Sec. 20-324e. Procedure. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 20-324e. Procedure. (a) When any aggrieved person commences any action for a judgment which may result in collection from the Real Estate Guaranty Fund, the aggrieved person shall notify the commission in writing to this effect at the time of the commencement of such action. Such written notice shall toll the time for making application to the commission pursuant to section 20-324d. The commission shall have the right to enter an appearance, intervene in or defend any such action and may waive the required written notice for good cause shown.

      (b) When any aggrieved person recovers a valid judgment in the Superior Court against any real estate broker or real estate salesperson or the unlicensed employee of any such real estate broker for loss or damages sustained by reason of the embezzlement of money or property, or money or property unlawfully obtained from any person by false pretenses, artifice, trickery or forgery or by reason of any fraud, misrepresentation or deceit by or on the part of such real estate broker or salesperson or the unlicensed employee of any such real estate broker, such aggrieved person may upon the final determination of, or expiration of time for appeal in connection with, any judgment, apply to the commission for an order directing payment out of the Real Estate Guaranty Fund of the amount unpaid upon the judgment, subject to the limitations stated in section 20-324a and the limitations specified in this section. The license of any such broker or salesperson shall be automatically revoked upon the entry of such judgment.

      (c) The commission shall proceed upon such application in a summary manner, and, upon the hearing thereof, the aggrieved person shall be required to show: (1) He is not a spouse of the debtor or the personal representative of such spouse; (2) he has complied with all the requirements of this section; (3) he has obtained a judgment as provided in subsection (b) of this section, stating the amount thereof and the amount owing thereon at the date of the application; (4) he has caused to be issued a writ of execution upon the judgment and the officer executing the same has made a return showing that no personal or real property of the judgment debtor liable to be levied upon in satisfaction of the judgment could be found, or that the amount realized on the sale of them or of such of them as were found, under the execution, was insufficient to satisfy the judgment, stating the amount so realized and the balance remaining due on the judgment after application thereon of the amount realized; (5) he has made all reasonable searches and inquiries to ascertain whether the judgment debtor possesses real or personal property or other assets, liable to be sold or applied in satisfaction of the judgment; (6) that by such search he has discovered no personal or real property or other assets liable to be sold or applied, or that he has discovered certain of them, describing them, owned by the judgment debtor and liable to be so applied, and that he has taken all necessary action and proceedings for the realization thereof, and that the amount thereby realized was insufficient to satisfy the judgment, stating the amount so realized and the balance remaining due on the judgment after application of the amount realized.

      (d) Whenever the aggrieved person satisfies the commission that it is not practicable to comply with one or more of the requirements enumerated in subdivisions (4), (5) and (6) of subsection (c) of this section and that the aggrieved person has taken all reasonable steps to collect the amount of the judgment or the unsatisfied part thereof and has been unable to collect the same, the commission may in its discretion waive such requirements.

      (e) The commission shall order payment from the Real Estate Guaranty Fund of any sum it shall find to be payable upon the claim, pursuant to the provisions of and in accordance with the limitations contained in this section and section 20-324a, if the commission is satisfied, upon the hearing, of the truth of all matters required to be shown by the aggrieved person by subsection (c) of this section and that the aggrieved person has fully pursued and exhausted all remedies available to him for recovering the amount awarded by the judgment of the court.

      (f) If the commission pays from the Real Estate Guaranty Fund any amount in settlement of a claim or toward satisfaction of a judgment against a licensed real estate broker or real estate salesperson pursuant to an order under subsection (e) of this section, such broker or salesperson shall not be eligible to receive a new license until he has repaid in full, plus interest at a rate to be determined by the commission and which shall reflect current market rates, the amount paid from the fund on his account. A discharge in bankruptcy shall not relieve a person from the penalties and disabilities provided in this subsection.

      (g) If, at any time, the money deposited in the Real Estate Guaranty Fund is insufficient to satisfy any duly authorized claim or portion thereof, the commission shall, when sufficient money has been deposited in the fund, satisfy such unpaid claims or portions thereof, in the order that such claims or portions thereof were originally filed, plus accumulated interest at the rate of four per cent a year.

      (1969, P.A. 525, S. 5; P.A. 76-436, S. 436, 681; P.A. 78-280, S. 1, 5, 127; P.A. 80-483, S. 88, 186; P.A. 82-422, S. 11, 14; P.A. 85-124, S. 3; P.A. 90-332, S. 20, 32; P.A. 95-158, S. 3; P.A. 96-200, S. 17; P.A. 98-10, S. 26.)

      History: P.A. 76-436 replaced references to "court of competent jurisdiction" and to court of common pleas with references to superior court and added reference to judicial districts in Subsec. (b), effective July 1, 1978; P.A. 78-280 deleted reference to counties and replaced specific reference to Hartford county with "judicial district of Hartford-New Britain"; P.A. 80-483 replaced reference to "subsection (a)" in Subsec. (c) with "subsection (b)" and reference to "subsection (b)" in Subsec. (e) with "subsection (c)"; P.A. 82-422 amended section to provide for application by aggrieved person to commission and not court for order directing payment from fund, to provide for automatic revocation of license upon entry of court judgment, and to require interest at current market rates rather than at 4% per year; P.A. 85-124 amended Subsec. (a) by providing that notice to the commission of the commencement of an action tolls the time for the person making application to the commission; P.A. 90-332 specified "real estate" commission to differentiate it from the recently created real estate appraisal commission; P.A. 95-158 amended Subsec. (a) to allow the commission the option of waiving the required written notice for good cause shown; P.A. 96-200 substituted "salesperson" for "salesman"; P.A. 98-10 made technical changes.

      Cited. 189 C. 162. Cited. 192 C. 439.

      Subsec. (a):

      When read together with Sec. 20-324g court construed statute as giving the commission only a derivative party status in the plenary action. 189 C. 162.