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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6437
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 2815
Referred to Committee on HOUSING
Introduced by:
(HSG)
AN ACT REQUIRING LAN DLORDS TO NOTIFY TEN ANTS OF
FORECLOSURE PROCEEDI NGS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2021) When renting any dwelling 1
unit that is located in a building that is subject to a pending foreclosure 2
proceeding or where a judgment has been entered against the owner or 3
landlord in a foreclosure proceeding, the landlord shall, prior to 4
entering into a rental agreement, provide the prospective tenant with a 5
written notice of such pending foreclosure proceeding or judgment. 6
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) (a) Any owner of property 7
containing a dwelling unit that is subject to a pending foreclosure 8
proceeding shall provide written notice of such proceeding to the 9
Commissioner of Housing, the chief executive officer of the 10
municipality in which such property is located and to all tenants 11
residing in such dwelling unit, not later than ten days after receiving 12
notice of such foreclosure proceeding. Not later than ten business days 13
after receipt of any notice, the Commissioner of Housing shall cause 14
such notice to be posted on the Internet web site of the department. 15 Raised Bill No. 6437
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(b) Any tenant receiving notice of such foreclosure proceeding may 16
file an action under section 47a-14h of the general statutes, as amended 17
by this act, to seek an order of the court appointing a receiver to collect 18
rent until the foreclosure proceeding is resolved. 19
Sec. 3. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 47a-14h of the general 20
statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 21
(Effective October 1, 2021): 22
(a) Any tenant who claims that the landlord has failed to perform his 23
or her legal duties, as required by section 47a-7 or 47a-7a or subdivisions 24
(1) to (13), inclusive, of subsection (a) of section 21-82 or that the 25
property containing the dwelling unit that the tenant occupies is subject 26
to a foreclosure proceeding, as described in section 2 of this act, may 27
institute an action in the superior court having jurisdiction over housing 28
matters in the judicial district in which such tenant resides to obtain the 29
relief authorized by this section, section 2 of this act and sections 47a-7a, 30
47a-20 and 47a-68. No tenant may institute an action under this section 31
if a valid notice to quit possession or occupancy based upon 32
nonpayment of rent has been served on such tenant prior to the 33
institution of an action under this section or if a valid notice to quit 34
possession or occupancy based on any other ground has been served on 35
such tenant prior to such tenant making the complaint to the agency 36
referred to in subsection (b) of this section, provided any such notice to 37
quit is still effective. 38
(b) The action shall be instituted by filing a complaint, under oath, 39
with the clerk of the court. The complaint shall allege (1) the name of the 40
tenant; (2) the name of the landlord or, in a complaint concerning section 41
2 of this act, the name of the owner; (3) the address of the premises; (4) 42
the nature of the alleged violation of section 47a-7 or 47a-7a or 43
subsection (a) of section 21-82 or a copy of the notice received under 44
section 2 of this act; and (5) the dates when rent is due under the rental 45
agreement and the amount due on such dates. [The] Unless the 46
complaint concerns section 2 of this act, the complaint shall also allege 47
that at least twenty-one days prior to the date on which the complaint is 48 Raised Bill No. 6437
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filed, the tenant made a complaint concerning the premises to the 49
municipal agency, in the municipality where the premises are located, 50
responsible for enforcement of the housing code or, if no housing code 51
exists, of the public health code, or to the agency responsible for 52
enforcement of the code or ordinance alleged to have been violated, or 53
to another municipal agency which referred such complaint to the 54
municipal agency responsible for enforcement of such code or 55
ordinance. In the case of a mobile manufactured home located in a 56
mobile manufactured home park, such complaint may be made to the 57
Commissioner of Consumer Protection. The entry fee shall be twenty-58
five dollars, which may be waived in accordance with section 52-259b. 59
Such entry fee shall be a taxable cost of the action. If, on the same day, 60
more than one tenant from the same building or complex institutes an 61
action under this section and pays the entry fee for such action, unless 62
such fee is waived, the actions shall be treated as a single action. No 63
recognizance or bond shall be required. 64
Sec. 4. Subsection (e) of section 47a-14h of the general statutes is 65
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 66
1, 2021): 67
(e) [The] (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this section, the 68
complainant may seek and the court may order interim or final relief 69
including, but not limited to, the following: [(1)] (A) An order 70
