What is a fair rent commission?
What it does and how it can help you fight a rent increase
If you’re a renter, there’s a built-in power imbalance between you and your landlord. They control your rent, living conditions, and sometimes your utilities.
Landlords may try to increase your rent when you renew your lease. You don’t have to accept it, especially if a greedy or predatory landlord is trying to charge you more for no reason. You can try to negotiate your rent yourself. If that doesn’t work, there are more options to fight the hike.
Fair rent commissions are one option if you’re facing a big rent increase.
What does a fair rent commission do?
A fair rent commission can order a landlord to lower your rent, phase in a rent increase, or delay one. It can also require your landlord to make repairs to your unit.
The commission is not a court. However, it can still hold hearings, make rulings, issue subpoenas, and conduct inspections. You don’t need a lawyer to go through the process.
The commission will likely try to help you and your landlord to come to an agreement instead of taking the case to a hearing. You can still move forward to go through the hearing process if you aren’t happy with your landlord’s counterproposal.
When it comes to a rent increase, there are four decisions the commission can make: allow the increase to go forward, phase in the increase, pause it until repairs are made, or deny it. The rulings are not suggestions. Your landlord must obey them.
How much can a landlord increase rent?
A fair rent commission decides if a rent increase is “harsh” or “excessive.” However, there’s no law stating what that means. It’s up to the commission to decide if a rent increase is too much.
The law is a little different if you are over the age of 62 or have a disability. The commission will consider if the increase is “fair and equitable” instead of “harsh” or “excessive.”
Connecticut lawmakers are weighing a proposal that would give renters more rights and commissions more power to crack down on price hikes. Right now, someone can buy your building and increase your rent by hundreds or thousands of dollars without making any improvements. This isn’t fair to hardworking tenants who are already having to pay more and more each year. A new bill would let the fair rent commission put a stop to this by defining a rent increase of more than 10% as “excessive” unless the landlord has made major improvements to the property.
Rent shouldn’t go up without a good reason. Take action now to tell your lawmakers to expand renters’ rights and stop predatory landlords from taking advantage of tenants.
How does it decide cases?
Each rent commission is different, and so is every case. Connecticut law lists 13 things a commission will look at before making a decision. Those include what rent costs for other apartments or homes in your area, how much your rent has already gone up, if your landlord needs to make repairs, how much money you make, and how your landlord will use the extra rent money to improve the property.
Renters have the “burden of proof” in cases. That means you have to show the commission why the increase is too much and argue that it should be lowered.
Who can file a complaint?
Renters who live in many different types of housing can file complaints. A group of renters living in the same building can file a complaint against their landlord together, but the cases will still be decided on a unit-by-unit basis.
Many types of renters can complain to the commission. That list isn’t just people who rent an apartment building, house, or condo. People who live in mobile home parks can start a case with the commission. So can people who live in assisted living facilities. You can start a case if you are on a month-to-month lease, have an oral lease, or live in a student apartment building. However, renters who live in a college dorm or a nursing home can’t make a complaint.
What can you expect after you file your case?
The commission will try to help you and your landlord come to an agreement before your case would need a hearing. This can be faster than going to a hearing and waiting for the commission to rule on your case.
The hearing and the commission’s discussion of your case are public. You can listen to them talk, but you can’t speak unless they ask you to.
You are able to appeal the decision if you aren’t happy with the outcome. Your landlord can also file an appeal if the commission rules against them.
Who is on a fair rent commission?
A fair rent commission has between three and nine members on it. The members are appointed, not elected. They can be renters, landlords, and homeowners. Unfortunately, there are no laws requiring renters to be on a commission. There is no law requiring landlords to be on a commission, either.
Some cities have their own rules to balance the number of landlords, tenants, and homeowners on a commission.
What places have a fair rent commission?
In Connecticut, cities and towns are required to have a fair rent commission if they have more than 25,000 residents. Many cities and towns have commissions even though they aren’t required to. Check with your local city or town to see if you have one.
You must live within the border of a municipality to complain to that area’s fair rent commission. For example, if you live in Hartford, you can’t file a complaint with the West Hartford Fair Rent Commission.
Do you have to pay rent while they’re deciding your case?
Yes. Your landlord can evict you for not paying rent. Sometimes the commission might tell you to pay rent to it, instead of your landlord, while the case is being decided. It can also pause your rent payments if your home doesn’t meet health or safety requirements and your landlord isn’t fixing the issue.
Can your landlord punish you for filing a complaint?
It’s illegal for your landlord to try to evict you because you filed a complaint. If they do, tell the fair rent commission as soon as possible. They can order your landlord to stop. Your landlord is banned from retaliating against you for filing a complaint.
What about if your landlord increases fees?
A fair rent commission doesn’t only look at rent increases. It also considers other payments in your lease, like fees and amenities. If your landlord suddenly shuts down your apartment gym, but still keeps your fee the same price, you can file a complaint. This is considered a rent increase because you’re paying the same amount for less.
There are other situations the commission can intervene on. If your utilities were a part of your lease, but your landlord stops paying for them and doesn’t decrease your rent, that’s considered a rent increase.
Lawmakers can give commissions more power to crack down on rent hikes
The cost of rent, child care, utilities, and groceries keeps going up. Hardworking people are struggling to make ends meet, and right now landlords can increase your rent without a good reason. Fair rent commissions can help you fight a rent hike, but they’re limited in what they can because of vague laws.
There are ways you can take action to expand renters’ rights and put a stop to predatory rent increases. Take action today to urge your lawmakers to give fair rent commissions more power to protect tenants from harsh and excessive rent hikes.
