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Connecticut residential lease agreement

Answer the questions, download the lease. Free, no account, and it holds your figures to what Connecticut allows.

What Connecticut law does to your lease

These are the figures the builder holds you to. Each one is the statute's, not ours, and the citation is there so you can read it yourself.

RuleConnecticutWhere it says so
Most a landlord may take as a deposit2 months' rentOne month where the tenant is 62 or older, and a landlord already holding more than that from a tenant who turns 62 must give the excess back when asked.Conn. Gen. Stat. 47a-21(b)
Earliest a late fee may be charged9 days after rent is dueConn. Gen. Stat. 47a-15a
Most a late fee may be5% of the rent, and at most $50The ceiling is the lesser of $5 a day up to $50 and 5% of the late payment, and only one charge per late payment however long the rent stays unpaid. The grace period is four days on a weekly tenancy.Conn. Gen. Stat. 47a-15a
Notice before the landlord may enterNone required by statuteConnecticut asks for reasonable written or oral notice at reasonable times and names no number of hours, so the figure this lease sets is the one that governs.Conn. Gen. Stat. 47a-16(c)
Notice to end a month-to-month tenancy3 days from the landlord, 30 from the tenantRead that three days carefully. A Connecticut monthly tenancy ends by lapse of time at the end of a rental month, and the notice to quit has to reach the tenant at least three days before that date; it does not let a landlord end the tenancy three days from today. Giving a month is the safer practice and what most leases say.Conn. Gen. Stat. 47a-23(a)

What Connecticut makes you disclose

Who manages and who is served
On or before the tenancy begins the landlord must notify the tenant in writing of the name and address of the person authorized to manage the premises and of the person authorized to receive all notices, demands and service of process, and keep it current. Conn. Gen. Stat. 47a-6(a)
Where the deposit is banked
Deposits are held as escrow for each tenant at a financial institution, and within 30 days of receiving one the landlord must give the tenant written notice of the amount held for them and the name and address of the institution holding it. Conn. Gen. Stat. 47a-21(h)(4)(A)

The clause most landlords get wrong

Rent stated as a base figure with mandatory fees bolted on beside it. If a fee is not optional, it is rent, and several states now say so outright: the lease has to carry one total figure that the landlord may not charge above. The builder asks for the total and then asks how much of it is fees, which is the same information in the order the law wants it.

The second is the assistance animal. A no-pets clause that does not carve one out is a fair-housing problem, not a pet problem, and no pet rent or pet deposit may be charged for one. Your lease says so whether or not you allow pets.

After it is signed

Download the PDF and it is yours, account or not. If you want the tenant to sign it without printing anything, a free Kouzr account sends it for signature, files the executed copy against the tenancy, and keeps it beside the listing, the rent record and the deposit accounting, so the paperwork for that home is in one place when the tenancy ends.

Is this Connecticut lease legally binding?

A written lease signed by the landlord and every adult tenant is a contract, and this one is built to say what Connecticut requires a residential lease to say. What it is not is legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it. It is a form you complete yourself, the same category as the fill-in-the-blank lease sold in an office supply shop, and it is worth having a lawyer in your state read it before you rely on it, especially on a property you will hold for years.

How much can a landlord charge as a security deposit in Connecticut?

Connecticut caps every deposit taken together at 2 months' rent (Conn. Gen. Stat. 47a-21(b)). That is the total of the security deposit, any pet deposit, and any last month's rent held as a deposit, not each of them separately. The builder holds your figure to that ceiling and tells you when it has. One month where the tenant is 62 or older, and a landlord already holding more than that from a tenant who turns 62 must give the excess back when asked.

Can a landlord charge a late fee in Connecticut?

Yes, but not without limit. Connecticut allows no late fee until 9 days after rent is due, and caps it at 5% of the rent, and at most $50 (Conn. Gen. Stat. 47a-15a). A fee charged earlier or larger than that is not enforceable, and the rest of the lease still stands. The ceiling is the lesser of $5 a day up to $50 and 5% of the late payment, and only one charge per late payment however long the rent stays unpaid. The grace period is four days on a weekly tenancy.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering in Connecticut?

Connecticut sets no statutory notice period (Conn. Gen. Stat. 47a-16(c)), so whatever the lease says is what governs. The builder writes 24 hours in by default, which is what most states require and what a court reading an implied covenant of quiet enjoyment is likely to call reasonable. Emergencies need no notice anywhere.

How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy in Connecticut?

3 days of written notice from the landlord and 30 from the tenant (Conn. Gen. Stat. 47a-23(a)). The builder writes that figure into the term clause. A lease may agree on longer notice than the statute; one that gives less is unenforceable to that extent, and the statutory period governs instead. Read that three days carefully. A Connecticut monthly tenancy ends by lapse of time at the end of a rental month, and the notice to quit has to reach the tenant at least three days before that date; it does not let a landlord end the tenancy three days from today. Giving a month is the safer practice and what most leases say.

Do I have to include a lead-based paint disclosure?

Only if the home was built before 1978, and then yes, everywhere in the country. Federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint, hand over any report they have, and give the tenant the EPA pamphlet before the tenant is committed to the lease (42 U.S.C. 4852d). Enter the year built and the builder attaches it for you.

Can I have the tenant sign it online?

Yes. Download the PDF and sign it however you like, or make a free Kouzr account and send it to the tenant for signature from here: they get a link, sign on a phone, and the executed copy files itself against the tenancy alongside rent and the deposit record. The PDF is free either way and does not require an account.

Kouzr is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. The builder produces a form you complete yourself, and no lawyer has reviewed the document it assembles. Have one admitted in Connecticut read it before you rely on it.