Thomas Breen file photo
Ocean property manager Wilden Bunting: CT Pests "say they’ve done their best and she shouldn’t have any issues, but she is still complaining about them."
Fair Rent commissioners returned a Fair Haven tenant’s rent to its pre-rodent-infestation value — but nixed a proposed $80 hike — after finding that her megalandlord has tried in good faith to get rid of persistent mice.
That decision hinged on competing visions of how far a landlord needs to go to ensure that a housing unit is safely habitable, especially for tenants who struggle with chronic illnesses.
The Fair Rent Commission weighed that question, and issued that one-year-binding order, on Tuesday evening after hearing from the tenant and landlord pair for a fourth time. They did so during the Fair Rent Commission’s latest monthly meeting, which was held online via Zoom.
The tenant first submitted a fair rent complaint in October, fighting a proposed rent increase from $825 to $905 per month for a one-bedroom on Poplar Street.
The tenant told the Fair Rent Commission — which is a state-empowered local body charged with cracking down on rents deemed to be “harsh and unconscionable” — that she’d experienced a long-term mouse problem in her apartment, and a visit from a Livable City Initiative (LCI) housing code inspector discovered holes that needed to be sealed.
In December, Fair Rent commissioners ruled that not only did the tenant not need to pay the proposed rent increase — she would only have to pay half of the original rent, or around $412 per month, until the mouse problem was addressed. The commissioners maintained that half-rent order again following another hearing on the matter in February.
At Tuesday’s latest Fair Rent meeting, commissioners heard the case yet again and determined that the property owner, an affiliate of the megalandlord Ocean Management, had taken adequate steps to address the rodent infestation. Ocean had called an exterminator to come and return at a regular frequency, while also sealing the identified holes through which mice may have been traveling.
The commissions ruled that the tenant should resume paying $825 per month, without the proposed extra $80 hike, since the mouse problem hadn’t been fixed.
The tenant told the commission on Tuesday that despite her landlord’s efforts, “I very much still have mice.” She continued, “I don’t want to degrade the landlord. They have been doing everything they can. It’s just the fact that everything is getting done, but [the rodents are] still here.”
That same house at 429 Poplar St. failed a Livable City Initiative housing code inspection in March 2022. Inspectors found violations related to rodents, holes in the wall, missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and leaks — leading a state housing court judge to fine Ocean’s principal $2,500 for violations in that property alone back in December.
The mice have posed a serious health hazard for the tenant, she said during Tuesday’s Fair Rent meeting. “I have very severe asthma. Anything can trigger me to have an asthma attack. Dust, pests, anything. At this point, it’s kind of overwhelming… I can go home, got to sleep, wake up, and I probably can’t breathe.”
The tenant provided a doctor’s note to the commission indicating that she had been hospitalized for an asthma attack related to conditions in her home. “She has never smoked,” the doctor wrote, “but has multiple exposures in home to pest, dust, and mold that are contributing to the severity of the disease.”
“They are doing the best they can. I just feel like nothing is changing,” said the tenant. She said she submitted a request to transfer apartments.
Thomas Breen Photo
429 Poplar St.
Ocean’s maintenance manager, Wilden Bunting, presented evidence that the extermination company CT Pests had been treating the apartment.
He offered to visit the apartment himself to diagnose the rodent issue: “I can meet with her there. I can see what CT Pests might not be doing. They say they’ve done their best and she shouldn’t have any issues, but she is still complaining about them. But if I go in myself, I will see how [the mice] are really getting in.”
“He can come here if he wants, but it’s been about six to seven different people in my apartment,” the tenant responded. “It’s not a secret. They here.”
Tuesday's Fair Rent Commission meeting on Zoom.
When it came time for the commissioners to deliberate, newly-appointed Fair Rent Commissioner Bita Taubes proposed a solution: “Does the tenant have a problem with ending the lease and moving on? Could there be an amicable ending of the lease so she can move on?”
“That would depend on if there’s a place to go,” responded Commission Vice Chair Douglas Losty. “We can’t force a relocation.”
Regarding the proposed rent hike to $905 per month, Commission Chair Lizz McCrea declared, “I don’t think she should get the increase. She said she still has the issue and it got her in the hospital.” Still, she said, “this landlord seems like he’s trying to do everything he possibly could to try and help her. He’s definitely trying to put the effort forward.”
Commissioner Garry Monk suggested that “an apparatus [be] placed in her apartment that would help the filtration of the air … during the interim, while she’s trying to locate.” He agreed with Taubes that “the ultimate goal for her should be to leave.”
Taubes offered a motion to rule that the rent should be restored to $825 per month, and that Ocean should provide an air purifier for the apartment.
That second part proved controversial with two of her fellow commissioners.
“We can’t micromanage like that,” argued Losty.
McCrea argued that requiring air quality improvements would indeed be within the commission’s power. “You don’t know your authority here, do you!” she laughed.
Commissioner Javier Cabrera sided with Losty. “The tenant should be responsible enough to do that if she feels the conditions are not healthy for her,” he said.
That convinced Taubes. “I think he’s right. She can get her own air cleaner.” Taubes put forth a new motion to simply restore the rent to $825 per month, and received unanimous support from her colleagues.
The commission has jurisdiction over rents. When a commission finds the housing in question violates any local or state health or safety requirement, it may suspend rent payments until the housing is in compliance. A rodent infestation is an example of such violations. But nothing in the relevant statutes, CGS Sec. 7-148b et seq., suggests the commission has the power to require air purifiers or related equipment.
Here is a useful report on the commissions. While the relevant statutes have been amended several times since it was written, these changes do not affect the commission's powers. https://www.cga.ct.gov/2000/rpt/2000-R-0691.htm