Connecticut Landlord-Tenant Law 2026: The Complete Handbook

Tenby is an AI-powered property management platform for independent landlords managing 1-50 rental units. Tenby's compliance engine is loaded with Connecticut-specific rules — security deposit deadlines, required disclosures, late fee limits, and eviction notice requirements — automatically enforced for every Connecticut property.

Connecticut's landlord-tenant relationship is governed primarily by Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 47a. Connecticut is one of the more tenant-protective states in this series: deposits must sit in escrow and earn interest, late fees are capped by a 2023 statute, and source of income is a protected class. Here's everything you need to know.

Security deposits in Connecticut

> Check your numbers: Use our free Connecticut security deposit calculator to verify your deposit amount, escrow obligations, and return deadline.

Key details:

• The deposit is capped at two months' rent (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21)
• The deposit must be held in escrow — commingling it with your operating funds is a violation, not a technicality
• You must pay the tenant annual interest on the deposit at the rate set by the state banking commissioner
• The deposit or an itemized statement of deductions must be returned within 30 days after move-out
• Connecticut's deposit statute (§ 47a-21) governs all of the above — it's the single most important statute for CT landlords to know

Eviction process in Connecticut

Connecticut eviction (summary process) follows a strict legal path. Self-help evictions (changing locks, removing belongings, shutting off utilities) are illegal.

Step 1: Serve proper notice

For nonpayment, serve a written 3-day Notice to Quit Possession (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-23). The tenant has a right to cure — and remember that no late fee (and as a practical matter no nonpayment case) should start inside the statutory 9-day grace period on rent (see below), so the real timeline is longer than the 3-day notice suggests.

Step 2: File the eviction action

If the tenant neither cures nor vacates, file the summary process action with the court for the location of the property.

Step 3: Court hearing

If the tenant contests, the court schedules a hearing where both parties present their case. Bring the notice to quit, the lease, and your payment ledger.

Step 4: Execution

If the court rules for the landlord, the execution issues and a state marshal carries out the removal.

Late fees in Connecticut

> Calculate your late fee: Use our free Connecticut late fee calculator to apply the two-part cap to your exact rent and days late. Also try our prorated rent calculator for move-in/move-out calculations.

Connecticut's late-fee statute (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-15a, as amended by P.A. 23-67, effective Oct. 1, 2023) works like this:

• 9-day grace period — no fee until rent is 9 days late (4 days for week-to-week leases)
• Cap: the lesser of 5% of the overdue rent or $5 per day up to $50 total, counted from the first chargeable day after the grace period
• Only one late fee per delinquency
• For subsidized tenancies, the 5% applies to the tenant's share of the rent

Example: $1,500 rent fully unpaid, 12 days late. 5% of the overdue rent is $75; the daily ramp is $5 × 3 chargeable days = $15. The lesser applies: $15.

Landlord entry in Connecticut

Give at least 24 hours' notice before non-emergency entry and enter at reasonable times. Document each notice.

Required disclosures in Connecticut

Connecticut landlords must disclose the following:

1. Lead paint disclosure — for properties built before 1978, disclose known lead-based paint hazards and provide the EPA's *Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home* pamphlet (federal requirement)
2. Bed bug disclosure — you may not offer a unit known or reasonably suspected to be infested; before renting you must disclose whether the unit or contiguous units under the same landlord are currently infested, and on request, the last date the unit was inspected and found free of bed bugs. Penalty: the greater of $250 or actual damages plus fees (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-7a)
3. Fire sprinkler system notice — for units in buildings required to have a fire sprinkler system, the rental agreement must state the existence or nonexistence of an operative system and, if one exists, the last maintenance and inspection date — in at least 12-point boldface uniform font (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-3f)
4. Common interest community notice — written notice before the rental agreement that the unit is in a common interest community, required only when renting from the declarant (the developer) or someone acting on the declarant's behalf — not every landlord in a CIC (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-3e)

Rent increase rules in Connecticut

• No statewide rent control — Connecticut has no rent control statute in Tenby's compliance database
• 30 days' written notice terminates a month-to-month tenancy, which effectively sets the minimum notice for rent increases on month-to-month tenancies
• Cannot raise rent during a fixed-term lease unless the lease includes a rent increase clause
• There is no statutory cap on the amount of a rent increase

Maintenance obligations

Landlord must:

• Maintain the property in compliance with applicable building and housing codes
• Keep the premises fit and habitable
• Maintain plumbing, electrical, heating, and other essential systems in good working order
• Keep common areas safe and clean
• Make repairs within a reasonable time after notice — Tenby's compliance engine uses 15 days as the benchmark repair window for Connecticut properties

Tenant must:

• Keep the unit clean and sanitary
• Use appliances and systems reasonably
• Not deliberately or negligently damage the premises
• Dispose of garbage properly
• Not disturb neighbors' peaceful enjoyment
• Notify the landlord of needed repairs promptly

Tenant rights in Connecticut

Tenants in Connecticut have the right to:

• Habitable housing — and the right to withhold rent through the statutory payment-into-court process when the landlord fails to maintain the premises (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-14h)
• Repair and deduct — yes, tenants may make certain repairs and deduct the cost (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-13)
• Deposit protections — 2-month cap, escrow, annual interest, itemization, and the 30-day return deadline (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21)
• Late fee protections — 9-day grace and the lesser-of cap (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-15a)
• 24-hour entry notice (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-16)
• Source-of-income protection — landlords may not discriminate based on lawful source of income, including vouchers (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-64c)
• Fair housing — federal protections against discrimination apply, and tenants in certain federally subsidized housing have VAWA protections

How Tenby helps Connecticut landlords

Tenby's compliance engine handles Connecticut-specific requirements automatically:

• Escrow + interest tracking for every deposit, with the 2-month cap enforced at lease creation
• 30-day deposit return tracking with countdown alerts
• P.A. 23-67 late-fee engine — 9-day grace (4 for week-to-week), lesser-of-5%-or-$5/day cap, one fee per delinquency
• 3-day notice to quit timeline guidance layered on top of the 9-day grace
• Bed bug and sprinkler disclosure checklist at lease creation, including the 12-point boldface sprinkler clause
• 24-hour entry notice generation and delivery tracking
• Source-of-income screening guardrails built into Tenby's application flow

The bottom line

Connecticut asks more of landlords than most states: deposits capped at two months and held in escrow with annual interest, a 9-day grace period before any late fee, a two-part fee cap that often works out to less than you'd expect, bed bug and sprinkler disclosures, and source-of-income protection in screening. None of it is hard if it's automated — but each item is a real liability if it's not. Follow Chapter 47a, document everything, and you'll avoid most legal issues.