conn.
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925, 895 A.2d 799 (2006). Instead, as set forth in General
Statutes § 49-26, after a sale has been ratified or con-
firmed by the court, ‘‘a conveyance of the property sold
shall be executed by the person appointed to make the
sale, which conveyance shall vest in the purchaser the
same estate that would have vested in the mortgagee
or lienholder if the mortgage or lien had been foreclosed
by strict foreclosure . . . .’’
The court’s June 20, 2022 approval of the sale and
deed was an appealable judgment. Accordingly, an
appellate stay of execution was in effect, at the least,
through the end of the appeal period in which to chal-
lenge the approval of the sale, which, in the present
case, expired on July 11, 2022. On the final day of the
appeal period, Michelle Rodriguez filed a motion that
asked the court to set aside its approval of the sale. If
the court had granted that motion, it would have ren-
dered the approval of the sale ineffective, and, there-
fore, pursuant to Practice Book § 63-1 (c) (1), its filing
acted to extend the appellate stay until there was a
ruling on the motion and any resulting new appeal
period expired.
In its ruling on the defendants’ motion to open, the
trial court nevertheless advanced two reasons why it
believed no appellate stay was in effect following its
approval of the sale.
First, the court opined that it did not view the motion
to set aside approval of the sale as a proper Practice
Book § 63-1 (c) (1) motion because it did not contain
a notation on the bottom of the front page of the motion
that it was filed pursuant to Practice Book § 11-11. As
we have previously held, however, such a defect does
not impact the relief sought and, thus, did not render
the motion ineffective for purposes of extending the
existing appellate stay. See Finance of America
Reverse, LLC v. Henry, supra, 222 Conn. App. 826–27.
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Second, the court indicated that, even if the motion
was a proper Practice Book § 63-1 (c) (1) motion, the
defendants failed adequately to pursue its adjudication,
a finding that the defendants challenge on appeal. Under
the plain language of our rules of practice, however, it
is the filing of a Practice Book § 63-1 (c) (1) motion
that, in the first instance, effectuates an extension of
any existing appellate stay. That extension continues
until a disposition of the motion. Moreover, after a
motion has gone off a short calendar without adjudica-
tion, as happened in the present case, ‘‘any party may
claim the motion for adjudication.’’ (Emphasis added.)
Practice Book § 11-13 (c). Accordingly, the failure to
seek timely adjudication of the motion to set aside
approval of the sale was also attributable to the plaintiff
and the committee.
In short, contrary to the conclusions of the court, the
defendants are correct that the filing of the motion to
set aside the approval of the sale did extend the appel-
late stay that already was in place as a result of the
court’s approval of the sale. A new twenty day appeal
period would have commenced following the court’s
disposition of the motion.13
It is at this juncture, however, that we part ways with
the defendants’ analysis regarding the appellate stay,
which the defendants contend continued even through
the time of the court’s ruling on their motion to open
because the court never expressly resolved the pending
motion to set aside the approval of the sale. We con-
clude otherwise.
In our view, the court’s decision to enter the adminis-
trative closure of the file on September 26, 2022, either
acted as an implicit denial of the defendants’ pending
13
The defendants also claim that the court erroneously found that the
defendants had failed to pursue the motion to set aside the approval of the
sale. We disagree.
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motion to set aside the approval of the sale or served
as notice to the parties that the court was declining to
rule on that motion, which the defendants reasonably
should have construed as an effective denial of the
motion under our Supreme Court’s holding in Ahneman
v. Ahneman, 243 Conn. 471, 480, 706 A.2d 960 (1998).
In Ahneman, our Supreme Court recognized that a ‘‘trial
court’s decision not to consider [a party’s] motions was
the functional equivalent of a denial of those motions.
Like a formal denial, the effect of the court’s decision
refusing to consider the defendant’s motions . . . was
to foreclose the possibility of relief from the court on
those issues . . . .’’ Id. Under either scenario, the
defendants undoubtedly were aggrieved by the adminis-
trative closure of the file, which they had been notified
would constitute a final disposition of the case. Conse-
quently, the defendants could have filed an appeal chal-
lenging the administrative closure but did not do so.
