The Greenwich Representative Town Meeting (RTM) on Monday night voted 128 in favor 41 opposed, and 5 abstained to establish a seven-member Fair Rent Commission (FRC). The RTM made one amendment to lower the threshold of final decision making to 4 members, not 5.
Why? We have no choice. In 2022, CT required towns with over 25,000 residents to adopt an ordinance through their legislative bodies to set up fair rent commissions, Greenwich was the last to do so.
What is it? A fair rent commission (FRC) is a municipal board with the power to limit or modify rent increases and other rental charges so as to prevent them from being so “excessive” that they are “harsh and unconscionable” and to reset them to “fair and equitable.”
How it Works. FRCs determine fair rent by applying 13 statutory factors, including size and history of rent increases, the condition of the rental property, the landlord’s operating costs, and others. The RTM was advised that most fair rent challenges are solved in mediation and do not get adjudicated at the Commission. We will see when the annual report is submitted.
Did you know? Renters make up about one-third of households in Greenwich? Today 52 Connecticut towns already have FRCs.
Meanwhile mandates coming. Hartford is piling on other onerous laws that further restrict free commerce in the State. For example, a "Just Cause Eviction" bill has made its way through the Housing Committee that would replace existing "No Fault" evictions with "Just Cause" evictions that prevent a landlord from forcing a tenant at the end of the lease to move out of a property without a good reason, enabling tenants to stay in housing beyond the term of the contract. Other proposals include blocking landlords from considering a tenant's criminal record. Does this sound like the road to rent control to you? We know how that has worked in NYC.
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