Housing and renter advocates have announced their plans for Connecticut’s upcoming legislative session, which is set to begin next week. Now, landlords are outlining their legislative hopes as well.
The Connecticut Apartment Association, an alliance of landlords and property managers, want to increase housing construction and protect landlords’ interests.
One of the group’s priorities this year is to ensure landlords reserve the right to evict a tenant after their lease expires, according to Connecticut Apartment Association Secretary and Hamden-based landlord Lauren Tagliatela.
“The end of a lease is a time when both parties can say, ‘Hey, I want to stay,’ or ‘Hey, I want to go. I'm moving somewhere else,’” Tagliatela said. “We use lapse of time very judiciously and very rarely, but it is an important tool to have.”
“Lapse of time,” also known as “no fault” evictions, were on the docket for several legislative sessions. Renter advocates want to expand the existing law to prevent landlords from evicting residents at the end of their lease.
Connecticut’s existing Just Cause Eviction law protects residents who are at least 62 years-old or have a disability, from being evicted from their home without being given a reason, such as nonpayment of rent or a violation of the lease agreement.
Under previously proposed expansions, all tenants of buildings with five or more units for at least one year would be protected from evictions without cause.
The Association is also advocating against a limit on how much landlords can charge in up front costs. Last year, a bill limiting security deposits to one month’s rent rather than two, gained traction.
“We'll take a risk, take a chance on someone,” Tagliatela said. “Anecdotally, I would say around 20% of our leases are conditional approvals where we ask for a second month rent for the security deposit.”
Often, landlords will accept two months’ rent in the form of a security deposit in lieu of having a higher credit score, according to West Hartford based landlord Greg Konover.
“Landlords use the two two month security deposit as a tool to accept residents who are otherwise not meeting the credit criteria for the property,” Konover said. “If this law were to go into place, those landlords would have a decision to make.”
Supporters of last year’s version of the bill say asking for too much money upfront prevents lower income renters from finding homes.
Additionally, the Connecticut Apartment Association is in favor of creating landlord accountability, including having property management available at all times. It is also in favor of imposing stricter fines for negligent landlords.
The group also wants to ensure landlords reserve the right to run background checks on potential renters.
Landlords look at recent criminal and previous rental history in background checks, Konover said.
“Understanding that there's another side, which is, you know, people can change, and time changes people as well,” Konover said. “We need to be very cautious about allowing individuals into our communities that have had problems at other communities.”
