Sec. 47a-58. (Formerly Sec. 19-347s). Notice of violation. Penalty. Injunctive relief. Municipal lien for unpaid penalty. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 47a-58. (Formerly Sec. 19-347s). Notice of violation. Penalty. Injunctive relief. Municipal lien for unpaid penalty. (a) Any enforcing agency may issue a notice of violation to any person who violates any provision of this chapter or a provision of a local housing code. Such notice shall specify each violation and specify the last day by which such violation shall be corrected. The date specified shall not be less than three weeks from the date of mailing of such notice, provided that in the case of a condition, which in the judgment of the enforcing agency is or in its effect is dangerous or detrimental to life or health, the date specified shall not be more than five days from the date of mailing of such notice. The enforcing agency may postpone the last day by which a violation shall be corrected upon a showing by the owner or other responsible person that he has begun to correct the violation but that full correction of the violation cannot be completed within the time provided because of technical difficulties, inability to obtain necessary materials or labor or inability to gain access to the dwelling unit wherein the violation exists.

      (b) When the owner or other responsible person has corrected such violation, the owner or other responsible person shall promptly, but not later than two weeks after such correction, report to the enforcing agency in writing, indicating the date when each violation was corrected. It shall be presumed that the violation was corrected on the date so indicated, unless a subsequent inspection by the enforcing agency again reveals the existence of the condition giving rise to the earlier notice of violation.

      (c) Any person who fails to correct any violation prior to the date set forth in the notice of violation shall be subject to a cumulative civil penalty of five dollars per day for each violation from the date set for correction in the notice of violation to the date such violation is corrected, except that in any case, the penalty shall not exceed one hundred dollars per day and the total penalty shall not exceed seven thousand five hundred dollars. The penalty may be collected by the enforcing agency by action against the owner or other responsible person or by an action against the real property. An action against the owner may be joined with an action against the real property.

      (d) In addition to the penalties specified in this section, the enforcing agency may enforce the provisions of this chapter or a local housing code by injunctive relief pursuant to chapter 916.

      (e) (1) Any penalty imposed by an enforcing agency pursuant to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, and remaining unpaid for a period of sixty days after its due date, shall constitute a lien upon the real property against which the penalty was imposed, provided a notice of violation is recorded in the land records and indexed in the name of the property owner no later than thirty days after the penalty was imposed.

      (2) Each such notice of violation shall be effective from the time of the recording on the land records. Each lien shall take precedence over all transfers and encumbrances recorded after such time.

      (3) Any municipal lien pursuant to the provisions of this section may be foreclosed in the same manner as a mortgage.

      (4) Any municipal lien pursuant to this section may be discharged or dissolved in the manner provided in sections 49-35a to 49-37, inclusive.

      (f) Any enforcing agency imposing a penalty pursuant to subsection (c) of this section shall maintain a current record of all properties with respect to which such penalty remains unpaid in the office of such agency. Such record shall be available for inspection by the public.

      (P.A. 74-345, S. 2; P.A. 79-276, S. 2; 79-571, S. 94; P.A. 06-185, S. 3; 06-196, S. 178.)

      History: P.A. 79-276 substituted "enforcing agency" for "designated authority or authorities" and "this chapter or a local housing code" for specific listing of applicable sections in Subsec. (d); P.A. 79-571 rephrased provision re five-day deadline for correction of violation in Subsec. (a); Sec. 19-347s transferred to Sec. 47a-58 in 1981; P.A. 06-185 amended Subsec. (c) to decrease penalty from $500 to $100 per day, added Subsec. (e) re municipal lien for amount of unpaid penalty and Subsec. (f) re record of properties with unpaid penalty, and made technical changes in Subsecs. (b), (c) and (d); P.A. 06-196 made technical changes in Subsec. (c), effective June 7, 2006.

      See Sec. 7-148gg re notice to lienholder.

      Cited. 13 CA 1.

      Subsec. (a):

      Cited. 235 C. 360; see also 40 CA 219.