Town residents voted overwhelmingly on Sept. 21 to approve a five-member Fair Housing Commission to address citizen complaints related to “unconscionable” rent increases and other rental housing issues. The action arose largely from residents at the Beechwood Mobile Home Park on Route 81 who said they have incurred rent increases from a new owner, alarming members of the 55-plus community, many of whom are on fixed incomes.

According to state law, Fair Rent Commissions/Committees, including Killingworth’s, have the authority to receive and investigate complaints, conduct hearings, issue subpoenas, and, in some cases, order landlords to lower rents. The commission will also be charged with ensuring that rental housing complies with local and state health and safety standards, according to Town officials.

More than 100 tenants and Killingworth residents packed the Sept. 21 town meeting focusing on a proposed ordinance to establish a Fair Rent Commission in Killingworth and approved the ordinance by a vote of 91-25.

Community members at the meeting, many of whom were Beechwood Park residents, said they’ve experienced unfair rent increases and a decline in services and needed an avenue to further advance their concerns. According to several residents of the park, they have incurred a roughly $30-a-month rent increase over the last year, and expect that rents will increase again in the near future. Residents also complained about a decline in services from the new owners, Sun Communities, who purchased the park in 2019.

First Selectwoman Nancy Gorski said the issue of fair rent is a more complex and nuanced one than might seem at first glance.

“This seemed to happen kind of organically with the Beechwood folks. They had contacted [35th District State Representative] Christine Goupil about this, and she had recommended a Fair Housing Commission. So, we kind of picked it up and ran with it from there. What we heard were the concerns of residents that Sun Communities is a powerful conglomerate that is more concerned about shareholders than residents,” said Gorski. “It’s interesting this is not just for Beechwood. Remarkably, all over the area, there are renters. You wouldn’t think Killingworth and some of the surrounding towns as a rental location, but there are a lot of people who are renting their homes, there are a lot of accessory dwellings…so there’s been quite a bit of interest in this topic.”

Tenants at the meeting said that a “regional vice president of Sun Communities” recently spoke to residents at the park and stated that the rate of rent increases would correspond with inflation measurements.

Beechwood residents met with Attorney General William Tong last week in the hopes of developing strategies for additional oversight.

“They did meet last week and I think had over 70 people there,” Gorski said. “There was a packed house, and talk about pragmatic, he is a great speaker and very folksy…and he said, ‘Look, we are up against a giant corporation…I don’t know how much wiggle room we’re going to get with Sun, but we’re going to take a look at it.’ He told us, from his perspective, that if there’s potential senior abuse or any retaliation, then he can get involved. Also, it is up to the renter or homeowner to prove or not, that rent increases violate the regulations.”

Several attendees at the meeting expressed concerns about potential increases in legal fees to the town. Gorski said she did not anticipate any over-burdening legal costs and cited neighboring Clinton, which has had a Fair Rent Commission for two decades and, to the best of her knowledge, has never had to go to court.

“I actually met with Melanie Yanus in Clinton who was quite instrumental in developing their Fair Housing Commission, and she said to me, ‘Just make sure who you choose to put on there.’ She said that she wouldn’t expect a lot of cases to come before the commission, but that what we will get is a lot of complaints. But these individual complaints may be able to be mitigated without even having to go before the Fair Rent Commission,” Gorski said. “Ultimately, I would like to see a cap on rent increases for mobile home parks year to year. But that’s not a be-all-and-end-all to it either. Any owner can claim they need to make investments in their park, so those types of things could arise as well…I’m not really concerned about that. When I asked Melanie about this, their Fair Rental Commission has been in place for 20 years, and she said, that not once have they had to take legal action or go to court. And I think it’s similar as well for Westbrook, so I really don’t anticipate any increases or issues when it comes to an increase in legal fees.”

According to Connecticut law, a Fair Rent Commission can limit rents if it finds the rent to be “harsh and unconscionable,” which certainly leaves room for interpretation, according to officials. It can also suspend a tenant’s rent if a landlord is not complying with health and safety regulations, and it can order a landlord not to retaliate against a tenant who has come to the commission with a complaint.

According to state statute, when determining appropriate rent, any housing entity needs to consider factors such as other area rental costs, the safety and sanitary issues of the rental, the “amount and frequency” of rent increases, and whether those funds will be dedicated to improve the properties.

Gorski said the Fair Rent Commission would offer an alternative process for residents to air grievances about rent increases, and would be another “tool in the box” to help address rental issues.

According to Gorski, the goal is to have the commission enacted this week and empaneled sometime in November. The volunteer commission would be compromised of residents with legal and technical backgrounds, but Gorski cautioned that selecting members would not necessarily be an easy action.

“It becomes an ordinance, I believe on Friday of next week [Oct. 7] and will start looking for able bodies to serve on that Fair Rent Commission as soon as that happens,” said Gorksi. “I got advice…that having renters or landlords on the committee might lead to folks having to recuse themselves. So, in looking around, I think we would like to get some folks with legal backgrounds. I’d like to have someone who is pragmatic, who can look at each case objectively and make decisions that everyone can support.”