Hartford prepares for start of rental licensing
Program aimed at uncovering negligent landlords, hires new blight director
HARTFORD— The city of Hartford is hiring a newblight remediation director and preparing for the first phase of new rental licensing program designed to uncover and correct neglect in the city’s housing stock.
Judith Rothschild, the supervisory assistant state’s attorney for criminal housing matters, will oversee the new licensing program, housing code enforcement and blight, Development Services Director I. Charles Mathews said in a recent council committee meeting.
Rothschild will be the city’s second blight remediation director, after Laura Settlemyer left the job in February to lead the newly formed Hartford Land Bank.
Starting in July, apartment buildings of 40 units or more will be subject to a rigorous licensing process aimed at preventing property owners from hiding their identities behind opaque partnerships and limited liability companies. That and other changes are part of a new housing code Hartford adopted in October 2019 to modernize rules and fees and address a spate of out-of-state investors shirking responsibility for poor conditions at their rentals.
State Rep. Brandon McGee, who represents parts of Hartford and Windsor and chairs the General Assembly’s housing committee, said those changes should help the capitol city hold “slum landlords” accountable.
“Is it going to erase all of the housing woes and ills in the city of Hartford overnight? No. Will webe able to tackle all of the slumlords and fix up, remediate, renovate all these apartment complexes? Probably not,” McGee said. “But it will send a signal to current and future landlords that we’re not going to take this.”
In March, Mathews and Elda Sinani, the director of licensing
and inspections, admitted the city has taken too long to address housing complaints, blaming some delays on poor record keeping and a reliance on virtual inspections during the coronavirus pandemic.
Development services is also hiring a manager and two inspectors for the residential licensing program, which will be phased in over several years for smaller properties, Mathews said during the special Planning, Economic Development and Housing committee meeting on March 25.
Ivelisse Correa, the housing chair of Black Lives Matter 860, said she wants to see more inspectors hired for regular housing code enforcement as well, so the city can respond more quickly to complaints and follow up until problems are resolved.
She’s skeptical the newcode will make a difference given the experiences she hears from tenants dealing with negligent landlords.
“If there’s no teeth to what’s going on and they’re not enforcing the current housing codes, then further regulation is really just a slap in the face to us,” Correa said.
Correa referenced problems at Avalon Village, a collection of buildings scattered throughout the city, which BLM 860, other activist groups and tenants have been protesting in recent weeks. They complain of rodent and insect infestations, broken doors and locks, new fees tacked on to their rent and problems securing park
ing permits.
The Avalon Village properties are all owned by different limited liability companies that trace back to two entities that share a New Jersey address, MSK Properties and Stratus Equities.
The city has not answered questions about whether it is actively investigating problems with those owners.
Under the newhousing code, the city would have more recourse to deal with problem landlords. It will be able to demand a new licensing application from any property owner that’s received five or more violations within 90 days, even if the owner already holds a license.
Prospective license holders will be required to provide the name and address of each owner and operator, including the controlling individual or managing member of any partnership, limited liability company or corporation.
The city did not have that information about the former owner of the Clay Arsenal Renaissance Apartments or Barbour Gardens, two subsidized housing complexes in the North End of Hartford that were plagued by plumbing and sewer failures, mold, vermin infestations and security problems in neighborhoods troubled by drugs and violence.
In the case of Clay Arsenal Renaissance, owner Emmanuel Ku used a network of 28 “strawman LLCs” to shield himself from liability against issues at numer
ous housing developments in four states, according to court records from a lawsuit filed against him in Alabama.
Those ownership schemes have made it difficult for the city to hold individuals accountable for housing code violations.
Prospective rental operators will now be required to file separate applications for each of their parcels.
Licensing application will also require a copy of the owner’s driver’s license or other state-issued photo ID. If any of the information in the application should change — like an owner’s address — the owner must report it within 30 days. A new application would be required to increase the number of rooms in a building, the number of housing units or the number of people allowed in each unit.
If the city suspends a license, the owner cannot collect rent or try to evict tenants for not paying rent during that period. The city mayalso revoke a license and order occupants to be relocated.
The new housing code will take effect for 10-39 unit buildings in 2022, four-to-nine unit buildings in 2023 and three-family homes in 2024.
A license would last up to four years for an apartment building, up to two years for a hotel and up to one year for a group living facility.