## Facts

- A mortgagor executed a mortgage note and mortgage on certain real property.
- The equity of redemption later came to Samuel Schneider (with his one-half interest held in his wife’s name); Schneider took title **subject to** the mortgage but did **not** assume personal liability on the debt.
- Schneider arranged an exchange of the property with Giuseppe (Joseph) Ferrigno, using a brother-in-law as an intermediary:
  - Schneider conveyed to his brother-in-law, who **assumed and agreed to pay** the existing mortgages.
  - The brother-in-law then conveyed to Ferrigno, whose deed recited that Ferrigno **assumed and agreed to pay** the mortgages, including the one held by the plaintiffs.
- The property was later lost through strict foreclosure of a prior encumbrance, but the mortgage debt at issue remained unpaid.
- The mortgagees sued Ferrigno to recover the unpaid balance based on Ferrigno’s assumption agreement.

## Issues

1. Whether a mortgagee may sue a grantee who assumed and agreed to pay the mortgage debt when an intermediate owner previously took title only “subject to” the mortgage and did not assume it.
2. Whether Connecticut General Statutes § 5610 permits a direct action by the mortgagee against any assuming grantee without showing an unbroken chain of assumptions or traditional privity.
3. Whether Ferrigno’s assumption promise was supported by consideration and enforceable by the mortgagee as an intended beneficiary despite Ferrigno’s later loss of title.

## Decision

- The Connecticut Supreme Court reversed the judgment for Ferrigno.
- The court held that § 5610 authorizes the mortgagee to sue a grantee who has assumed and agreed to pay the mortgage debt, even if an earlier link in the chain did not assume the debt.
- Ferrigno’s assumption clause was part of the consideration for the conveyance and created a personal, enforceable obligation to pay the mortgage debt.
- Ferrigno’s loss of title through strict foreclosure of a prior lien did not discharge his contractual liability on the assumption agreement.
- The case was remanded for proceedings consistent with holding Ferrigno liable on his assumption.

## Legal Principles

- A grantee’s express agreement in a deed to “assume and pay” an existing mortgage creates personal liability for the mortgage debt.
- Under Connecticut General Statutes § 5610, a mortgagee may proceed directly against any grantee who assumed the mortgage debt; liability does not depend on proof that each intervening grantee also assumed the debt.
- An assumption clause given as part of the consideration for a conveyance is supported by consideration and is enforceable by the mortgagee as the creditor-beneficiary contemplated by the statute.
- Subsequent loss of the property does not negate the assuming grantee’s personal promise to pay the mortgage debt.

## Conclusion

The court held that the mortgagees could sue Ferrigno directly on his deed covenant to assume and pay the mortgage debt under § 5610, notwithstanding an earlier nonassumption in the chain of title and notwithstanding Ferrigno’s later loss of the property through foreclosure.


Schneider v. Ferrigno, 110 Conn. 86, 147 A. 303 (1929)