An owner-occupant landlord in the Hill won permission to evict two of her downstairs tenants as she tries to modify her mortgage loan and find new renters.
That was the outcome of a summary process trial that took place in state housing court Tuesday afternoon in the eviction case Sarah Malave v. Megan Bernacki.
State Superior Court Judge John Cirello ultimately sided with Malave, a local landlord and New Haven native, in her lapse-of-time eviction lawsuit against tenants Megan Bernacki and Tyler Falanga.
He gave the two tenants until April 15 to vacate their rented room on the first floor of a two-family house on King Place in the Hill.
He also ordered Bernacki and Falanga to pay Malave — who lives with her two children on the second floor of that same King Place home — $600 in use and occupancy by April 1.
“You have just about a month to move out,” Cirello told the two tenants during the virtual trial, which was live-streamed on YouTube. “It shouldn’t be that hard for you to find a one-room apartment, or to rent a room.”
If they don’t pay the landlord $600 by April 1, he added, “then she can move to have you evicted even sooner. You cannot be a day late or a dollar short.”
Cirello’s decision comes as eviction filings in Connecticut are on track to reach their highest monthly number since 2017, according to this article in the CT Mirror. That article also states that the UniteCT rent relief program stopped taking new applications as of mid-February, and that all of the $400 million-plus in federal pandemic-relief money that the state had dedicated to rental assistance has either been distributed or is in the process of being given out.
February also saw the launch of the state’s new right to counsel program, which provides legal representation for tenants facing eviction in 16 zip codes across Connecticut. In New Haven, those zip codes include 06511, 06513, and 06519.
Landlord: "I Have No Income From Any Of The Tenants"
Thomas Breen file photo
State Superior Court Judge John Cirello.
According to state court records, Malave first filed the eviction lawsuit against Bernacki and Falanga on Dec. 21.
That lawsuit is based on a notice to quit that Malave served the two tenants on Nov. 17, and that ordered them to move out by Dec. 20 due to lapse of time.
On Dec. 28, Bernacki and Falanga filed two separate legal answers in the state court case, in which both tenants alleged that their room’s window didn’t close and that they had no heat in the apartment.
Cirello opened Tuesday’s virtual trial by noting that this is a lapse of time suit, not a case about conditions in the apartment.
“She’s not throwing you out for not paying rent,” he told the tenants. “She’s throwing you out because you were allowed to live there for a certain period of time, and that time has expired.” So instead, the tenants would have to show that their rental agreement had not in fact expired.
Cirello asked Malave to make her case for the eviction.
The landlord said that Bernacki and Falanga have lived in the first-floor rented room on King Place since January 2020.
She said they originally had a written lease but, because they “did not pay rent for most of the time” that they lived at the property, their written lease has subsequently expired, and they have been on a month-to-month oral lease since March 2021.
“They still currently do not pay any income towards living in the property,” Malave told the court.
“I’ve asked them to move out,” she said. She added that she has had “many issues with the tenants” beyond their not paying rent, including incidents that have led to visits by the city’s Livable City Initiative (LCI), animal control, the police department, and the fire department.
Malave told the court that Bernacki and Falanga aren’t the first tenants she has moved to evict. She has already kicked out the tenant who previously rented the basement apartment at her King Place home.
“I’m just trying to get everyone out of the home so I can regain the home,” she said.
She later told the Independent that she and her two children currently live in the King Place home’s second floor, and that they plan on moving into the house’s first floor after she evicts Bernacki, Falanga, and one remaining tenant.
Malave told the court said she’s currently working on a loan modification for her mortgage to allow her to retain ownership of the property, continue living there with her family, and ultimately rent out rooms to future tenants.
“I have no income from any of the tenants that live in the home” today, she said.
Tenants: "Going To Take Time"
Google Maps photo
The two-family house on King Place.
Cirello then turned to Bernacki and Falanga and asked them to make their case for why they shouldn’t be kicked out.
“On many occasions, we have offered rent,” Bernacki said. “She’s refused to accept it.”
“We have no intention of staying here,” she continued. “We just filed our taxes last week. We are getting a good deal of money. We want to be out of this house, trust and believe that.”
How much time do you need in order to move out and find a new place? Cirello asked.
“By the first week of May, I’ll definitely be out,” Bernacki said.
Malave jumped back in. “I feel like they shouldn’t be allowed any more time,” the landlord said. “They’ve been given more than enough time to figure out what they need to figure out and move out. This isn’t fair for myself.”
What was the last agreed-upon rent for these tenants at this property? Cirello asked.
Six hundred dollars per month, Malave said. “It’s just a room on the first floor.” They share a common area, bathroom and kitchen with another tenant in another rented room on the first floor.
