Connecticut Landlord-Tenant Law for DIY Landlords (2026)

Security deposits, the 9-day grace period, late fee caps, notice to quit and the summary process timeline in Connecticut, in plain English for landlords who manage their own rentals.

Last updated September 23, 2026

Connecticut tightened its rental rules in 2023. Public Act 23-207 put a hard cap on late fees, shortened the deadline for returning a security deposit from 30 days to 21, and limited what you can charge an applicant. If your lease template and your move-out routine predate that act, they need a rewrite.

Here is what a small landlord in Connecticut has to get right, with the code section behind each rule.

Security deposits

The cap is two months' rent. For a tenant under 62, you cannot demand more than two months' rent. For a tenant 62 or older, the limit drops to one month, and a tenant who reaches 62 during the tenancy can ask you to refund the difference (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-21(b)).

The money goes straight into escrow. You have to deposit the full amount immediately into an escrow account at a financial institution, kept apart from your own money (§ 47a-21(b)).

Tell the tenant where it sits. Within 30 days of taking a deposit, give the tenant written notice of the amount you hold and the name and address of the institution holding it (§ 47a-21(h)).

You owe interest every year. The rate is tied to the deposit index (§ 47a-21(i), § 36a-26). The Department of Banking publishes the figure each year, and the rate for 2026 is 0.49 percent. Interest accrues on the anniversary of the tenancy, and you can pay it out or credit it against rent.

You have 21 days to return it. The deadline is 21 days after the tenancy ends, or 15 days after you receive written notice of the tenant's forwarding address, whichever falls later (§ 47a-21(d)(2)).

Itemise anything you keep. If you hold back part of the deposit, send a written statement itemising the nature and the amount of each claimed damage, along with the balance you owe (§ 47a-21(d)(2)).

The penalty is double. Miss the deadline or skip the written statement and you can be liable for twice the amount of the deposit the tenant paid. An interest-only failure costs ten dollars or twice the accrued interest, whichever is greater (§ 47a-21).

Selling the property does not end the duty. A transfer assigns the deposits to the buyer, and you withdraw the full amount plus accrued interest from escrow and hand it to the successor (§ 47a-21(c), § 47a-21(h)).

Late fees and the grace period

Rent is late after nine days. A tenant on a monthly tenancy has a nine-day grace period, and a tenant on a one-week tenancy has four days, before you can move to terminate (§ 47a-15a(a)). If your own online payment system stopped the tenant from paying on time, the grace period stretches by five more days.

The fee is capped. A late charge cannot exceed the lesser of five dollars a day up to fifty dollars, or five per cent of the delinquent rent payment. You can charge one late fee per delinquent payment, no matter how long the rent sits unpaid (§ 47a-15a(b)). Where a government or charitable program pays part of the rent, the five per cent applies to the tenant's share.

It has to be in the lease. The cap applies only where you have a valid written agreement to pay a late charge (§ 47a-15a(b), § 47a-4(a)). These limits took effect October 1, 2023.

Rent increases and rent control

Connecticut has no statewide rent cap and no statute setting a notice period for an increase on a month-to-month tenancy. You raise rent at renewal, or you end the tenancy the proper way and offer new terms.

Your town may add a layer. Every Connecticut municipality with 25,000 or more residents had to create a fair rent commission by July 1, 2023, and a tenant can bring an excessive rent charge before it (§ 7-148b). Check whether your town has one before you plan a large increase.

Raising rent within six months of a tenant complaint about conditions counts as retaliation (§ 47a-20).

Entering the unit

Connecticut does not set a fixed number of hours. The statute says you give the tenant reasonable written or oral notice of your intent to enter, and that you enter only at reasonable times, except in an emergency (§ 47a-16). Write 24 hours into your lease so nobody argues about what reasonable means.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

A month-to-month arrangement with no agreed end date is treated as a lease for one month at a time, and a tenant holding over does not create a new lease (§ 47a-3d).

There is no 30-day or 60-day notice statute here. You end the tenancy with a notice to quit possession, served at least three days before the date you name (§ 47a-23). Pick a quit date at the end of a rental month.

When rent isn't paid

Wait out the nine-day grace period. Then serve a notice to quit possession for nonpayment, at least three days before the quit date. A state marshal or an indifferent person delivers it to the tenant or leaves it at the residence, and service can happen any day of the week (§ 47a-23). Nonpayment does not need the 15-day notice described below.

Other lease violations

For a breach that is not rent and not a serious nuisance, you first deliver a written notice specifying the acts or omissions, with termination taking effect not less than 15 days after the tenant receives it. If the breach can be fixed by repair or payment and the tenant fixes it inside those 15 days, the tenancy survives. If substantially the same violation comes back within six months, you can move ahead without a fresh notice (§ 47a-15).

The summary process timeline

Notice to quit. At least three days before the quit date, served by a proper officer or indifferent person (§ 47a-23).
Complaint. After the quit date passes, the summary process complaint may be made returnable six days, inclusive, after service on the tenant, and it has to be returned to court at least three days before the return day (§ 47a-23a).
Appearance. If the tenant does not appear within two days after the return day, you file a motion for judgment for failure to appear with an endorsed copy of the notice to quit. The court enters judgment for possession no later than the first court day after you file (§ 47a-26).
Stay. Execution is stayed five days from the date of judgment, with any Sunday or legal holiday excluded from the count. An appeal filed inside that window holds the execution (§ 47a-35).
Removal. A state marshal carries out the execution and notifies the town's chief executive officer 24 hours ahead. Belongings go to storage at the tenant's expense and can be sold at public auction if unclaimed after 15 days (§ 47a-42).

One more filter. A tenant who is 62 or older, or who has a qualifying disability, and who lives in a building or complex of five or more units, can be evicted only on the grounds listed in the statute, including nonpayment, refusal of a fair rent increase and material lease violations (§ 47a-23c). Check the unit count and the tenant's age before you serve anything.

Repairs and habitability

You have to follow the building and housing codes, make repairs that keep the unit fit and habitable, keep common areas clean and safe, maintain the electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating and ventilating systems in good working order, provide waste receptacles, and supply running water, reasonable hot water and reasonable heat (§ 47a-7(a)).

Rent is not collectible for any period you fail to meet those duties (§ 47a-4a), and a tenant can take the repair fight to housing court (§ 47a-14h). Fast repairs are part of the deal, not a favour.

The short version

Deposit cap of two months' rent, one month for a tenant 62 or older
Deposit into escrow at once, with written notice of the bank within 30 days
Annual interest at the published rate, returned in 21 days with an itemised statement
Nine-day grace period, then a late fee capped at five dollars a day up to fifty dollars, or five per cent
No statewide rent cap, and a fair rent commission in every town of 25,000 or more
No statutory entry hours, so put 24 hours in the lease
A three-day notice to quit starts every eviction, and execution is stayed five days after judgment

Let Taz handle the paperwork

Taz is an AI property manager for landlords who would rather not live in the code books. It tracks the 21-day deposit clock, sends rent reminders before the grace period runs out, takes maintenance requests day and night, and keeps the records a Connecticut housing court would ask for. See how Taz works.

Where this guide says a state has no rule on something, that means we found no statute setting one, which is not the same as none existing. Local ordinances and court practice can add requirements. Confirm anything you plan to rely on.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and your city or town may add rules. Talk to a Connecticut attorney before acting on a specific situation. Last checked September 2026.