AN ACT CONCERNING PROVISIONS IN RESIDENTIAL RENTAL AGREEMENTS.

House of Representatives
sHB5359 / File No. 143 1

General Assembly File No. 143
February Session, 2026 Substitute House Bill No. 5359

House of Representatives, March 24, 2026

The Committee on Housing reported through REP. FELIPE of
the 130th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the
House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING PROVISIONS IN RESIDENTIAL RENTAL
AGREEMENTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 47a -4c of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof ( Effective October 1, 2026, and 2
applicable to rental agreements entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 3
2026): 4
For any lease or rental agreement executed on or after October 1, 5
2013, no landlord of residential real property s hall require electronic 6
funds transfer as the exclusive form of payment of rent or a security 7
deposit. For purposes of this section, "electronic funds transfer" means 8
any transfer of funds that is initiated through an electronic terminal, 9
telephone or computer or magnetic tape so as to order, instruct or 10
authorize a financial institution to debit or credit an account but shall 11
not include any transfer originated by check, draft or similar paper 12
instrument. For any lease or rental agreement entered into or renewed 13
on or after October 1, 2026, every landlord of residential real property 14
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shall provide at least one method for the payment of rent that can be 15
made by the tenant at no additional fee. 16
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 47a -4 of the general statutes is 17
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 18
1, 2026, and applicable to rental agreements entered into or renewed on or after 19
October 1, 2026): 20
(a) A rental agreement shall not provide that the tenant: (1) Agrees to 21
waive or forfeit rights or remedies under this chapter and sections 47a -22
21, 47a-23 to 47a -23b, inclusive, 47a -26 to 47a -26g, inclusive, 47a -35 to 23
47a-35b, inclusive, 47a -41a, 47a-43 and 47a -46, or under any section of 24
the general statutes or any municipal ordinance unless such section or 25
ordinance expressly states that such rights may be waived; (2) 26
authorizes the landlord to confess judgment on a claim arising out of the 27
rental agreement; (3) agrees to the exculpation or limitation of any 28
liability of the landlord arising under law or to indemnify the landlord 29
for that liability or the costs connected therewith; (4) agrees to waive his 30
right to the interest on the security deposit pursuant to section 47a -21; 31
(5) agrees to permit the landlord to dispossess him without resort to 32
court order; (6) consents to the distraint of his property for rent; (7) 33
agrees to pay the landlord's attorney's fees in excess of fifteen per cent 34
of any judgment against the tenant in any action in which money 35
damages are awarded; (8) agrees to pay a late charge prior to the 36
expiration of the grace period set forth in section 47a -15a or to pay rent 37
in a reduced amount if such rent is paid on or prior to the expiration of 38
such grace period; (9) agrees to pay a late charge on rent payments made 39
subsequent to such grace period in an amount exceeding the amounts 40
set forth in section 47a -15a; [or] (10) agrees to pay a heat or utilities 41
surcharge if heat or utilities is included in the rental agreement ; (11) 42
agrees to pay an increased rental charge or other specific payment 43
amount for a time period after the expiration of the rental agreement; or 44
(12) for a tenant who is paying a reduced rental rate, agrees to pay a 45
higher rent upon breach of the rental agreement. 46
Sec. 3. Subsections (c) and (d) of section 47a -7d of the 2026 47
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supplement to the general statutes are repealed and the following is 48
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage and applicable to rental 49
agreements entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2026): 50
(c) Not later than January 1, 2026, the Department of Housing shall 51
publish, on the department's Internet web site, a standardized rental 52
terms summary form , and, not later than July 1, 2026, the department 53
shall publish, on its Internet web site, an updated version of such form 54
consistent with the provisions of this subsection. Such form shall clearly 55
summarize the key terms of a written rental agreement, including, but 56
not limited to, the term of the rental agreement, the name of the 57
landlord, the point of contact for property management purposes, the 58
name of each tenant and the total periodic rent determined in 59
accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section. Such 60
summary form shall be published and provided in both English and 61
Spanish and, on and after October 1, 2026, include the amount, if any, 62
that the tenant shall be charged in accordance with the provisions of 63
section 47a-15a if the rent is not paid within the grace period provided 64
in said section. 65
(d) On and after April 1, 2026, no landlord shall provide a written 66
rental agreement to any tenant unless such rental agreement includes, 67
as the first page of such rental agreement, a completed copy of the 68
standardized rental terms summary form published pursuant to 69
subsection (c) of this section. On and after October 1, 2026, any such 70
written rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 71
2026 shall include the updated version of such summary form.72
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026, and
applicable to rental
agreements entered into or
renewed on or after
October 1, 2026
47a-4c
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Sec. 2 October 1, 2026, and
applicable to rental
agreements entered into or
renewed on or after
October 1, 2026
47a-4(a)
Sec. 3 from passage and
applicable to rental
agreements entered into or
renewed on or after
October 1, 2026
47a-7d(c) and (d)

