Connecticut Legislator Pushing for Statewide Rent Control

“At the request of a lawmaker, the Connecticut Office of Legislative Research analyzed Connecticut’s existing laws to limit rent increases,” reports Alexander Soule for the Connecticut Post.

It’s the second time in as many years that the OLR has examined the question of what power the state legislature has to regulate rents in the state. “The Connecticut General Assembly did not vote on the bill after a hearing in the Housing Committee” last year, according to Soule, “nor one that would have authorized state funding for a formal study of excessive rent increases.”

Rep. David Michel, D-Stamford is continuing to lead the charge, however, toward state controls on rental prices. Soule cites two West Coast states as precedents for Connecticut’s potential action: Oregon’s first-in-the-nation statewide rent control, approved by Senate Bill 608 in 2019, and a similar bill enacted later the same year in California.

“Outside of a patchwork of 'fair rent' commissions in just over 20 municipalities, Connecticut tenants have little recourse to challenge excessive rent increases by landlords, though they can sue in Connecticut Superior Court if they feel they are being subjected to discriminatory or retaliatory actions,” reports Soule. “In April, Gov. Ned Lamont signed a law requiring all towns with populations over 25,000 people to create ordinances by July 2023 mandating fair rent commissions , with those below that cutoff exempt. The law has no penalty for municipalities that decide not to comply, however.”

More about the politics of statewide rent control in Connecticut is included in the source article below.