The Hartford City Council has voted to give landlords a little more grace in complying with a new licensing ordinance, voluntarily forfeiting hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The deadline for landlords with four- to nine-unit buildings to apply for the four-year rental licenses was Oct. 31. The program, which began in 2021 to improve communication with landlords and compliance with Hartford housing code, was rolled out in waves. The deadline for buildings with 40 or more units was in 2023, those with 10 to 39 units in 2024 and finally the four to nine unit properties in 2025.
The fine for not complying was set by the council as a one-time fee of $1,000, due immediately upon failing to meet the deadline.
“We are leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table here,” Councilor Josh Michtom, the lone voice opposing the motion to extend the deadline and forgive the fines, said at a city council meeting Jan. 12.
“They are all subject to a $1,000 fine. They all got notice. They are all operating small businesses where they rent out between four and nine units — per building, so maybe more per landlord — and they just ignored the law. They just said, ‘you know what, no.’”
Deputy Director and Director of Licenses & Inspections Judith Rothschild at the Dec. 16 meeting of the Planning, Economic Development and Housing Committee said that notice of the ordinance was sent to property owners in June, along with an application, due between July 1 and Oct. 31. In October, 846 owners had not yet complied, Rothschild said.
Notices and reminder notices were sent, she said, and as of the December meeting, 312 were still outstanding, she said. While information about the program was publicized on the city website as well as through mail, she said the city had not done a previously discussed publicity campaign.
Councilor Shirley Surgeon noted that the program has made a considerable difference in the city’s ability to work with landlords and make rental buildings livable. Compliance with the largest tier of buildings is 100%, Rothschild said, and 90% in the second tier. “Enforcement action” is being taken against those not in compliance, she said.
Mayor Arunan Arulampalam, in agreement with Department of Development staff, proposed the ordinance to extend the deadline and waive the fines property owners would owe. Rothschild said her department, along with the mayor, felt the move was appropriate.
Rothschild, at the December meeting, said that many of the owners are “individuals, some mom-and-pop, some elders” who were unfamiliar with the requirements.
Councilor Ed Gale, said that he had struggled to complete the registration and would not be surprised if some had just given up. A certification of the heating system that is required was also daunting, he said, and required a plumber’s visit, which he noted could be costly.
Michtom, a member of the Working Families Party and a frequent advocate for tenants rights, saw it differently. While he said he was sympathetic to claims that the registration process was difficult, he reminded the council that landlords are business owners who could have reached out to the city over the past six months to complete the process.
“Business owners in a regulated industry have to follow the rules. And we made the rules and they didn’t follow them. And now we want to leave three or four hundred thousand dollars on the table and I think we all know we could use three or four hundred thousand dollars,” Michtom said Monday.
In December he noted to the commission that the owners would likely be profiting $4,000 to $9,000 per month off the properties.
“And we could stand to remind landlords that they’re in the business of making money off of other people’s basic needs and if they don’t follow rules, it will cost them. And instead, our response is, no, just kidding, take your time, no big deal — which I guarantee is not the approach these landlords will take when it’s the thousand dollars owed to them by their tenants that’s late.”
Michtom stressed that 75% of Hartford’s population rent their homes, which he said “doesn’t mean 25% landlords, that’s 25% property owners. The percentage who are landlords, who are voters, who are residents of this city is even lower.
“We are bending over backward, saying no to money we could use, that we need, to help this class of people that mostly doesn’t live here and mostly makes its money off the people who do live here and I don’t understand … why we are so committed to the wellbeing of mostly out-of-town landlords and so allergic to helping the tenants who suffer for their profit.”
Gale, who noted he is a landlord of such a property, countered that the regulation is new, the application is difficult and that waiving the fines is not unreasonable.
The council, with Michtom opposing, unanimously agreed to extend the deadline, negating the fines, through April.