Norwalk, CT Rental Property Rules: Rental Registration (2026)
Key Facts
- Applies to
- Buildings with 3+ independent families
- Register with
- Norwalk Department of Health
- Deadline
- December 1 each year
- Registration form lists
- Owner, address, apartment count
- Fee
- Administrative fee under § 57-5
Summary
Owners of Norwalk buildings housing three or more independent families, defined as tenement houses, must register each property with the Department of Health every year by December 1 and pay an administrative fee under §§ 105-2 and 105-4.
The owner of each tenement house located in the City of Norwalk annually shall register with the Department of Health on or before the first day of December of each year, commencing with December 1, 1966, each such tenement house owned by him, setting forth his name and address, the address of such tenement house and the number of apartments contained therein. Such registration shall be made on a form to be furnished by the Department of Health.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4888624; v55 updated 2026-05-26; through 05-26-2026).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 105 defines a tenement house in § 105-1 as any house or building, or part of one, rented, leased or occupied as the home of three or more families living independently, cooking on the premises and sharing halls, stairways or yards in common. Section 105-2 requires the owner of each such property in Norwalk to register it annually with the Department of Health on or before December 1, a filing obligation running continuously since it first applied on December 1, 1966. The registration form, furnished by the Department of Health, must list the owner's name and address, the address of the tenement house, and the number of apartments it contains.
Section 105-4 requires the owner to pay an administrative fee at the time of registration, with the current fee amount now set under § 57-5, Fees, in the City's Health and Sanitation chapter rather than printed in Chapter 105 itself. Chapter 105 works alongside Chapter 104, which separately adopted the state's Public Act No. " Norwalk's registration duty is narrower than a citywide rental-registry ordinance: it reaches only buildings with three or more independently living family units, not single-family or two-family rental homes.
Violations & Fines
Section 105-3 only addresses severability; Chapter 105 does not print its own fine for failing to register a tenement house. Because § 105-4's registration fee is tied into the Department of Health's fee-setting authority under § 57-5, an owner who never registers or pays remains exposed to the Health Department's general enforcement and nuisance-abatement powers found in Chapters 57 and 104.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every Norwalk landlord have to register a rental unit?
When is Norwalk's tenement house registration due?
Is there a fee to register a tenement house in Norwalk?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Norwalk
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