Hi there,

I'm getting ready to set up a lease with my first new tenant in Connecticut and I'm getting my disclosures together.  There's one disclosure I don't understand -- I even called the Attorney General's office but haven't been able to get an answer.  Here's the disclosure:

"Summary of Landlord-Tenant code. A summary of the code, as prepared by the Consumer Protection Unit of the Attorney General's office, must be given to tenants at the beginning of the rental term. Failure to do so enables the tenant to plead ignorance of the law as a defense."

I looked online and can't find any sort of summary form.  Is this an actual disclosure that is available freely for me to give to my tenants, or do I just say "Go to the web to better understand the landlord-tenant code?"

Thanks!
Robert.

For what it's worth, here's the link I found summarizing the code:

https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_830.htm

It's a lot of individual sections, but there's no specific disclosure document.

Thanks,

Robert.

We point our new Bridgeport residents to this link as a summary of the code:  https://www.jud.ct.gov/Publications/hm031.pdf

Because most will never read it,  we have a basic "Rental talk" outlining each parties responsibilities.

Hi @Craig Bellot .  This is perfect.  Thank you!  I will add that to the package I give new tenants.

Thanks!
Robert.

You're welcome @Robert Lindsley

Originally posted by @Robert Lindsley :

"Summary of Landlord-Tenant code. A summary of the code, as prepared by the Consumer Protection Unit of the Attorney General's office, must be given to tenants at the beginning of the rental term. Failure to do so enables the tenant to plead ignorance of the law as a defense."

Robert, except for this link (http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/connecticut...) I don't see anywhere that it says this needs to be provided to tenants. In that article it quotes § 47a-3e, 47a-6 of the code and neither seem to indicate this is a requirement of the lease. 

One thing to note is you do need to include a sprinkler clause in your lease: https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_830.htm#se.... 

@Robert Lindsley, I do not think that is a required disclosure but i think why not include it in the lease. Include the link as well. You should also include a lead paint disclosure form. If you do not have the form (it is a standard form) I would be happy to provide to you. If you have any other questions about good lease provisions to include, i would be happy to help you. Feel free to comment here or message me. 

Regards,

Ed Schenkel, Esq.