FAIR RENT COMMISSION, CITY OF NORWALK

FAIR RENT COMMISSION

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Click here for Minutes from August 3, 2005
Click here for Minutes from September 7, 2005
Click here for Minutes from October 5, 2005

NOVEMBER 2, 2005

ATTENDANCE : Richard Booth, Chairman; Martin Bernard, Vice Chairman;
Maria Borges-Lopez; John Church, Akisha Cassermere (7:10 p.m.)
Marissa Lilliedahl, Jeannette Jean-Pierre, Mary
Geake, Wendell Simms.

STAFF: Elisabeth Youngerman, Director of Human Relations and Fair
Rent; Lawrence E. Patterson, Field Representative (7:20 p.m.)

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Booth called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.

He said that since there were a number of new commissioners, it would be helpful for each Commissioner to state their name and some general information about themselves.

Commissioner Cassermere arrived at 7:10 p.m.

Following the introductions, Chairman Booth gave a brief overview of the function of the Fair Rent Commission. He stated that the Commission treats the landlord and the tenants as fairly as possible. The State Laws favor the tenants and the Fair Rent Commission can only receive complaints from the tenants. Landlords, however, can come in to the office and the staff will try to give them the best advice possible. The Commission has run programs for landlords and tenants in the past. When hearings are held, the principle participants are sworn in. Following a hearing, the Commission must come up with a decision that is fair to both parties.

Mr. Patterson arrived at 7:20 p.m.

1. Approval of the Minutes from the Previous Meeting - October 5, 2005

Pg. 1, ATTENDANCE : please move Ms. Jean-Pierre’s name onto one line.
Pg. 3, 2nd paragraph, 2nd line: please change “building,,” to “building ,”
Pg. 3, 3rd paragraph, 6th line: please change “mangers” to “managers”.
Pg. 3, 3rd paragraph, 9th line: please change “mangers” to “managers”.
Pg. 5, 7th paragraph, 1st line: please remove “asked”.
Pg. 6, 3rd paragraph, 8th line: please change “Ms. Jean-Pierre agreed...” to
“Commissioner Jean-Pierre agreed...”
Pg. 6, 3rd paragraph 9th line: please change “...because she spoke Creole” to
“because she did not have any photo identification to show the tenant.”
Pg. 6, 5th paragraph, 2nd line: please change “scheduled for class” to “scheduled for a
class.”
Pg. 6, 7th paragraph, 2nd line: please change “Ms.” to “Ms. Youngerman”
Pg. 6, 7th paragraph, 5th line; please change “...the consequences of Section 8 violations
for tenants...” to “...the consequences of lease violations for Section 8 tenants...”
Pg. 7, 1st paragraph, 2nd line: please change “...the eviction in the hallway.” to “the
eviction was in the hallway.”
Pg. 7, 2nd paragraph 4th line: please change “Commission helps the tenant through...”
to “ Commission helps refer the tenant through.”
Pg. 8, 6th paragraph, 3rd line: please change “Mr. Patterson recommended Mr. Patterson
recommended...” to “Mr. Patterson recommended...”
Pg. 13, 5th paragraph, 3rd line: please change “INCREASE” to “INCREASED”

** MR. BERNARD MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES AS
CORRECTED.
** MR. SIMMS SECONDED.
** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Chairman Booth asked Mr. Patterson to give the Commissioners a quick overview of his role as an investigator for the Fair Rent Commission. Mr. Patterson explained that when a complaint is received, he goes to the site and inspects the venue.

2. Chairman’s Report

Chairman Booth stated that he was not going to give a formal report, but would make some comments for the Commission to consider. He explained that the Commission is divided into two groups, the Commissioners and the alternates. He feels that in the future, the word “alternate” should be dropped, since both the Commissioners and those designated as “alternates” both do Commission work. He acknowledged that the ordinances indicate a given number of appointments are alternates, but felt that it should not be used unless it is required by the ordinances.

He then spoke about the new Fair Rent Commission notebook that Ms. Youngerman distributed to the Commission members. Chairman Booth then asked the Commissioners who attended the training session for their comments. Commissioner Church stated that it was helpful to have, particularly in regards to knowing the standards. Commissioner Bernard felt it would be helpful for the new commissioners to go on an inspection with Mr. Patterson. Commissioner Borges-Lopez also found page 3909, which lists the standards to be informative and instructive. Commissioner Cassermere pointed out that the paragraphs are short and to the point. Chairman Booth explained that the Commission had rewritten the ordinances in order to update them and make them more concise about four years ago.

