History: P.A. 76-435 revised effective date section of P.A. 76-95, see history to Sec. 47a-1; P.A. 77-451 substituted
"shall" for "may"; P.A. 79-571 revised list of applicable sections and deleted former Subsec. (c) prohibiting rental
agreements which would permit receipt of rent for period during which landlord fails to comply with Sec. 47a-7(a), see
Sec. 47a-4a; P.A. 82-274 amended Subdiv. (7) of Subsec. (a) by restricting the limitation on the amount of attorney's fees
to actions in which money damages are awarded; P.A. 87-154 amended Subsec. (a) to add Subdiv. (8) prohibiting a provision
whereby a tenant agrees to pay a late charge or to pay rent in a reduced amount prior to the expiration of the statutory grace
period; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-11 amended Subsec. (a) to correct a statutory reference in Subdiv. (4) by replacing Sec.
47a-22 with Sec. 47a-21; P.A. 05-56 amended Subsec. (a) to add Subdiv. (9) prohibiting heat and utilities surcharge clauses
in residential leases, effective October 1, 2005, and applicable to rental agreements or renewals of rental agreements signed
on or after that date.
Sec. 47a-6a. Filing in designated municipal office of residential address of nonresident landlord. (a) As used in this section, "address" means a location as described
by the full street number, if any, the street name, the city or town, and the state, and not
a mailing address such as a post office box, "dwelling unit" means any house or building,
or portion thereof, which is rented, leased or hired out to be occupied, or is arranged or
designed to be occupied, or is occupied, as the home or residence of one or more persons,
living independently of each other, and doing their cooking upon the premises, and
having a common right in the halls, stairways or yards and "agent in charge" means
one who manages real estate, including, but not limited to, the collection of rents and
supervision of property.
(b) Any municipality may require the nonresident owner of occupied or vacant
rental real property to maintain on file in the office of the tax assessor or other municipal
office designated by the municipality, the current residential address of the nonresident
owner of such property, if the owner is an individual, or the current residential address
of the agent in charge of the building, if the nonresident owner is a corporation, partnership, trust or other legally recognized entity owning rental real property in the state. If
such residential address changes, notice of the new residential address shall be provided
by such nonresident owner or agent in charge of the building to the office of the tax
assessor or other designated municipal office not more than twenty-one days after the
date that the address change occurred. If the nonresident owner or agent fails to file an
address under this section, the address to which the municipality mails property tax bills
for the rental real property shall be deemed to be the nonresident owner or agent's current
address. Such address may be used for compliance with the provisions of subsection
(c) of this section.
(c) Service of state or municipal orders relating to maintenance of such rental real
property or compliance with state law and local codes concerning such real property
directed to the nonresident owner or agent at the address on file, or deemed to be on file
in accordance with the provisions of this section, shall be sufficient proof of service of
notice of such orders in any subsequent criminal or civil action against the owner or
agent for failure to comply with the orders. The provisions of this section shall not be
construed to limit the validity of any other means of giving notice of such orders that
may be used by the state or such municipality.
(d) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall have committed an
infraction.
(P.A. 05-223, S. 1.)
Sec. 47a-6b. Civil penalties for failure to file residential address of nonresident
landlord. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 51-164p, any municipality may by
ordinance adopted by its legislative body establish a civil penalty for a violation of
section 47a-6a, provided the amount of such civil penalty shall be not more than two
hundred fifty dollars for the first violation and not more than one thousand dollars for
any subsequent violation. Any person who is assessed a civil penalty pursuant to this
section may appeal therefrom to the Superior Court. An appeal shall be instituted not
later than thirty days after the mailing of notice of such assessment by filing a petition
to reopen assessment, together with an entry fee in an amount equal to the entry fee for
a small claims case pursuant to section 52-259, at the Superior Court facility designated
by the Chief Court Administrator, which shall entitle such person to a hearing in accordance with the rules of the judges of the Superior Court.
(P.A. 05-223, S. 2.)
History: P.A. 05-223 effective July 6, 2005.
Sec. 47a-18a. Judicial relief if landlord unlawfully enters.
Term "one month's rent" includes all rent payments made to the landlord, regardless of their source and therefore
includes both tenant's portion and subsidized portion of rent payments made to the landlord. 88 CA 193. The attorney's
fees provision found in Sec. 47a-18a is not limited to percentage of the award of damages. Other factors relevant to
reasonableness of an award of attorney's fees under the statute include work performed by counsel, as documented by the
attorney's affidavits, prevailing hourly rates or the award of attorney's fees in similar cases. Id. Where damages awarded
under section encompass the same conduct as for damages awarded pursuant to Sec. 47a-46, the sum for actual damages
may not be included in the award pursuant to both this section and Sec. 47a-46. 89 CA 836.
Sec. 47a-20. (Formerly Sec. 19-375a). Retaliatory action by landlord prohibited.
Sec. 47a-20a contains four exclusive grounds by which a landlord may rebut a presumption of retaliation under this
section and because landlord did not prove at least one of those four grounds, he did not rebut the presumption of retaliation
under this section. 91 CA 142.
Sec. 47a-20a. Actions deemed not retaliatory.
Section contains four exclusive grounds by which a landlord may rebut a presumption of retaliation under Sec. 47a-20 and because landlord did not prove at least one of those four grounds, he did not rebut the presumption of retaliation
under Sec. 47a-20. 91 CA 142.