Tenants To Fair Rent: Hear Our Cases

Can the city’s Fair Rent Commission regulate federally-funded housing?

East side tenants facing rent hikes of up to 45 percent are demanding a hearing — and raising that question in the process.

The Fair Rent Commission has so far declined to hear rent hike complaints from tenants in federally-subsidized housing, including at Sunset Ridge, a 312-apartment complex in Fair Haven Heights. The complex is owned by a for-profit company and subsidized by the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. 

“At this point, probably two thirds of the whole complex has gotten a rent increase,” estimated New Haven Legal Assistance Association lawyer Sinclair Williams, who helped organize a protest about the issue outside City Hall this past Thursday afternoon.

Anecdotally, he said, most of the tenants he’s spoken with have received a $300 rent increase. 

Meanwhile, an affiliate of the Capital Realty Group, the private equity company that bought the complex for $17.7 million in June, has filed at least 27 eviction cases against Sunset Ridge tenants since September.

When asked about the rent raises and evictions, Capital Realty Group forwarded questions to Samson Rosner, who wrote that ​“I am in charge of this project” and that ​“our property is not affiliated with Capital Realty Group.” He said in a statement, ​“We have just recently taken on Sunset Ridge Apartments and are in the midst of upgrading the Project. The rents are regulated by state and federal guidelines and we adhere to those requirements.”

Asia Huff, an elderly care worker who lives in a one-bedroom at Sunset Ridge with her 1‑year-old, said her rent was raised at the beginning of February from $870 to $1,270 — a $400 increase equivalent to almost half of her former rent. 

“I have never been more scared of losing my home,” Huff said at Thursday’s protest.

Does Fair Rent Have Jurisdiction?

At least one Sunset Ridge tenant who had filed a complaint with the Fair Rent Commission in August received a letter from the city rejecting her case on Dec. 29. 

The letter, signed by Fair Rent Department field representative Lee Osorio, stated that the commission ​“does not have the authority to set rental amounts that are set forth by the Federal Housing guides, thus your case is now closed.” (The commission does hear cases related to unsafe housing conditions in federally-subsidized housing.)

This policy against hearing rent increase cases from tenants of federally-subsidized housing prompted about ten Sunset Ridge tenants, housing activists, and legal aid staffers to protest outside City Hall on Thursday afternoon.

“Hey, hey, we won’t pay!” they chanted as Tracy Chapman’s ​“Talkin’ Bout A Revolution” played in the background.

A Fair Rent hearing is ​“the only thing that can stop us from being homeless,” said Javier Esquilin. ​“We demand that you take our cases.”

Assistant Corporation Counsel Joseph Merly, who advises the Fair Rent Commission, stood among the protesters and listened. 

“It’s not clear anywhere in Connecticut whether a local Fair Rent Commission has jurisdiction over subsidized housing,” Merly said after the group dispersed.

Williams who helped organize the protest, disputed this claim.

He noted after the protest that LIHTC doesn’t mandate particular rents, but rather ​“gives a maximum rent amount that can be charged in order for the landlord to keep their money that they got from federal government.” 

And he argued that the Fair Rent Commission’s role involves assessing how much a landlord can increase rent ​“all at once,” irrespective of any federal rent caps.

City attorneys are now looking into Williams’ claims that the Fair Rent Commission has jurisdiction over federally-subsidized housing, according to city spokesperson Lenny Speiller.

“If there is a legal pathway to do so, the Fair Rent Commission will act accordingly with any potential unfair or excessive rent increases,” Speiller wrote.

Speiller said that the Fair Rent staff has tried to schedule a meeting with the legal aid lawyers since before the protest. ​“Staff from the City’s Fair Rent Commission have spoken with several tenants at the Sunset Ridge apartment complex, proactively knocked on doors and engaged with tenants to better understand the concerns of residents living there, and are responding to complaints as they are submitted,” he said.

A resource compiled by state housing experts supports the stance that Fair Rent Commissions can regulate at least some kinds of federally-subsidized housing. 

Shortly after the passage of a 2022 state law requiring all towns larger than 25,000 people to establish Fair Rent Commissions, the Partnership for Strong Communities, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, Connecticut Legal Services, and Melville Charitable Trust compiled a ​“toolkit” explaining the law’s implications.

According to the toolkit, ​“Unless the actual rents are set by the government agency, a commission can review charges that are harsh and unconscionable.” 

The resource explains that, for instance, tenants with a Section 8 or RAP voucher can appear before a Fair Rent Commission because ​“apartment rents are not set by these programs.” (The portion of rent that a tenant pays is set by the voucher program and cannot be adjusted by a commission, according to the toolkit.) A tenant in public housing, however, cannot contest rent raises before the commission because ​“public housing rents are set by government agencies.”

The toolkit does not specifically address how Fair Rent Commissions can regulate a LIHTC-funded complex like Sunset Ridge, where rents are capped by the federal program but ultimately set by a private landlord.

Is This "Low Income Housing" "Affordable"?

The consequences of the rent increases are already affecting some tenants’ housing security.

One tenant, who asked not to be named, is facing eviction after the landlord raised her rent.

That tenant received a $350 rent hike this year after living at Sunset Ridge for over seven years. Sunset Ridge is now charging $1,219 a month for a one-bedroom apartment.

Like two other Sunset Ridge residents who attended the protest, the tenant said that maintenance at the complex has been unreliable. 

At this point, she said, she does not bother to call when she needs a repair done, since ​“we have nobody to talk to.” She recalled mopping and disinfecting a miniature flood in her bathroom by herself. ​“It smelled so bad,” she said.

Rosner wrote in his statement, ​“We are committed to providing safe and sanitary housing and have not received any resident concerns regarding mold, or heating issues. All reported resident concerns are adequately reported.”

Still, the tenant hopes to keep living in Sunset Ridge until she can retire. ​“It’s quiet,” she said. ​“I don’t drive. The buses are right there.” She is fighting her ongoing eviction case with Williams as her lawyer.

In the meantime, the 64-year-old tenant is continuing to work 48 hours a week. She earns $16 an hour as a Certified Nursing Assistant. ​“If we don’t work 48 hours, we can’t pay the rent,” she said.

At the protest, Williams argued that the LIHTC rent caps do not actually reflect what is ​“affordable” to New Haven residents.

The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) granted Sunset Ridge the LIHTC subsidy in 1998, on the condition that all of the complex’s apartments be reserved for tenants making no more than 60 percent of the Area Median Income — a metric that takes New Haven’s wealthier suburbs into account. In 2023, that income cap would accommodate a one-person household making up to $48,180 a year.

Williams argued that the regional Area Median Income does not accurately reflect what ​“affordability” means for the average New Haven resident, let alone for the particular people currently living at Sunset Ridge. 

Though the area median income is rising from year to year, Williams said, individual tenants’ incomes often do not. 

“Why should your rent go up because other people are making more money?” he said to fellow protesters. ​“That’s not fair.”