CT SB00693

Landlords must change locks upon tenant request within two business days if the tenant is named as a protected person in a protective or restraining order issued by a Connecticut court or a registered foreign order of protection.

Tenants may change locks themselves without landlord permission if the landlord fails to do so within the required timeframe, provided the new locks are of equal or improved quality and installed properly.

Landlords may charge tenants the actual reasonable cost of changing locks, but inability to pay cannot be grounds for eviction; costs may be recovered through suit or deducted from security deposit.

Tenants named as respondents in protective orders and required to stay away from the dwelling unit shall not receive a key to the new locks and have no access to the unit except by court order.

Landlords cannot require protected persons to pay additional rent, deposits, or fees due to the exclusion of the respondent from the dwelling unit, and the law takes effect October 1, 2019.