Moreover, to the extent that the filing of the motion to
set aside the sale created the potential for a new twenty
day appeal period in which to challenge the approval
of the foreclosure sale and, by implication, an extension
of the existing appellate stay, that new appeal period
began to run with the entry of the administrative closure
and, thus, terminated on October 16, 2022. The defen-
dants did not file their motion to open or take any other
action before that appeal period expired, and, therefore,
any appellate stay in this case effectively terminated as
of October 17, 2022, well before the filing of the motion
to open. Even assuming arguendo that the recording
of the committee deed on October 11, 2022, was an act
that effectuated the approval of the sale,14 we are not
14
‘‘[I]n a foreclosure by sale, although the right of redemption is extin-
guished upon the court’s approval of the foreclosure sale, a motion to open
a judgment approving that sale, properly filed within the appeal period, acts
as a stay of the proceedings to enforce or carry out the judgment.’’ Wells
Fargo Bank of Minnesota, N.A. v. Morgan, 98 Conn. App. 72, 81, 909 A.2d
526 (2006). The passing of title following the approval of a foreclosure sale
occurs as a matter of law when the deed of sale is transferred to the
successful bidder, not by the recording of the deed, which simply provides
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convinced that the plaintiff’s recording of the deed six
days prior to the expiration of the appellate stay pro-
vided a reasonable basis for granting the defendants’
motion to open where the defendants never appealed
from the court’s approval of the sale, either in the initial
appeal period or the subsequent one.
Finally, the motion to set aside the approval of the
sale had not asserted fraud, mistake, surprise or any
other issue with regard to the judicial sale. Instead, it
asserted claims directed at the judgment of foreclosure,
claims that the defendants waived when they failed to
timely appeal from the judgment of foreclosure by sale.
Accordingly, to the extent that the motion to open was
directed at the administrative closure of the file and,
by implication, the approval of the sale, we cannot
conclude that the court abused its considerable discre-
tion in denying the motion.

II

The defendants next claim that the court improperly
failed to conduct an evidentiary hearing with respect
to their motion to open. In particular, they argue that
the court’s denial of the motion to open without an
evidentiary hearing deprived them of an opportunity to
contest one of the factual predicates underlying the
court’s rationale for denying the motion to open;
namely, that the defendants had failed to pursue the
motion to set aside the approval of the sale. We disagree.

A motion seeking to open or set aside a judgment is
not a motion for which oral argument is as of right.
notice to the public of the transfer. See National City Mortgage Co. v.
Stoecker, supra, 92 Conn. App. 795 (‘‘muniment of title is the conveyance
or the delivery of the deed to the purchaser’’); see also Saunders v. KDFBS,
LLC, 206 Conn. App. 92, 106, 259 A.3d 691 (‘‘the land records are constructive
notice to all the world of any instruments there recorded’’ (internal quotation
marks omitted)), cert. denied, 338 Conn. 915, 259 A.3d 1180 (2021).
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See Practice Book § 11-18;15 Valenzisi v. Connecticut
Education Assn., 150 Conn. App. 47, 50 n.2, 90 A.3d
324 (2014). Although the defendants indicated on the
front page of their motion that oral argument was
requested and that ‘‘testimony may be required,’’ they
did not identify in either their motion or in their support-
ing memorandum the existence of any disputed factual
issues that necessarily required the taking of evidence.
See, e.g., Tyler E. Lyman, Inc. v. Lodrini, 78 Conn.
App. 684, 690, 828 A.2d 681 (‘‘[b]ecause the [trial] court’s
exercise of discretion in ruling on the motion to open
[the judgment] was dependent on the disputed factual
issue of fraud, due process required that the [trial] court
hold an evidentiary hearing on that issue’’), cert. denied,
266 Conn. 917, 833 A.2d 468 (2003). The parties each
submitted a thorough memorandum of law to the court
with exhibits. The court had access to the court’s file,
which included all relevant markings of pleadings by
the parties. Finally, as we explained in part I of this
opinion, whether the defendants diligently pursued the
motion to set aside the approval of the sale had no legal
bearing on the existence of an appellate stay, which
turned on the filing of the motion. Under the circum-
stances, we disagree that the court abused its discretion
by deciding the motion on the papers without a hearing.
