Connecticut · Rent Increases

Rent Increases in Connecticut: What Are My Rights?

This is not legal advice. We explain what the law says. We cannot tell you what to do in your situation. For that, talk to a lawyer. Find free legal and rent help in Connecticut.

Connecticut law sets rules for how much notice your landlord must give before raising your rent. It also stops your landlord from raising your rent to punish you for using your rights. Many cities and towns have a fair rent commission that can limit an increase that is much higher than fair. This page explains those rules and what you can do if your landlord ignores them.

How much notice you get

  1. In Connecticut, your landlord must give you written notice before raising your rent. The notice must come at least 45 days before the increase starts. If your lease is for a term of 1 month or less, the notice must instead be as long as one full lease term.

    Source:
    1. § 47a-4e, Connecticut General Assembly. Law.

  2. If you do not answer your landlord's notice about a rent increase, that is fine. Your silence does not mean you agreed to pay the higher amount.

    Source:
    1. § 47a-4e, Connecticut General Assembly. Law.

  3. The rent increase notice law does not give your landlord any right to raise your rent while your current lease term is still running. It also does not replace any separate notice you must get under federal law.

    Source:
    1. § 47a-4e, Connecticut General Assembly. Law.

Check the new rent

  1. Cities and towns in Connecticut with 25,000 or more people must set up a fair rent commission. Smaller towns can choose to set one up too. A fair rent commission takes complaints about rent that seems too high and can hold hearings on those complaints.

    Source:
    1. § 7-148b(b), Connecticut General Assembly. Law.

  2. A fair rent commission's power also covers a rented mobile home and its lot, the same as any other rented home. It does not handle seasonal rentals, meaning housing rented for a total of 120 days or less in a year.

    Source:
    1. § 7-148b(b), Connecticut General Assembly. Law.

  3. A fair rent commission can hold a hearing on your rent or a proposed increase. If the commission decides the amount is harsh and unconscionable (much higher than is fair), it can act. It can order your rent limited to an amount the commission decides is fair.

    Source:
    1. § 7-148d(a), Connecticut General Assembly. Law.

  4. A fair rent commission looks at several facts. It looks at rents for similar homes nearby. It looks at how clean and kept up the home is. It looks at the taxes and costs your landlord pays. It also looks at how often and how much your rent has gone up before. The commission uses these facts to decide if an increase is unfair.

    Source:
    1. § 7-148c, Connecticut General Assembly. Law.

  5. Your landlord must follow a fair rent commission's order. If your landlord charges too much while no appeal is pending, the state can fine your landlord. Breaking any other fair rent commission rule can also bring a fine. Each fine is $25 to $100. If your landlord keeps charging too much for more than 5 days, each extra day counts as a new fine.

    Source:
    1. § 7-148f, Connecticut General Assembly. Law.

If the increase is not allowed

  1. You or your landlord can ask a court to check a fair rent commission's order. In Connecticut, that court is called the superior court. It handles these cases for your area.

    Source:
    1. § 7-148e, Connecticut General Assembly. Law.

  2. If you think your rent or a proposed increase is unfair, you can act. You can file a complaint with your town's fair rent commission, if your town has one. The commission can then look into it.

    Source:
    1. § 7-148b(b), Connecticut General Assembly. Law.

  3. Your landlord cannot raise your rent within 6 months after you ask, in good faith, for repairs. Your landlord also cannot raise your rent within 6 months after you report a housing or health problem to a town or state agency. This only applies if you made that report in good faith. The same is true if you report that problem, in good faith, to a fair rent commission instead. Connecticut calls this a retaliatory rent increase (a rent increase used to punish you for using your rights).

    Source:
    1. § 47a-20, Connecticut General Assembly. Law.

  4. Your landlord also cannot raise your rent within 6 months after you join a group of renters. The same is true if you help start such a group. Your landlord cannot raise your rent if a town agency or official files a notice about a housing or health problem at your home. This ban lasts for 6 months after the agency files that notice.

    Source:
    1. § 47a-20, Connecticut General Assembly. Law.

  5. Your landlord can still raise your rent during those 6 months if you caused the problem yourself through carelessness. The same is true if someone in your home, or a guest you let in, caused it through carelessness instead.

    Source:
    1. § 47a-20a(b), Connecticut General Assembly. Law.

  6. Connecticut protects you from a rent increase for 6 months after you ask, in good faith, for repairs. The same 6-month protection applies if you report a housing or health problem in good faith, or if you join a group of renters. Your landlord can still raise your rent in that time if costs go up a lot. This is allowed only if the cost has nothing to do with your complaint. The cost must be something like a rise in property taxes. That cost must have gone up at least 4 months before your landlord asks for the increase. The increase can be no more than the share of that cost rise that applies to your home.

    Source:
    1. § 47a-20, Connecticut General Assembly. Law.

Published by Nazanin, September 28, 2026. Sources checked November 13, 2026. Is something on this page wrong or out of date? Tell us.