Connecticut rent increase law

A rent increase takes effect only if you gave the tenant written notice at least 45 days before it starts. For a lease with a term of one month or less, the notice must be as long as one full term. A tenant's failure to respond is not agreement to the increase.

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-4e

• The notice rule does not let a landlord raise rent during the term of a lease. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-4e
• It applies to leases entered into, renewed or extended on or after October 1, 2024. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-4e
• A landlord may not demand a rent increase within six months after a tenant's protected complaint or repair request, with narrow exceptions. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-20 Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-20a(b) See Retaliation on the Connecticut page
• Tenants 62 or older or with a disability, in buildings of five or more units, may have increases limited to what is fair and equitable. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-23c(c) See Rent control and local rules on the Connecticut page
• Prepare a rent-change record with the tenancy term, current rent, proposed rent, dollar difference and proposed effective date. Address the letter to the tenants at the correct unit, allow the applicable notice period and explain how they can respond or discuss a renewal. Keep the letter, delivery record and actual response together; silence is not acceptance. Check any fair-rent commission process or protected-tenancy issue separately, and record an agreed renewal before changing the payment schedule for its effective date. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-4e Conn. Gen. Stat. § 7-148b(b), (c)

Connecticut controls excessive rents through fair rent commissions. Every town or city of 15,000 or more people must create or join one by January 1, 2028, and any town may. A commission hears complaints and can issue orders to control and eliminate excessive rents and fees. Local ordinances were not read for this page.

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 7-148b(b), (c)

• A commission weighs listed factors, including rents for similar units, the unit's condition, services, taxes and operating costs, and how much and how often rent has gone up. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 7-148c
• Protected tenants, 62 or older or with a disability in buildings of five or more units, may have increases limited to what is fair and equitable. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-23c(c)
• Since January 1, 2026, using revenue management software that relies on competitors' nonpublic data to set rents or occupancy is an unlawful practice under the state antitrust law. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-4f

For six months after a protected act, a landlord may not bring an eviction, demand a rent increase or cut services. Protected acts are a good faith effort to fix a code violation by lawful means, including a complaint to officials or a fair rent commission; a code agency's notice or order; a good faith repair request; a repair lawsuit in housing court; and organizing or joining a tenants' union.

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-20

• An eviction may still proceed for nonpayment, illegal use or a lease violation, a good faith need to live in the unit yourself, a condition the tenant wilfully caused, or a notice to end a periodic tenancy given before the complaint. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-20a(a)
• A rent increase may still proceed if the tenant carelessly caused the condition, or to pass on a prorated share of a substantial tax or operating cost increase that arose at least four months before. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-20a(b)