An Act Prohibiting The Eviction Of A Residential Tenant For Nonpayment Of Rent If The Landlord's Online Rental Payment System Prevents Such Payment Of Rent.
Summary
SB 1302 amends Connecticut’s summary process/eviction statute to create a narrow exception to nonpayment-based eviction for residential tenants. Under current law, a landlord may serve notice to quit and pursue eviction when rent is not paid within the statutory grace period; this bill provides that the nonpayment ground does not apply if the landlord’s online rental payment system prevents the tenant from making payment during that grace period.
The bill is aimed at situations where a tenant is willing and able to pay rent, but the landlord’s electronic payment portal, website, or similar online system blocks or interferes with the transaction. In that circumstance, the landlord could not rely on nonpayment of rent as the basis for eviction for residential property. The bill does not alter the nonpayment eviction rules for commercial property, and it leaves the rest of the summary process grounds unchanged.
Impact
The bill would amend General Statutes section 47a-23(a), which governs notices to quit possession and the grounds for summary process eviction. Its practical effect is to limit a landlord’s ability to evict a residential tenant for nonpayment when the landlord’s own online payment system is the cause of the missed payment, thereby shifting some risk of payment-system failure to landlords who use electronic rent collection. It would affect residential landlords, tenants, and housing courts handling eviction cases under Connecticut’s landlord-tenant laws, while leaving the existing nonpayment framework in place for cases not involving a blocked online payment system.
Sentiment
The available voting history suggests the bill had support in the Housing Committee, passing Joint Favorable on a 11-7 vote. That indicates a generally favorable but not unanimous view of the proposal. No committee transcript was provided, so the record does not show detailed floor or committee debate, but the vote split suggests the bill was viewed positively by a majority while drawing meaningful opposition or reservations from a substantial minority.
Contention
The main point of contention is likely whether landlords should bear the legal consequences of failures in their online rent-payment systems. Supporters would view the bill as a consumer-protection measure that prevents eviction when tenants are blocked from paying through no fault of their own. Opponents may be concerned that the bill could create disputes over whether a system truly “prevented” payment, increase litigation over technical issues, or place additional compliance and operational burdens on landlords who use electronic payment platforms. The split committee vote suggests disagreement over how far the law should go in reallocating responsibility for payment-processing problems.