Ms. Youngerman distributed copies of a decision that was made to show the Commissioners how the standards are utilized in the Commission’s decision. She reviewed the material in the Fair Rent notebook for the new members and pointed out that every decision by the Commission can be appealed to Superior Court. The cases that are highlighted in the binders are ones where the Fair Rent Commission’s decision was appealed in Court. These are particularly helpful in understanding how the courts treat the decisions given by the Fair Rent Commission. Information about rental properties is compiled from newspapers and other sources in the staff’s office and available to the public and the Commission. The complaint form has just been reworked and updated. It was suggested that the complaint form include the plaintiff’s email address. Ms. Youngerman explained that the email addresses are recorded on the intake form.

3. Director’s Report

Ms. Youngerman reported that she had attended a meeting with several real estate developers at the Chamber of Commerce. She also reported that the current waiting list for Section 8 housing is 1,000 households and is closed. No new applications are being accepted. The current waiting list for public housing in Norwalk is 1,000 households and is closed. No new applications are being accepted. Twenty percent of the population of Norwalk is spending 50% or more of the household income for housing. When HUD evaluates their criteria for Section 8, they use a standard 28% to 30% of household income for housing. Finally, over the last five years, there has been a 15% decline in Norwalk’s population for ages 18-35. Commissioner Bernard commented that New Canaan also has the same problem because the young people cannot find affordable housing and therefore are forced to move out of town.

Chairman Booth commented that when investigations are done, often the conditions are substandard and the building has to be vacated. The tenants have to be moved out and since there is no housing available, they are moved to a hotel.

Ms. Youngerman then reviewed her written report for the Commission, and highlighted the fact that the number of intakes this month was lower than the month of August. However, a number of the intakes have moved into the complaint category. At the current rate the Fair Rent office is receiving these intakes, there is a 20% increase in complaints at this time over other years. This has been the busiest year for complaints in the last five years.

Fair Rent deals with intake cases and complaints. Everyone who contacts the Fair Rent office is considered an intake case. When the situation requires the attention of the Fair Rent Commission, it becomes a formal complaint when a complaint isd filed by a tenant. Not all cases progress into complaints.

She also reported that the two hearings that were scheduled for the meeting have been postponed until December. Esposito v. Equity Residential will be grouped with three other cases that will be presented in December. D’Alessandro v. Ursone is similar to the case heard in October. Included in Ms. Youngerman’s report was a brief run down on the Esposito v. Equity Residential along with the other three complaints from the same residence. This case will be particularly challenging in that there are some issues involved that could have far-reaching consequences. After reviewing the memo, Commissioner Murray suggested that this issue be sent to Corporation Counsel for an opinion. The Commission was in agreement.

Chairman Booth asked Mr. Patterson if he would like to add anything. Mr. Patterson stated that although Fair Rent had a bit of a breather this month, he felt that with the rising heating cost of gas and electricity, there were likely to be more complaints as the landlords pass the increases onto the tenants. He also felt there may be some cases of landlords breaking leases, rather than adding addendums to the leases. Most of his time is focused on conducting investigations. He informed the Commission that his email was lpatterson@norwalkct.org.

Ms. Youngerman commented that at Arch Street, which was a place where in the past the tenants had a $50 annual rent increase at the most, the landlord contacted the staff about one of the tenants, who is a client with the Department of Mental Retardation. During the process of working with the landlord over the past three months, this landlord is now calling the office for assistance in handling this issue. This tenant was not involved in the group negotiations at Arch Street.

6. Scheduled HEARINGS:

1532-05 Esposito, 93 Richards Avenue, #704. Complaint filed 10/03/05.

As per the earlier discussion, this has been postponed until December.

1533-05 D’Alessandro, 30 Morton St., 2nd Floor, Complaint filed on 10/05/05.

As per the earlier discussion, this has been postponed until December.

8. Deliberation and Decision on Hearing Cases

As per the earlier discussion, this has been postponed until the hearings in December.

7. Review and discussion of open cases

1521-05 Aguilar, 10 Arch Street, #10. Complaint filed 08/05/05.