PPC Realty, LLC v. Hartford

Summary

The court held that tenants displaced after a fire were displaced persons under the Uniform Relocation Assistance Act because the city's emergency enforcement of its building code directly caused their required departure, regardless of who caused the fire. It also held that the landlord could not use the statutory affirmative defense concerning lack of fault to invalidate the city's lien in a lien-discharge proceeding, because that defense is available only in a civil action seeking reimbursement. The judgment discharging the lien was reversed and the case was remanded with direction to deny the discharge application. Justice Ecker, concurring, agreed with the result but would have found the statutory scheme ambiguous and relied on statutory context and legislative history.