Conn. Gen. Stat. » Title 42 — BUSINESS, SELLING, TRADING AND COLLECTION PRACTICES · Chapter 741d — Attorney's Fee Clauses
Connecticut General Statutes

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 42-150bb (2026)

Attorney's fees in action based on consumer contract or lease

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section CT-CGAcga.ct.gov (official) JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
Whenever any contract or lease entered into on or after October 1, 1979, to which a consumer is a party, provides for the attorney's fee of the commercial party to be paid by the consumer, an attorney's fee shall be awarded as a matter of law to the consumer who successfully prosecutes or defends an action or a counterclaim based upon the contract or lease. Except as hereinafter provided, the size of the attorney's fee awarded to the consumer shall be based as far as practicable upon the terms governing the size of the fee for the commercial party. No attorney's fee shall be awarded to a commercial party who is represented by its salaried employee. In any action in which the consumer is entitled to an attorney's fee under this section and in which the commercial party is represented by its salaried employee, the attorney's fee awarded to the consumer shall be in a reasonable amount regardless of the size of the fee provided in the contract or lease for either party. For the purposes of this section, “commercial party” means the seller, creditor, lessor or assignee of any of them, and “consumer” means the buyer, debtor, lessee or personal representative of any of them. The provisions of this section shall apply only to contracts or leases in which the money, property or service which is the subject of the transaction is primarily for personal, family or household purposes.

(P.A. 79-453.)

Cited. 208 C. 256; 231 C. 707; 233 C. 304; 240 C. 58. Trial court's award of attorney's fees to defendant reversed where defendant had not filed a motion for attorney's fees pursuant to Practice Book Sec. 11-21; court concluded that the proper procedural vehicle for requesting award of attorney's fees under section is a motion for attorney's fees filed pursuant to Practice Book Sec. 11-21, not a bill of costs filed pursuant to Practice Book Sec. 18-5. 282 C. 418. Term “personal representative” in definition of “consumer” is not limited to a legal representative. 307 C. 608. If defendant moves for an award of attorney's fees pursuant to this section after plaintiff withdraws an action prior to a hearing on the merits pursuant to Sec. 52-80, there exists a rebuttable presumption that defendant is entitled to such fees unless plaintiff can show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the withdrawal occurred because of some reason other than the actions taken by defendant's counsel. 328 C. 134.

Cited. 14 CA 161. Motion for attorney's fees timely and proper when filed shortly after successful defense of claims. 57 CA 189. Before court may act on motion for counsel fees, it must determine whether contract was one in which the money, property or service which is the subject of the transaction is primarily for personal, family or household purposes. 78 CA 582. Defendant's motion for attorney's fees was properly denied because underlying action was a claim of breach of fiduciary duty, which is a tort claim and not a contract action. 117 CA 745. Defendant was not a “personal representative” because she was not the conservator for party, did not have power of attorney, was not executrix or administratrix of estate, and consistently asserted that she had no authority over party's assets; “personal representative” is undefined but used throughout statutes to refer to person who acts as custodian or guardian of a person who lacks capacity or one with authority to act on behalf of a decedent. 126 CA 646; reversed in part, see 307 C. 608. There is no ambiguity in the text of section as to its applicability to residential leases, and seeking attorney's fees under section in summary process actions does not thwart the purpose behind the summary process statutes. 145 CA 682. Defendants were not entitled to attorney's fees because court did not err in finding notice to quit was not defective and because defendants did not successfully defend the action by vacating the premises, voluntarily providing the relief sought by plaintiff, as a result of which there was no longer a case or controversy. 155 CA 278. Defendant who was successful in defending promissory estoppel and negligence counts but was unsuccessful in defending breach of contract count did not “successfully” defend the action and was not entitled to attorney's fees under section since the latter was the only count “based upon the contract”. 160 CA 470.

“Prevailing party” as used in lease in question and statute includes defendants in cases that are withdrawn. 41 CS 417. The mortgage plaintiff sought to foreclose was a contract for the purposes of section; section does not require defendant to defeat the underlying obligation but simply to defeat plaintiff's action brought against him; in this case, withdrawal of the action constituted a successful defense and therefore defendant is entitled to legal fees under section. 52 CS 32.

