The state legislature’s Housing Committee is holding a public hearing Tuesday on 12 proposed bills, including five bills that seek to support renters.
Atop the list is Senate Bill 257, which would require landlords to cite cause to evict tenants who live in a building or complex consisting of five or more separate dwelling units and tenants or residents of mobile manufactured home parks.
That bill has drawn wide interest, with testimony submitted in advance of the hearing by more than 125 people. Those include representatives of tenant unions and support groups, which support the bill, while landlords strongly oppose it.
Jessica Doll, executive director of the Connecticut Apartment Association (CTAA), said the bill raises “serious operational concerns — the creation of what many in our industry call ‘perpetual’or ‘forever’ tenancies.”
Doll said that, under the bill, a landlord could not decline to renew a lease unless a legally defined cause exists, which she says “fundamentally changes what a lease is.”
“A lease is traditionally a time-limited agreement between two parties,” Doll said. “At the end of that term, both sides reassess whether the relationship is working.”
Instead, she said, the bill would effectively convert many fixed-term leases into indefinite ones, “where the tenant can remain as long as they choose unless the landlord
can prove a statutory violation.”
Christopher Bedron, who said he represents the Connecticut Tenants Union, supports the bill, saying state law already provides Just Cause protections for those over 62 years of age, as well as for those with disabilities and other “protected tenants.”
“Now is the time to extend these protections to all renters,” he said.
Two other bills seek to protect renters from rent increases. House Bill 5092, proposed by Gov. Ned Lamont, would protect renters from increases if a residential property changes ownership, while HB 5261 would allow municipalities to prohibit rent increases in the event of multiple state building code violations.
Two other bills — one pro-renter, one pro-landlord — address security deposits. HB 5257, introduced by the Housing Committee, would prohibit a landlord from requiring a security deposit in excess of one month’s rent from any tenant. SB 253, sponsored by Sen. Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott), would repeal the current statutory maximum of one or two months’ rent a landlord can require a tenant to pay as a security deposit.
In testimony submitted in advance of the public hearing, Sampson said repealing the limits on security deposits would benefit both tenants and landlords.
“Current law imposes rigid limits on security deposits, restricting the ability of landlords and tenants to negotiate lease terms that reflect their individual circumstances,” Sampson said.
While security deposit caps were originally intended to protect
tenants, he said, “in practice they can unintentionally limit housing access.”
Sampson said that by repealing the caps, the bill would restore flexibility and allow agreements to reflect real-world conditions.
“In many cases, a mutually agreed-upon deposit structure can make the difference between securing housing or being denied altogether,” he said.
The Housing Committee public hearing was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Room 2A of the Legislative Office Building.