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
The effective date of Section 2 was changed to mirror Sections 1 and 3
for consistency, Section 2(a)(11) was reworded for clarity and
consistency and in Section 3, Subsec. (d) was added to include a
provision referring to the updated summary form to conform with the
changes being made in Subsec. (c).

HSG Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill, which makes various changes to allowable provisions in
rental agreements and requires the Department of Housing (DOH) to
update a form, is not anticipated to result in a fiscal impact. The state is
not a direct residential landlord, and DOH has the expertise to meet the
requirements of the bill.
The Out Years
State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None

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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5359

AN ACT CONCERNING PROVISIONS IN RESIDENTIAL RENTAL
AGREEMENTS.

SUMMARY
This bill makes several changes in residential landlord -tenant laws,
which apply to rental agreements entered into or renewed on or after
October 1, 2026.
First, the bill requires landlords to offer tenants at least one rent
payment method that does not require an additional fee. (This prohibits
landlords, for example, from requiring tenants to only pay their rent
through an online system with additional processing fees.) Existing law
prohibits landlords from exclusively requiring electronic funds
transfers for rent or security deposit payments.
The bill also prohibits rental agreements from requiring that tenants
pay (1) increased rent or other specific payment s for a period after the
rental agreement expires (for example, holdover fees) or (2) a higher rent
for breaching the rental agreement, if the tenant i s paying a reduced
rental rate (such as certain concession clauses or addendums). By law,
statutorily prohibited rental agreement provisions are unenforceable.
Lastly, the bill requires the Department of Housing (DOH), by July 1,
2026, to publish on its website an updated version of the standardized
rental terms summary form (DOH was required to post the original
form by January 1, 2026) . The updated form must additionally have a
section for landlords to include the amount (if any) of late rental
payment fees that a tenant will be charged after the law’s grace period,
under the rental agreement and according to the law on maximum late
fees (see BACKGROUND — Late Fees).
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By law, starting April 1, 2026, landlords must include the completed
form as the first page of any written rental agreement. Starting October
1, 2026, the bill requires written rental agreements entered into or
renewed on or after this date to include the updated version of the form.
As under existing law, landlords who fail to do so are liable to the tenant
for a civil penalty equal to one month’s rent (and the court may award
reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to the tenant).
Under existing law and the bill, DOH’s rental terms summary form
includes certain other fields for landlords to complete with the key
terms of a rental agreement (the agreement term, landlord’s name,
property management contact, t enant names, and total periodic rent
based on existing rental price disclosure requirements) (see
BACKGROUND — Rental Prices).
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026 , and applicable to rental
agreements entered into or renewed on or after this date , except the
provision requiring DOH to update its rental terms summary form is
effective upon passage.
BACKGROUND
Late Fees
By law, if a rental agreement requires tenants to pay a late charge for
overdue rent, it must give them a nine -day grace period (or four days
for week-to-week tenancies) before imposing the charge.
If a rental agreement contains a valid written agreement to pay late
charges after the grace period, the charges may not exceed the lesser of
(1) $5 per day, up to a $50 maximum, or (2) 5% of the overdue rent (or
5% of the tenant’s share for rental agreements that are partially paid by
a government or charitable entity). Landlords are prohibited from
assessing more than one late charge on an overdue r ent payment,
regardless of how late it is.
Rental Prices
With certain exceptions, existing law generally requires a landlord
advertising, displaying, or offering a dwelling unit for rent to include
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any periodic fee, charge, or cost that the tenant must pay in the
advertised, displayed, or offered rent. Any monthly default fee, charge,
or cost to the tenant must also be prorated and included in the
advertised, displayed, or offered rent, regardless of whether the tenant
may opt out.
Related Bill
sSB 335, reported favorably by the Housing Committee, prohibits
residential rental agreements from requiring that tenants pay for
utilities if there is no separate meter used to measure utilities delivered
exclusively to the tenant’s dwelling unit.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Housing Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 13 Nay 6 (03/10/2026)