compelling the landlord to comply with the landlord's duties under 71
local, state or federal law; [(2)] (B) an order appointing a receiver to 72
collect rent or to correct conditions in the property which violate local, 73
state or federal law; [(3)] (C) an order staying other proceedings 74
concerning the same property; [(4)] (D) an award of money damages, 75
which may include a retroactive abatement of rent paid pursuant to 76
subsection (h) of this section; and [(5)] (E) such other relief in law or 77
equity as the court may deem proper. If the court orders a retroactive 78
abatement of rent pursuant to [subdivision (4) of this subsection] 79
subparagraph (D) of this subdivision and all or a portion of the tenant's 80
rent was deposited with the court pursuant to subsection (h) of this 81 Raised Bill No. 6437
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section by a housing authority, municipality, state agency or similar 82
entity, any rent ordered to be returned shall be returned to the tenant 83
and such entity in proportion to the amount of rent each deposited with 84
the court pursuant to subsection (h) of this section. 85
(2) For a complaint filed only under section 2 of this act, the 86
complainant may seek and the court may order relief limited to an order 87
appointing a receiver to collect rent during the pendency of the 88
foreclosure proceeding. 89
Sec. 5. Section 47a-1 of the general statutes is repealed and the 90
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2021): 91
As used in this chapter, sections 1 and 2 of this act and sections 47a-92
21, 47a-23 to 47a-23c, inclusive, 47a-26a to 47a-26g, inclusive, 47a-35 to 93
47a-35b, inclusive, 47a-41a, 47a-43 and 47a-46: 94
(a) "Action" includes recoupment, counterclaim, set-off, cause of 95
action and any other proceeding in which rights are determined, 96
including an action for possession. 97
(b) "Building and housing codes" include any law, ordinance or 98
governmental regulation concerning fitness for habitation or the 99
construction, maintenance, operation, occupancy, use or appearance of 100
any premises or dwelling unit. 101
(c) "Dwelling unit" means any house or building, or portion thereof, 102
which is occupied, is designed to be occupied, or is rented, leased or 103
hired out to be occupied, as a home or residence of one or more persons. 104
(d) "Landlord" means the owner, lessor or sublessor of the dwelling 105
unit, the building of which it is a part or the premises. 106
(e) "Owner" means one or more persons, jointly or severally, in whom 107
is vested (1) all or part of the legal title to property, or (2) all or part of 108
the beneficial ownership and a right to present use and enjoyment of the 109
premises and includes a mortgagee in possession. 110 Raised Bill No. 6437
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(f) "Person" means an individual, corporation, limited liability 111
company, the state or any political subdivision thereof, or agency, 112
business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, two or more 113
persons having a joint or common interest, and any other legal or 114
commercial entity. 115
(g) "Premises" means a dwelling unit and the structure of which it is 116
a part and facilities and appurtenances therein and grounds, areas and 117
facilities held out for the use of tenants generally or whose use is 118
promised to the tenant. 119
(h) "Rent" means all periodic payments to be made to the landlord 120
under the rental agreement. 121
(i) "Rental agreement" means all agreements, written or oral, and 122
valid rules and regulations adopted under section 47a-9 or subsection 123
(d) of section 21-70 embodying the terms and conditions concerning the 124
use and occupancy of a dwelling unit or premises. 125
(j) "Roomer" means a person occupying a dwelling unit, which unit 126
does not include a refrigerator, stove, kitchen sink, toilet and shower or 127
bathtub and one or more of these facilities are used in common by other 128
occupants in the structure. 129
(k) "Single-family residence" means a structure maintained and used 130
as a single dwelling unit. Notwithstanding that a dwelling unit shares 131
one or more walls with another dwelling unit or has a common parking 132
facility, it is a single-family residence if it has direct access to a street or 133
thoroughfare and does not share heating facilities, hot water equipment 134
or any other essential facility or service with any other dwelling unit. 135
(l) "Tenant" means the lessee, sublessee or person entitled under a 136
rental agreement to occupy a dwelling unit or premises to the exclusion 137
of others or as is otherwise defined by law. 138
(m) "Tenement house" means any house or building, or portion 139
thereof, which is rented, leased or hired out to be occupied, or is 140 Raised Bill No. 6437
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arranged or designed to be occupied, or is occupied, as the home or 141
residence of three or more families, living independently of each other, 142
and doing their cooking upon the premises, and having a common right 143
in the halls, stairways or yards. 144
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2021 47a-14h(a) and (b)
Sec. 4 October 1, 2021 47a-14h(e)
Sec. 5 July 1, 2021 47a-1
HSG Joint Favorable