Connecticut landlords essentially just got .... by the governor.
Protections granted to residential renters during COVID-19 crisis
Governor Lamont’s order – Executive Order No. 7X – includes a provision taking the following actions to protect residential renters during the public health crisis:
- All landlords are prohibited from issuing a notice to quit or beginning eviction proceedings before July 1, 2020, except for serious nuisance, such as physically harming another tenant or the landlord.
- For rent due in April 2020, landlords must grant tenants an automatic, 60-day grace period for payment, instead of the existing 9-day grace period.
- For rent due in May 2020, landlords must grant a 60-day grace period for payment upon the request of tenants. Under this provision, a tenant must to notify the landlord that they have lost a job, lost hours, or otherwise lost revenue or faced significant increased expenses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- If a tenant has a paid security deposit of more than one month’s rent, the tenant can apply all or part of that excess to April, May, or June rent. Under this provision, the tenant must notify the landlord that they have lost a job, lost hours, or otherwise lost revenue or faced significant increased expenses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During this crisis, these protections will allow residents to stay safe at home, while prohibiting landlords from charging late fees or interest for nonpayment and provide a buffer for the next couple of months,” Governor Lamont said. “Residential renters need to have added safeguards during times of emergency like this – they have rights and we will see to it that they are protected.”
So, it takes on average AT LEAST TWO MONTHS to run a straightforward eviction for non-payment of rent in CT, and a savvy tenant, or one who is getting coached by Legal Aid, can often draw it out for several months more. The governor just declared today that no one has to pay rent until July 1st, so he just gave people 3 months of not having to pay rent. That, plus the two months it takes to evict someone, means that tenants now can get at least 5 months' free rent. He also has allowed tenants to apply the second month of their security deposit to their rent, meaning that the LL now is left holding only one month of security deposit, in a state where it takes at least two months to run a straightforward eviction for non-payment. So, assuming that a tenant decides to take advantage of this, and not pay rent beginning April 1st (and a lot of tenants take the grace period, and don't pay until the tenth of the month - the day he announced this), by the time they get into court they'll be 5 months behind in rent, and most judges will give them another few weeks to get ready to move, without making them pay a cent. For marginal tenants, they may be better off not paying rent, saving their money, finding a new place for September 1st, and just moving, leaving the LL out 6 months of rent, since they won't be able to rent the unit until October 1st at the earliest, plus eviction costs.
The LL still has to maintain the properties, pay mortgages, pay property taxes, pay insurance, not to mention pay his OWN bills, too - this is his livelihood. It's as if the governor just announced that food from groceries, restaurants, and delivery services is now free for the next five months. I notice that he hasn't announced a program for the state to pay the landlords for the lost rent. And none of the federal bailout programs cover mom and pop small landlords, since they have no employees.