Bernacki told the court that it should take “at least two weeks” for her and Falanga to find a new place.
“We have a dog,” she said. “It’s going to take time. I’m going to need at least another month. … Hopefully I’ll be out sooner than that. I’m just saying, at least a month.”
Judge: "It's Ms. Malave's House"
Cirello underscored for the tenants that this is a lapse-of-time eviction case, not a nonpayment-of-rent case.
“It’s Ms. Malave’s house,” he said. “She has agreed to rent to you for a certain period of time. That time has lapsed, and now she wants you out. As the owner of the home, that’s her right.”
He said he would not take into consideration any of the two sides’ debates around rent offered or rent refused when considering whether or not to grant the eviction for lapse of time.
After reviewing the relevant testimony and legal filings in the case, Cirello said, he was going to issue a judgment in favor of Malave — granting her eviction lawsuit for lapse of time.
As part of that order, he put in place a final stay of execution on the eviction through April 15 “contingent upon one use and occupancy payment” of $600, to be paid by the tenants to the landlord on or before April 1.
Decision Responses: "Ridiculous" Vs. "Fair"
After the trial, Falanga, who is 33 years old, expressed his frustration with the judge’s decision during a phone interview with the Independent.
“I think it’s a little ridiculous,” he said. “This house is in absolutely terrible shape. … We live on the first floor in a very crime-ridden neighborhood, and our window doesn’t even close. We’ve gone without heat for months and months and months.” He added that the heat has subsequently been fixed.
In a separate interview with the Independent, Malave contested Falanga’s and Bernacki’s takes on the poor conditions of the house. Any problems there were results of “things they did to the home,” she said. She also said that the tenants had the heating bill in their name, and that the tenant removed the thermostat from the wall. After LCI visited her property, she said, they ordered her to replace the thermostat, which she did.
The city’s property record database, meanwhile, shows an open housing-code complaint against the property owner for heating, window, and smoke detector problems at the property.
Meanwhile, Falanga continued, he’s currently out of work from his job as a “fishing boat captain.”
“I’ve done commercial vessel operating for the past six years for shellfish and oysters,” he said. He said it’s a great job.
What has led to his latest bout of unemployment, he said, is that his car broke down (“my vehicle just shit the bed”) and he hasn’t been able to afford to buy a new one. “Now I have to wait for the [tax refund] to come in to buy another car so I could get a job I could drive to,” he said.
Where might he and Bernacki move to come April 15?
“I don’t know,” Falanga said.
Bernacki said during the trial in open court that they’re currently looking into buying or renting a trailer.
Falanga told the Independent that he’d like to stay in New Haven, though he doesn’t think he’ll be able to find another place to live at as low a rent as his current room’s $600-per-month rate.
While Falanga was dismayed by Cirello’s ruling, Malave told the Independent that she found the judge’s decision to be “fair.”
She said that she grew up in the Hill, and has owned, lived in, and rented rooms out of the King Place two-family house since 2018. This is her only rental property, she said, and this has been her first time being a landlord.
It’s been particularly tough during the pandemic, she said, because of the state-sanctioned “leeway with people being able to not pay rent, and everyone staying home.” She added that Bernacki and Falanga refused to apply for the UniteCT rent relief program, though she did get state rental support for one of her other tenants at the King Place property.
“It’s been horrible,” she said about being a small landlord during the pandemic.
She said the only way she’s been able to stay financially afloat is because of the income from her other job as a medical biller. She’s also currently working on a loan modification to help her get current on her mortgage.
What does she plan to do if and when she succeeds in evicting the last remaining tenant from the first floor apartment?
“Most likely I’m going to take ownership of the first floor,” she said. “It’s a lot larger” than her current home on the second floor of the building, and “my family is getting bigger.” She may try to rent out the second floor, or she may occupy that floor as well.
What advice does she have for other small and first-time landlords in New Haven?
“Definitely background checks,” she said. “Definitely ask for referrals. Ask for referrals from the last landlords. Go through programs and grants that are funded, something with guaranteed income.”
Other recent stories about New Haven eviction cases working their way through housing court so far in 2022.
• Landlord Thwarted 2nd Time On Eviction
• Church Evicting Parishioner
• Hard-Luck Tenant Hustles To Stay Put
• Eviction Of Hospitalized Tenant, 74, Upheld
• Judge Pauses Eviction Amid Rent-Relief Qs
• Amid Rise In“Lapse-of-Time” Evictions, Tenant Wins 3‑Month Stay
• Leaky Ceiling, Rent Dispute Spark Eviction Case
We are fortunate in CT at how easy it is here to look up a person’s history of housing, civil and criminal court cases online for free. It’s the bare minimum people should do before renting, dating or any other interaction that could end with regret for not knowing the truth from the get-go.