Connecticut Fair Rent Commission Rent Increase Review

Under CGS § 7-148b through § 7-148f, every Connecticut municipality with population over 25,000 must establish a Fair Rent Commission, and any municipality may create one. Commissions investigate tenant complaints that a rent is so excessive as to be harsh and unconscionable, considering factors like operating costs, comparable rents, property condition, and tenant income. The commission may order a rent reduction or stay an increase. Commissions cannot impose blanket rent caps; the standard is case-by-case unconscionability. The framework is statewide and supersedes any local rent-cap experiment.

Landlords ignoring Fair Rent Commission orders face contempt and enforcement in superior court. Retaliation against complaining tenants is barred under CGS § 47a-20 with treble damages.