III
Finally, the defendants claim that the court incor-
rectly determined that it lacked the authority to open
15
Practice Book § 11-18 provides in relevant part: ‘‘(a) Oral argument is
at the discretion of the judicial authority except as to motions to dismiss,
motions to strike, motions for summary judgment, motions for judgment of
foreclosure, and motions for judgment on the report of an attorney trial
referee and/or hearing on any objections thereto. For those motions, oral
argument shall be a matter of right . . . .
***
‘‘(f) For those motions for which oral argument is not a matter of right,
oral argument may be requested in accordance with the procedure that is
printed on the short calendar on which the motion appears.’’
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the judgment of foreclosure by sale because the defen-
dants’ motion was untimely as to that judgment. We
disagree.
As we have previously indicated, ‘‘[o]ur courts have
the inherent authority to open, correct or modify judg-
ments, but this authority is restricted by statute and
the rules of practice. . . . [A] civil judgment may not
be opened unless a motion to open is filed within four
months following the date on which it was rendered.
. . . [If] a motion to open is untimely, the trial court
lacks authority to open the judgment.’’ (Citations omit-
ted; internal quotation marks omitted.) TD Banknorth,
N.A. v. White Water Mountain Resorts of Connecticut,
Inc., 133 Conn. App. 536, 541, 37 A.3d 766 (2012).
Whether a court properly determines that it lacks the
authority to open a judgment of foreclosure raises a
question of law over which our review is de novo. Id.
‘‘A motion to open a judgment of foreclosure by sale
is typically subject to two restrictions. . . . First, a
motion to open a judgment of foreclosure by sale must
be filed within the four month restriction of General
Statutes § 52-212a. . . . [T]he second restriction on a
motion to open a judgment of foreclosure by sale is
that it must be filed before absolute title left the prop-
erty owner, which [in the case in which the motion is
filed by the holder of the equity of redemption] means
before the committee sale was approved.’’ (Internal
quotation marks omitted.) Id., 544.
Here, the court rendered the judgment of foreclosure
by sale on March 28, 2022, setting a sale date of June
4, 2022. The defendants never appealed from the fore-
closure judgment nor, as discussed in part I of this
opinion, did they appeal following the approval of the
sale. The defendants’ motion to open was filed on
December 21, 2022, which was nearly nine months after
the court rendered the judgment of foreclosure by sale
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and, thus, clearly outside the statutory limit of § 52-
212a.16 Moreover, at the time the motion was filed, title
to the property had vested in the plaintiff as the success-
ful purchaser of the property because the time to appeal
from the approval of the sale had long passed. The
motion also raised no colorable claim that the foreclo-
sure judgment was the product of fraud, duress or
mutual mistake.
In summary, the court has considerable discretion in
deciding whether to grant a motion to open or set aside
a judgment. Having reviewed the file in the present
matter as well as the briefs and arguments of the parties,
we disagree that the court abused its considerable dis-
cretion by denying the defendants’ motion to open to
the extent it sought to set aside the administrative clo-
sure and, with respect to the request to open the judg-
ment of foreclosure, we conclude that the court prop-
erly determined that the motion was untimely and,
accordingly, that it lacked authority to grant that aspect
of the motion.
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.

16
Even if we were to conclude that the court had authority to act on the
motion to open with respect to the judgment of foreclosure, we nevertheless
would affirm the court’s denial of the motion to open on the ground that the
defendants failed to advance any reasonable basis for opening the judgment,
including explaining why the defendants had failed to defend against or
appeal from the judgment of foreclosure. Thus, the only proper exercise of
the court’s discretion would have resulted in a denial of that motion.