412 A.2d 1143 | Conn. Super. Ct. | 1979
The plaintiff housing authority of the city of Hartford is a public housing agency that owns and leases residential dwelling units at 70 Kensington Street, Hartford. On June 9, 1975, it entered into a written lease with the defendant for one of its Hartford apartments. The lease was automatically renewed at the end of every month, absent any action by either party to terminate it. The housing authority could terminate the lease for nonpayment of rent or for "good cause," which was defined as including "serious or repeated interference with the rights of other tenants," or the "creation of physical hazards in the leased premises." The lease also provided that in the event that the housing authority should terminate the lease for good cause, the tenant would be notified of the proposed eviction and the specific reasons therefor at a preliminary conference. The tenant would then have the right to request a hearing in accordance with a grievance procedure incorporated by reference into the lease.
On August 1, 1977, the housing authority served the defendant with a notice to quit possession on or before August 31, 1977. The notice contained the following statement of reasons: "Maintaining a dog and maintaining an apartment and adjoining hallways so as to constitute serious interference with the health, safety and peaceful enjoyment of others." After the defendant's failure to vacate the *517 premises, the housing authority began this eviction action. Following a full judicial hearing, the court below found that the defendant maintained her dog and apartment in a manner that constituted a threat to the health and safety of the other tenants, and rendered judgment for the housing authority.
From that judgment, the defendant has appealed, making three claims of error that we will consider:1 (1) the trial court's conclusion that the housing authority did not have to comply with the termination procedures set forth in the lease; (2) the trial court's conclusion that the defendant had been afforded due process of law as guaranteed by the
Although we conclude that the bypass procedure contained in 24 C.F.R. § 866.51 (a) (1978) relieved the housing authority of the obligation to comply with the termination procedure, we do not base our conclusion on the reasoning relied upon by the housing authority or by the trial court. Both reasoned that the incorporated regulations had altered the lease so as to include the grievance procedure bypass. We recognize as a basic principle of contract law that parties to a contract may incorporate into their agreement the terms and conditions of another document by reference, so that the two will be interpreted together as the agreement of the parties. Randolph Construction Co. v. Kings East Corporation,
Where the document referred to is not in existence at the time the principal contract is made, the enforceability of the incorporated terms may be jeopardized. Where the principal agreement contains the essential elements of a valid contract, and further binds the parties to terms to be established by one party in future, the danger exists that the critical elements of knowledge of, and assent to, the additional terms will be missing. See Guy Pine, Inc. v. Chrysler Motors Corporation,
A party to a contract may agree to comply with reasonable and necessary regulations that will be promulgated by the other party to the contract where the regulations to be added do not offend the contract principles discussed above. Such agreements are common in long-term contracts, especially where living accommodations are involved. In contracts with educational institutions, for example, a student often agrees to abide by all school regulations in existence and to be adopted. See, e.g., Mahavongsanan v. Hall,
An examination of the regulations that contain the grievance procedure bypass reveals an intention of the federal department of housing and urban development to replace the grievance procedure in effect before February 16, 1977, with a new *521 procedure. See 24 C.F.R. § 866.52 (1978). The prefatory section of subpart B — Grievance Procedures and Requirements provides: "The grievance procedure provided by this Subpart shall be incorporated in the dwelling leases identified as subject to [regulations governing public housing agencies)." Id., 866.50. Although the section requiring the public housing agency to adopt the procedures set forth in 866.53 — 866.58 includes the requirement that the agency do so by adopting a regulation so providing; see 24 C.F.R. § 866.52; the bypass section, 24 C.F.R. § 866.51 (a)5 contains no such requirement. Section 866.51(a) simply gives the public housing agency the power to exclude from its grievance procedures any termination based upon a tenant's threat to the health or safety of other tenants and agency employees, provided a full judicial hearing prior to eviction is required by state law.
The Connecticut Supreme Court has often recognized the principle that the law as it exists at the time a contract is made becomes a part of the contract "and must be read into it just as if an express provision to that effect were inserted therein, except where the contract discloses a contrary intention." Ciarleglio v. Benedict Co.,
Because the power to exclude a dispute from the normal grievance procedure was conferred by law upon the housing authority where health and safety are in jeopardy, the lease was so modified to include that power. See generally annot., 17 A.L.R. 2d 704. The court did not err in concluding that the housing authority did not have to comply with the termination procedure set forth in the lease.
There is no error.
In this opinion A. HEALEY and PARSKEY, Js., concurred.