DeCarlo & Doll, Inc. v. Dilozir

In DeCarlo & Doll, Inc. v. Dilozir, 45 Conn. App. 633, 698 A.2d 318 (1997) the Court held that when the terms of a contract's time for performance are indefinite, the promised performance must be rendered within a reasonable time. Id. at 643. The plaintiff in DeCarlo & Doll, Inc., sought to recover payment from the defendant under a contract pursuant to which the plaintiff performed engineering and technical services for development of the defendant's self storage facility. Id. at 635-37. The defendant argued that his payment obligations under the contract were conditioned on his obtaining financing, which was an event that never occurred. Id. at 637-38. The defendant maintained that the contract clause "subject to payment . . . at time of financing" excused his performance. Id. The Court explained that "the clause 'subject to payment . . . at time of financing' was not a condition on which payment was contingent." Id. at 641. Rather, "this clause set forth the time, which was in the sole control of the defendant, when payment was to be made by the defendant." Id. The Court determined that "this obligation was in the control of the defendant, and, therefore, he would not be excused by his nonperformance." Id. at 642. Moreover, we concluded that "because financing was never obtained by the defendant, the time of payment should have been within a reasonable time." Id. at 643.