Guv Grants Renters Relief; Eviction Moratorium Extended Thru July; Grace Periods For April, May

Gov. Ned Lamont issued a series of statewide renter protections in his latest Covid-19 executive order — extending the state’s eviction moratorium through July 1, requiring landlords to grant a three-month grace period for April rent payments and a two-month grace period for May rent payments, and allowing tenants who have been impacted by the coronavirus to use parts of their security deposits to cover unpaid rent.

Lamont signed that order Friday afternoon. The order also extended all previous social distancing mandates and non-essential retail closures throughout Connecticut to May 20.

Click here to read the full order.

“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,” Lamont is quoted as saying in a press release about the new executive order.

“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.”

The extended eviction moratorium prohibits landlords from filing or executing evictions through July 1.

The 90-day rent payment grace period for April rent is automatic, while the 60-day rent payment grace period for May must be requested of a landlord by a tenant. The tenant must show that he or she has lost a job, hours, or other revenue due to the pandemic.

The security deposit provision allows tenants who have paid a security deposit worth more than one month’s rent to apply all or part of that security deposit to April, May, or June rent. The tenant must first notify the landlord about how he or she has been impacted by the pandemic.

The renter relief comes in the wake of the Lamont administration’s announcement at the end of March that over 50 credit unions and banks in Connecticut have agreed to offer three months’ of mortgage-payment forbearances, thereby pushing homeowners’ monthly housing costs 90 days into the future.

Renters throughout the state have called in the intervening days on the Lamont administration to extend similar relief for renters, who tend to make less than half as much money each year as homeowners.

The four renter relief provisions included in the new order read as follows:

• No Notice to Quit or Service of Summary Process Before July 1. Section 47a-23 of the Connecticut General Statutes is modified to additionally provide, “(f) No landlord of a dwelling unit, and no such landlord’s legal representative, attorney-at-law, or attorney-in-fact, shall, before July 1, 2020, deliver or cause to be delivered a notice to quit or serve or return a summary process action, for any reason set forth in this chapter or in sections 21-80 et seq. of the Connecticut General Statutes, except for serious nuisance as defined in section 47a-15 of the Connecticut General Statutes.”

• Automatic 60-Day Grace Period for April Rent. Section 47a-15a of the Connecticut General Statutes is modified to additionally provide, “Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, if rent due in April 2020 is unpaid when due and paid within sixty days thereafter, the tenant of a dwelling unit shall not be in default or violation of the rental agreement and the landlord of such unit may not deliver or cause to be delivered a notice to quit or serve or file a summary process action for nonpayment of rent; impose late fees, interest, or penalties; report such rent as late to any credit bureau or tenant screening service; or otherwise retaliate against the tenant. As used in this section, ‘tenant’ includes a resident of a mobile manufactured home park, as defined in section 21-64, including a resident who owns his own home, and ‘landlord’ includes a ‘licensee’ and an ‘owner’ of a mobile manufactured home park, as defined in section 21-64.”

• 60-Day Grace Period for May Rent, Upon Request. Section 47a15a of the Connecticut General Statutes is further modified to additionally provide, “Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, if rent due in May 2020 is unpaid when due and paid within sixty days thereafter by a tenant who, on or before the 9th day after such rent is due, notifies the landlord or landlord’s representative in writing, including but not limited to in written electronic communication, that the tenant needs to delay all or some payment of rent because he or she has become fully or partially unemployed or otherwise sustained a significant loss in revenue or increase in expenses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tenant of a dwelling unit shall not be in default or violation of the rental agreement and the landlord of such unit may not deliver or cause to be delivered a notice to quit or serve or file a summary process action for nonpayment of such rent; impose late fees, interest, or penalties; report such rent as late to any credit bureau or tenant screening service; or otherwise retaliate against the tenant.”

• Application of Additional Security Deposit to Rent, Upon Request. Section 47a-21 is modified to additionally provide, “(m) Upon the written request of a tenant of a dwelling unit who is not enrolled in the security deposit guarantee program established by the Commissioner of Housing pursuant to Section 8-339 of the Connecticut General Statutes, who has paid a security deposit in an amount that exceeds one month’s rent, and who provides written notice, including but not limited to in written electronic communication, that he or she has become fully or partially unemployed or otherwise sustained a significant loss in revenue or increase in expenses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a landlord of such unit shall withdraw an amount of said deposit equal to the amount in excess of one month’s rent from an escrow account and apply it toward the rent due in April, May, or June 2020. Notwithstanding subsection (h) of this section, an escrow agent may withdraw funds from an escrow account to comply with such a request. The amount withdrawn by the escrow agent and applied toward the rent due shall no longer be considered an amount of the security deposit for any purpose, including but not limited to the calculation of interest, assignment to successor, and the payment of security deposit and interest at the termination of a tenancy. Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, no landlord who has complied with such a request may demand the security deposit be restored to an amount that exceeds one month’s rent earlier than the later of the end of the public health and civil preparedness emergency declared on March 10, 2020, including any period of extension or renewal of such emergency, or the date the rental agreement is extended or renewed.