(Return to Chapter
Table of Contents)		 (Return to
List of Chapters)		 (Return to
List of Titles)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 46 cases (8 in the last 5 years), 1987–2025 · leading case: Conn. Hous. Fin. Auth. v. Alfaro, 176 A.3d 1146 (Conn. 2018).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Conn. Hous. Fin. Auth. v. Alfaro, 176 A.3d 1146 (Conn. 2018). · cites it 87× “**136 In this certified appeal, we are tasked with determining whether, pursuant to General Statutes § 42-150bb, 1 a defendant may be awarded attorney's fees when the plaintiff withdraws an action as a matter of *1148 right pursuant to General Statutes § 52-80.”
Rizzo Pool Co. v. Del Grosso, 689 A.2d 1097 (Conn. 1997). · cites it 29× “Whenever any cont ract or lease entered into on or after October 1, 1979, to which a consumer is a party, provides for the attorney’s fee of the commercial party to be paid by the consumer, an attorney's fee shall be awarded as a matter of law to the consumer who successfully…”
Meadowbrook Ctr., Inc. v. Buchman, 181 A.3d 550 (Conn. 2018). · cites it 16× “, a nursing facility, appeals, upon our grant of its petition for certification, 2 from the judgment of the Appellate Court reversing the judgment of the trial court, which denied as untimely a motion filed by the defendant, Robert Buchman, seeking an award of attorney's fees…”
Traystman, Coric & Keramidas v. Daigle, 922 A.2d 1056 (Conn. 2007). · cites it 27× “Daigle, pursuant to General Statutes § 42-150bb 2 on the basis of a bill of *421 costs filed pursuant to Practice Book § 18-5.”
Retained Realty, Inc. v. Est. of Spitzer, 643 F. Supp. 2d 228 (D. Conn. 2009). · cites it 35× “to which a consumer is a party, provides for the attorney’s fee of the commercial party to be paid by the consumer, an attorney’s fee shall be awarded as a matter of law to the consumer who successfully prosecutes or defends an action or a counterclaim based upon the contract or…”
Jacques All Trades Corp. v. Brown, 752 A.2d 1098 (Conn. App. Ct. 2000). · cites it 16× “, where the court concluded that Jacques had violated CUTPA but found that Brown did not suffer any actual damages. Brown, in turn, cross appeals, claiming that the court improperly (1) calculated attorney’s fees on her CUTPA counterclaim by not awarding fees for those claims…”
Centrix Mgmt. Co., LLC v. Fosberg, 349 Conn. 765 (Conn. 2024). · cites it 64× “’’ General Statutes § 42-150bb. An award of any amount, no matter how small, is practicable in the sense that it is possible.”
Tyler E. Lyman, Inc. v. Lodrini, 828 A.2d 676 (Conn. App. Ct. 2003). · cites it 22× “Lodrini 1 appeals from the judgment of the trial court, denying his motion for an award of counsel fees pursuant to *584 General Statutes § 42-150bb. On appeal, the defendant argues that the court improperly concluded that a party could not be found to have defended an action…”
Jacobs v. Healey Ford-Subaru, Inc., 25 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1043 (Conn. 1995). · cites it 8× “12 *716 The plaintiff objected to the report, pursuant to Practice Book § 440, 13 and claimed that: she was entitled to the minimum consumer damages provided by the UCC; she should have received attorney’s fees under General Statutes § 42-150bb; 14 and the referee should have…”
Aaron Manor, Inc. v. Irving, 12 A.3d 584 (Conn. App. Ct. 2011). · cites it 76× “The plaintiff claims that the court improperly (1) failed to find that the defendant breached her contract with the plaintiff and (2) awarded attorney's fees to the defendant pursuant to General Statutes § 42-150bb. We agree with the plaintiff's second claim and reverse in part…”
Centrix Mgmt. Co., LLC v. Valencia, 76 A.3d 694 (Conn. App. Ct. 2013). · cites it 22× “The threshold issue in this appeal arising out of a summary process action is whether the reciprocal attorney’s fees in the consumer contracts statute, General Statutes § 42-150bb, applies to landlord-tenant rental agreements.”
In Re Gifford, 256 B.R. 661 (Bankr. D. Conn. 2000). · cites it 17× “Gifford (“the debtors”), on September 12, 2000, filed a motion, based upon Conn.Gen.Stat. § 42-150bb 1 , for attorney’s fees incurred *662 by them as a result of their partially successful objection to the proof of claim filed by Homeside Lending, Inc.”
Show all 46 citing cases →
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.