This petition is co-sponsored by the Greater New Haven Central Labor Chapter of the Western Connecticut Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.  Worker rights and tenant rights go hand in hand. Union power!

Join tenants across Hamden, Connecticut, to demand our city government ACT NOW in the fight for fair treatment from negligent and exploitative landlords by passing the Tenants Rights Ordinance.

This year, the Tenant Union at the Seramonte Estates, a large apartment complex on Mix Ave, secured an initial win in the struggle for tenant rights when they pushed the town to re-establish a functional Fair Rent Commission (FRC) for the first time in 4 years. They also pushed for the Tenants' Rights Resolution, passed by the council in June, which outlines the town's intentions to recognize tenant unions in the FRC process, ensure maximum enforcement of existing tenant protections, and take steps toward updating the housing code and establishing a landlord registry. But as only a non-binding resolution, these intentions have not been adequately realized.

We need to improve upon the resolution by fortifying Hamden’s Fair Rent Commission ordinance, and we need it now. The ordinance must:

• Allow for tenants to engage with the FRC collectively for the purposes of consolidated investigations and hearings
• Include parking pass fees, pet rent, and other extra fees in the definition of "rent"
• Empower the FRC to establish an escrow account, by means of which it can receive rental payments until health and habitability standards are met by the landlord, to be returned to the tenant or landlord at the Commission's discretion
• Strengthen the FRC's powers to protect tenants against retaliation, including for tenants whose cases are ongoing while the Commission investigates and decides on their complaints, and even if the property changes ownership while a case is ongoing
• Ensure that language and disability accommodations are provided to all tenants as needed throughout the FRC process
• Increase the fines for non-compliance to the maximum allowed by state law
• Ensure that housing inspections are timely, thorough, and accountable to tenant oversight, employing staff if necessary to do so

By signing this petition, you help to amplify these demands and ensure that they are answered accordingly by Hamden Town Council.