City committee moves to accelerate landlord penalties for code violations
The New Haven Legislation Committee unanimously pushed to hold landlords more accountable for housing code violations in changes to housing code on Tuesday, sending the amendment to the Board of Alders.
Eric Song, Contributing Photographer
Renter frustration in New Haven regarding the bottlenecked process for housing code violations may soon be alleviated with a new set of proposed reforms to the housing code.
On Tuesday, the Legislation Committee of New Haven greenlighted a proposed amendment by the Livable City Initiative — LCI — to the appeals process of housing code citations. The new process would allow the city to appoint New Haven-specific hearing officers to make decisions on issued citations and levy penalties, departing from the current practice of directing complaints to the state Board of Appeals. Following about an hour and a half of testimony from LCI representatives and members of the public, the committee unanimously forwarded the proposal to the Board of Alders.
“The way that [the housing code] is currently written, it is inoperable,” Alder Ellen Cupo, chair of the committee, said. “So I’m quite pleased, but not surprised the committee voted in favor.”
Patricia King, the city’s chief legal advisor, believes that the new process will enable LCI to accelerate the inspection process and possible landlord fines. A common refrain during the committee hearing was delayed enforcement as complaints played out in the state courts.
In past years, mega-landlords in New Haven have repeatedly violated city housing codes without facing legal repercussions from LCI.
The proposal was also met with widespread support from New Haveners at the hearing. Frustrated with the previous inefficiencies of LCI, Lisa McKnight, a member of a coalition dedicated to tenants’ rights, stated that this amendment is the “best effort” to reform the appeals process she has ever seen.
The discussion was not without debate, however. Among the alders and members of the public, there was a demonstrated concern on whether or not the penalties levied by city hearing officers would be consistent. Uniform penalties may allow landlords with extensive property holdings — and in turn, larger pockets — to evade punishments that significantly affect their bottom line.
“I would guess there are probably a couple thousand landlords, mostly small scale, where some of them are just as bad as the mega landlords,” Kevin McCarthy, a New Haven resident, said. “Lots of them, I think, could use some help, and hopefully LCI will be in a position to both go after the bad guys and to try to work with folks who are trying to do the right thing.”
To remedy the uniformity, Alder Eli Sabin ’22 LAW ’26 requested an amendment to the proposal to codify staggered fees based on repeat offenses. However, the amendment was drafted quickly, Sabin said, and was withdrawn for further consideration.
Alder Carmen Rodriguez questioned how hearing officers would be selected, to which Liam Brennan, executive director of LCI, stated that the officers would be appointed by the Mayor. He noted, however, that the hearing officers would not be city employees, but instead volunteers from the community.
Regardless of any debate, all alders of the Legislation Committee voted in favor of the new proposal.
The Board of Alders are next set to convene on Sept. 16.