Connecticut Judicial Branch Law Libraries   Books

Connecticut Law About Landlord/Tenant Law
These links connect to resources available and are provided with the understanding
that they represent only a starting point for research.

External Link - You are leaving the Connecticut Judicial Branch website This web page has many external links to valuable resources. Please view our Linkage Policy for more information.

See also Law About Rental Security Deposits

Research Guides

 Connecticut Public Acts
Publications from the Connecticut Judicial Branch:

Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection:

Publication from the Citizens Advisory Council for Housing Matters:

Publication from the Office of the Chief States Attorney:

  • Landlord/Tenant Disputes Police Training Manual (2009)
    • Addresses the four types of complaints that are most likely to call for police action.
      • Lockouts and self-help evictions
      • Unlawful entry
      • No-heat and termination of essential services
      • Criminal damage to landlord's property

Information from the Connecticut Network for Legal Aid:

Information from the State of Connecticut Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities:

OLR Research Reports - Office of Legislative Research:

  • Eviction Process and Time Frame - 2011-R-0350
    You asked for a description of the eviction process, including how long it takes to evict someone and a legislative history of changes affecting the eviction time frame.

  • Towns Storing Evicted Tenants' Possessions - 2010-R-0515
    A landlord who obtains a court judgment to evict a tenant may execute the order by having a state marshal serve notice of the eviction on the tenant. After doing so, the marshal gives the town's chief executive officer 24 hours notice of the time and place of the eviction and the property to be removed. On eviction day, the marshal physically removes the tenant's possessions and delivers them to a town-designated storage facility. If the tenant does not reclaim his or her possessions and pay their storage expenses within 15 days, the town can sell the possessions at a public auction after (1) using reasonable efforts to locate and notify the tenant and (2) posting notice for one week on a public signpost near the eviction location, if any, or at some exterior place near the town clerk's office.

  • Rights of a Long-Term Guest at a Residence - 2010-R-0069
    You asked about the rights of a person staying at the home of another person on a long-term, but informal, basis. Specifically, you asked (1) when and how such a guest may gain legal protections equivalent to those afforded to official tenants and (2) how the primary resident may have a person who began staying with them as a guest, but refuses to leave, removed.

  • Options Regarding Unhealthy Apartments - 2008-R-0618
    You asked: (1) whether a tenant can obtain a second opinion from a state agency as to extent of and risks posed by the mold and (2) if this opinion shows that the apartment is unhealthy, whether the tenant can obtain relief in the form of spray painting the apartment or relocation assistance. We understand you have a constituent who has been issued an eviction notice for nonpayment of rent. She asserts that there is mold in her apartment, which her town has inspected at her request.

  • Collection of Past Due Rent And Payment of Attorneys' Fees - 2008-R-0290
     You asked (1) why landlords cannot receive a monetary judgment in housing court, presumably for back rent or property damages and (2) whether a court can award attorneys' fees to tenants represented in housing cases by Legal Services attorneys.

  • Landlord and TenantProcess for Collecting Overdue Rent - 2007-R-0480

  • Removal Process When the Rental Unit Is Within the Landlord's Home - 2007-R-0381
     You wanted to know the process for removing a tenant who rents a room in the landlord's home but is in arrears on the rent.

  • State Funded Housing for the Elderly and Evictions - 2006-R-0186
    You asked (1) for information on the eviction process in state housing for elderly and non-elderly disabled people, (2) about eligibility for tenancy in this type of housing, and (3) what the legislature has done recently to address conflicts between younger and older tenants in this type of housing.

  • State Laws on Landlords' Treatment of Abandoned Property 2006-R-0164
         You asked for a summary of laws in the 50 states regulating how landlords must handle personal property that tenants leave in their dwelling unit after an eviction.

  • Landlord and Tenant 2005-R-0593
     You asked if any state bans winter evictions and for a comparison of Massachusetts eviction laws to Connecticuts.

  • Evicting Service Members and State Marshal Liability 2005-R-0095

    You wanted to know the process for evicting military personnel living in private housing, especially whether a military affidavit is required to evict. You also wanted to know whether state marshals are personally liable for service of process in eviction cases.

  • Process for Evicting a Handicapped Tenant 2004-R-0459
     You asked if special rules apply to the eviction of a handicapped tenant.

  • Uniform Relocation Assistance Act - 2004-R-0383
    You asked us to summarize the Uniform Relocation Assistance Act (URAA) and provide its legislative history (including original intent). You also asked what (1) is the process by which a tenant would qualify for assistance and (2) are the obligations of municipalities, housing authorities, and landlords under the act.

Useful Websites

Connecticut General Statutes

Selected Statutes:

Title 47a Landlord & Tenant

Title 8 - Zoning, Planning, Housing, Economic and Community Development and Human Resources

  • Chapter 135 Uniform Relocation Assistance Act
    The purpose of this chapter is to establish a uniform policy for the fair and equitable treatment of persons displaced by the acquisition of real property by state and local land acquisition programs, by building code enforcement activities, or by a program of voluntary rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements conducted pursuant to governmental supervision.

Click on the link below to search the
full-text of the statutes: http://search.cga.state.ct.us/dtsearch
_pub_statutes.html

 

Connecticut Practice Book

Selected rules:

  • Sec. 17-30. Summary Process; Default and Judgment for Failure to Appear or Plead

  • Sec. 17-53. Summary Process Executions

Connecticut Judicial Branch Court Forms

Connecticut Judicial Branch
Housing Matters Locations

Connecticut Judicial Branch
Jury Instructions

Civil Jury Instructions - Premises Liability

Library Materials

  • Connecticut Landlord and Tenant Law with Forms, by Noble F. Allen (2008).

  • The Connecticut Summary Process Manual, by Paul J. Marzinotto (2002).

The above treatises are available at each of your local law libraries.

Federal Laws - US Code

Title 42, Chapter 135: Residency and Service Requirements in Federally Assisted Housing.

  • Subchapter I Standards and Obligations of Residency in Federally Assisted Housing

  • Subchapter II Authority to Provide Preferences for Elderly Residents and Units for Disabled Residents in Certain Section 8 Assisted Housing

  • Subchapter III Service Coordinators for Elderly and Disabled Residents of Federally Assisted Housing

  • Subchapter IV General Provisions

  • Subchapter V Safety and Security in Public and Assisted Housing

Title 42, Chapter 8: Low Income Housing
 

Federal Regulations (CFR)

Title 24, Chapter II, Part 247: Eviction from Certain Subsidized and HUD-Owned Projects

 

Recent Landlord/Tenant Opinions


 Connecticut Law by Subject