Lumpkin v. Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union

── Lumpkin v. Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union ── Court: Supreme Court of Connecticut Date: April 28, 2026 Author: Mullins Category: General ************************************************ The “officially released” date that appears near the beginning of an opinion is the date the opinion will be published in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it is released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the beginning of all time periods for the filing of postopinion motions and petitions for certification is the “officially released” date appearing in the opinion. All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecti- cut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the advance release version of an opinion and the version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest version is to be considered authoritative. The syllabus and procedural history accompanying an opinion that appear in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports are copyrighted by the Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut, and may not be reproduced or distributed without the express written permission of the Commission on Official Legal Publications, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut. ************************************************  Lumpkin v. Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union THOMAS LUMPKIN, JR. v. NUTMEG STATE FINANCIAL CREDIT UNION (SC 21173) Mullins, C. J., and McDonald, D’Auria, Ecker, Alexander, Dannehy and Bright, Js. Syllabus The plaintiff sought to recover damages from the defendant credit union under article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) (§ 42a-9-625) and the Retail Installment Sales Financing Act (RISFA) (§ 36a-785). The trial court granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment and rendered judgment thereon, concluding that the plaintiff’s claims for damages under §§ 42a-9-625 and 36a-785 were barred by the one year limitation period set forth in the statute of limitations (§ 52-585) governing actions “for any forfeiture upon any penal statute . . . .” The plaintiff appealed from the trial court’s judgment in favor of the defendant. Held: The trial court having improperly applied the one year limitation period in § 52-585 to the plaintiff’s claims under both article 9 of the UCC and RISFA, that court also improperly granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, and, accordingly, this court reversed the trial court's judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings. In so concluding, this court was guided by its decision in the companion case of Connex Credit Union v. Madgic (354 Conn. 459), in which the court concluded that, because §§ 42a-9-625 and 36a-785 are not penal statutes, the one year limitation period in § 52-585 is not applicable to claims brought under those statutes and that the three year limitation period set forth in the statute of limitations (§ 52-577) governing tort claims was the most suit- able limitation period for claims brought under §§ 42a-9-625 and 36a-785. Argued February 5—officially released April 28, 2026 Procedural History Action to recover damages for the defendant’s alleged violation of the Uniform Commercial Code and the Retail Installment Sales Financing Act, and for other relief, brought to the Superior Court in the judicial district of Hartford and transferred to the judicial district of Waterbury, Complex Litigation Docket, where the court, Pierson, J., denied the plaintiff’s motion for class certi- fication; thereafter, the court, Pierson, J., granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment and rendered  Lumpkin v. Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union judgment thereon, from which the plaintiff appealed. Reversed; further proceedings. Tadhg Doole