Connecticut tenant heat laws require your landlord to keep your apartment at a minimum of 65 degrees Fahrenheit indoors, year-round, whenever the landlord is responsible for providing heat.1Justia Law. Connecticut General Statutes 19a-109 – Heating and Provision of Utilities for Buildings If the temperature drops below that line and the landlord won’t fix it, state law lets you arrange heat yourself and deduct the cost from rent, move to a hotel after 48 hours, terminate the lease if the failure is intentional, or pay your rent into a court escrow account until repairs happen.
The 65-Degree Minimum Has No Season
Section 19a-109 of the Connecticut General Statutes treats any indoor temperature below 65 degrees in an occupied home as “deemed injurious to the health of the occupants.”1Justia Law. Connecticut General Statutes 19a-109 – Heating and Provision of Utilities for Buildings Unlike many states, Connecticut sets no “heating season” with fixed start and end dates. A cold stretch in September counts the same as one in January.
Local codes can go further. Hartford, for example, requires 65 degrees indoors whenever the outdoor temperature falls below 50 degrees, and applies the rule to any unit where the tenant does not have exclusive control of the heating utility.2City of Hartford. Issues With Your Apartment – Urgent New Haven enforces its own housing code and can refer violations to the State’s Attorney’s Office for criminal prosecution.3New Haven, CT. Housing Code Enforcement If you rent in a larger city, check whether local rules add to the state floor.
When Heat Is Your Landlord’s Responsibility
Section 47a-7 requires landlords to supply “reasonable heat” at all times, with two narrow exceptions: the building is not legally required to be equipped for heating, or the heating system is under the tenant’s exclusive control or connected directly to a public utility the tenant pays.4Justia Law. Connecticut General Statutes 47a-7 – Landlord Obligations If heat is included in your lease, or the landlord controls the building’s heating system, the obligation is theirs.
That obligation covers the whole system, not just the furnace sitting in the basement. The landlord has to keep the equipment working, maintain the fuel supply if they pay for fuel, and repair broken boilers or failed radiators. A system that can’t reach 65 degrees because of mechanical failure or poor insulation is still the landlord’s problem to solve.
Your Three Statutory Remedies When the Heat Fails
Section 47a-13 gives tenants three specific options when a landlord fails to supply heat or another essential service.5Connecticut General Assembly. Chapter 830 – Rights and Responsibilities of Landlord and Tenant All of them require that you give the landlord notice first, and none are available if you or someone in your household caused the problem.
Get Heat Yourself and Deduct the Cost
After giving notice, you can obtain heat on your own and deduct the reasonable cost from your next rent payment. That might mean buying portable electric heaters, or paying a technician to fix the furnace. “Reasonable” is the operative word. You can’t replace the entire HVAC system and bill the landlord; the cost has to match the emergency.5Connecticut General Assembly. Chapter 830 – Rights and Responsibilities of Landlord and Tenant
Move Out Temporarily After 48 Hours
If the landlord still has not restored heat 48 hours after your notice, you can move into substitute housing such as a hotel. Your rent obligation stops for as long as the problem continues, and you can recover the actual cost of the substitute housing up to the amount of rent you would have owed. If the same problem comes back within six months, you don’t have to wait the 48 hours a second time.5Connecticut General Assembly. Chapter 830 – Rights and Responsibilities of Landlord and Tenant
Terminate the Lease if the Failure Is Willful
When the landlord’s failure to supply heat is intentional rather than accidental, you can end the lease and recover damages equal to the greater of two months’ rent or double your actual losses. The landlord must also return your full security deposit and any prepaid rent with interest.5Connecticut General Assembly. Chapter 830 – Rights and Responsibilities of Landlord and Tenant
Paying Rent Into Court if Nothing Changes
If the landlord keeps ignoring the problem, Section 47a-14h lets you file a Payment Into Court Action, known as a PICA, with the Superior Court’s Housing Session.6Justia Law. Connecticut General Statutes 47a-14h – Application by Tenant to Court Instead of paying rent to the landlord, you deposit it with the court clerk. The filing fee is $25.7Connecticut Judicial Branch. Court Fees
One prerequisite matters: at least 21 days before you file, you must have reported the problem to your local municipal code enforcement agency, public health department, or whichever agency enforces the relevant code. That gives local enforcement a chance to act first.6Justia Law. Connecticut General Statutes 47a-14h – Application by Tenant to Court
Once the case is open, you have to keep up with deposits. For a monthly lease, rent is due to the court clerk on the rent date or within nine days after; week-to-week tenants have four days. Miss a deposit and your complaint can be dismissed. In exchange, the landlord cannot evict you for nonpayment while you’re paying into court.6Justia Law. Connecticut General Statutes 47a-14h – Application by Tenant to Court
The court can order the landlord to make repairs, reimburse rent paid during the period the violations existed, and compensate you for damage to your belongings or your health. If the landlord still won’t comply, the judge can appoint a receiver to run the property and use the escrowed rent to fix the heat directly.
You Cannot Be Evicted for Reporting a Heat Problem
Section 47a-20 bars landlords from evicting you, raising your rent, or cutting your services within six months after you report a code violation to a government agency, request repairs, file a PICA, or join a tenants’ union.8Justia Law. Connecticut General Statutes 47a-20 – Retaliatory Action by Landlord Prohibited If any of those things happen within that six-month window, the law presumes the landlord’s action was retaliatory, and the landlord carries the burden of proving a legitimate reason. The practical effect is that fear of eviction should not stop you from reporting a heating failure.
Who to Call First
Local code enforcement is where most complaints start. The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection directs tenants without heat to contact local police and their local health department.9CT.gov. Heat – Provided to Tenants Municipal housing inspectors and health departments can investigate, inspect the unit, and order the landlord to restore heat. Calling them also starts the 21-day clock you need before filing a PICA.
A landlord or property manager who intentionally fails to furnish heat required by the lease commits a class D misdemeanor under Section 19a-109.1Justia Law. Connecticut General Statutes 19a-109 – Heating and Provision of Utilities for Buildings
A Space Heater Is Not a Legal Substitute
If your landlord hands you a kerosene space heater instead of fixing the furnace, that isn’t a legal fix. Section 29-318 prohibits anyone from selling, installing, or using a kerosene-type space heater, defined as a barometric-fed device with a fuel tank within 42 inches of the burner, in any building used for human habitation.10Justia Law. Connecticut General Statutes 29-318 – Space Heaters Prohibited A gas oven or cooking range used for heat is dangerous and inconsistent with fire safety codes as well. The landlord’s duty is to deliver a working heating system, not a workaround.