Tenants Union Law Wins Final Approval

Tenants unions now officially have a seat at the table in New Haven city government, thanks to a new law approved by alders Tuesday night.

That vote of approval took place during the latest bimonthly full meeting of the full Board of Alders. The meeting was held in the Aldermanic Chamber on the second floor of City Hall. 

All 24 local legislators present on Tuesday voted in support of an ordinance amendment that formally recognizes tenants unions and gives them a voice in investigations conducted by the Fair Rent Commission. 

That means that tenants in certain multi-unit apartment buildings now have a legally recognized path for banding together and collectively amplifying concerns about high rents, poor housing conditions, and other matters that might come up during a city Fair Rent Commission investigation. 

While the new law allows qualified and registered tenants’ unions to appoint a representative who can assist in Fair Rent Commission investigations, it does not permit tenants’ unions to file collective complaints with the commission. That will still have to be done tenant by tenant.

“This night was a big one,” said Kay Pittman, a member of the Quinnipiac Gardens Tenants Union, which is one of three tenants unions to pop up in New Haven and Hamden over the past year with the help of organizers from the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

DSA member and tenants union organizers Luke Melonakos-Harrison agreed. ​“This is a step in the right direction,” he said as he and fellow tenants union advocates celebrated the alders’ vote. Next up, he said, is pushing for municipalities across Connecticut to pass similar legislation recognizing and supporting the growth of tenants unions.

So. What exactly does this newly approved law do?

1. It establishes new definitions in city law for the terms ​“tenants’ union” and ​“tenants’ union representative” for the purposes of allowing a registered, qualified tenants’ union to participate in the Fair Rent Commission process.

A ​“tenants’ union” is defined as: ​“an organization whose membership is comprised of the tenants living in a housing accommodation containing ten (10) or more separate rental units sharing common ownership and located on the same parcel or adjoining parcels of land, and that has been created by agreement of a majority of the tenants listed as lessees within the housing accommodation. Such organization must be registered with the commission to participate in any studies, investigations, and hearings. Tenants living in an owner-occupied housing accommodation may not organize a tenants’ union.”

And a ​“tenants’ union representative” is defined as: ​“the person designated by the members of a tenants’ union to represent it in connection with any studies, investigations, and hearings involving that union or its members. Such person is not required to be a tenant or resident of the housing accommodation.”

2. It describes exactly how a tenants’ union and its representative can interact with the Fair Rent Commission during that body’s investigation into an allegedly too-steep rent increase.

That part of the new law reads: ​“The commission recognizes the right of tenants to organize tenants’ unions consistent with this chapter and the commission’s rules, regulations, and procedures. At the written request of a tenants’ union representative, the commission may, after study and investigation, make findings regarding the housing accommodation of that tenants’ union, consistent with any of the standards pertaining to rental charges in § 12 ¾‑8. The commission may rely on such findings when reaching a decision on a complaint filed by a member of that tenants’ union. The commission may also refer those findings to other city departments or commissions responsible for regulating housing accommodations within the city. The commission shall promulgate rules and regulations governing the activities of tenants’ unions before the commission.”

3. Finally, the new law updates the list of criteria that the Fair Rent Commission must consider when determining whether or not a rental charge is ​“excessive” to comply with state law.

Click here and here to read previous articles about this new law, and here to read the law in full.