Sec.46a-54-43a. Duty to answer; time to answer; form of answer

(a) A respondent's answer to the complaint shall be filed under oath with the commission not later than thirty (30) days after receipt of the complaint, except that an answer to a complaint alleging a violation of section 46a-64c or section 46a-81e of the Connecticut General Statutes shall be filed not later than ten (10) calendar days after receipt. The answer shall admit, deny or plead insufficient knowledge to each and every allegation of the complaint in accordance with subsection (b) of this section. The answer shall include each defense that the respondent intends to rely upon.

(b) The respondent shall plead in its answer as follows:

(1) That it ADMITS an allegation;

(2) That it DENIES an allegation. To the extent that it denies only part of an allegation the respondent shall, as part of its response to the allegation; admit so much of an allegation as is true and deny the rest only; or

(3) That it has INSUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE of an allegation to admit or deny the allegation.

(4) If the respondent ADMITS, DENIES or has INSUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE of part of an allegation, the respondent shall answer the complete allegation using the forms of response contained in subdivisions (1), (2) or

(3) of this subsection that apply to each part of the allegation.

(c) A general denial of the allegations will be allowed if the respondent intends in good faith to controvert all of the allegations of the complaint or if the complaint is unstructured. In the event a general denial is filed because the complaint is unstructured and the complaint is later amended into a structured format with numbered paragraphs, the respondent shall then be required to answer the amended complaint in accordance with subsections (a) and (b) of this section.

(d) The time period for answering the complaint shall commence with the respondent's receipt of the complaint. The answer shall be filed not later than thirty (30) days after the respondent's receipt of the complaint unless, in the case of service of a pseudonym complaint, the respondent follows the procedures set forth in section 46a-54-37a(c) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies or requests an extension in accordance with section 46a-54-45a of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

(Adopted effective November 4, 2002)