File photo
Connecticut won’t be able to file an eviction for nonpayment of rent unless they first try to go through the UniteCT rental relief program under a new executive order signed yesterday by Gov. Ned Lamont.
Landlords will also have to give tenants 30 days’ warning before filing a notice to quit for nonpayment or when a lease ends. When delivering a notice to quit, landlords must also provide the state’s flyers about the UniteCT program in English and in Spanish and a copy of the CDC’s eviction moratorium order.
Lastly, outside of very few circumstances, any eviction case where the tenant or landlord has an active application before UniteCT will be stayed for up to 30 days as the application is processed. If the application is approved, the eviction will be stayed until the UniteCT payment is made and the case is either withdrawn or dismissed.
Lamont made the changes in a new executive order issued under his COVID-19 emergency authority.
The move comes as the state’s eviction moratorium expires today.
His office did not issue a statement or an announcement about the new rules but told reporters at a press conference Wednesday that the changes are part of a policy aimed at resolving pandemic-era rental debts before the federal eviction moratorium ends.
“We’re saying as a condition of any potential eviction proceedings, we want you to go and talk to Unite,” Lamont said, the CT Mirror reports. “We’ve got the resources. We can help put together a deal, help people stay in their homes, and make sure that landlords get paid, which they need in order to pay their bills.”
Lamont’s emergency powers end July 20, but the governor plans to seek a limited extension, in part to help avert a flood of evictions.
UniteCT has so far paid out aid to resolve over 3,000 cases of non-payment of rent, while a large fraction of the state’s pending eviction cases involve landlords who refused to file for UniteCT payments, the CT Mirror reported.
Recent reforms to the program now allow it to pay up to $15,000 per tenant and state officials say they have streamlined the application process.
