Local landlords spoke out Thursday at a public hearing against bills they feel will hurt their business.
They testified before a packed audience at a public hearing held at the Meriden Public Library by the General Assembly’s housing committee.
Much of the focus centered on two bills, one that would ban cash payments for rent and another that would require landlords to disclose whether properties had ever been treated for bed bugs in the past year.
Under S.B. 114, An Act Prohibiting Landlords from Requiring Tenants to Pay Rent by Cash or Electronic Funds Transfer, landlords could collect cash for a rent payment or security deposit only after a tenant issued a bad check. Cash payments would then be allowed, but only for a maximum of three months.
Several landlords testified that the bill would place undue burdens on their businesses and tenants and would have unintended consequences.
“It doesn’t make sense to our membership,” said Bob De Cosmo, president of Connecticut Property Owners Alliance. “It is convenient for people who have cash to pay with cash.”
They were also surprised about the proposed ban since it had never been an issue before.
“I’m gonna be honest with you, a lot of our tenants don’t even have checking accounts,” said Ross Scalino, a property manager. “Our banks today make it very difficult to bank.”
The bed bug bill, S.B. 952, would bar landlords from renting out units if they are aware of or suspect a bed bug infestation and they don’t take measures to treat it.
Landlords are particularly troubled by a section in the bill requiring landlords to tell prospective tenants whether the unit or adjacent units were infested or had been infested in the past year before they can rent out any unit.
“The only purpose I can see is to put the landlord out of business,” said Gerald Kaplan, one of the several landlords opposing the bill.
Another landlord, Mike Morin, added that the disclosure portion of the bill would “unequivocally reduce property value.”
Ultimately, tenants with bed bugs have to shoulder some responsibility.
“Your current laws put everything on the landlord; the landlord has a very small part in it,” said Mike Dalbert, who has worked as a property manager for 25 years. “He can schedule the remediation, he can schedule the applications, but if the tenant doesn’t follow the directions and doesn’t put the cover on the bed because they don’t like that cover its not gonna correct the problem.”
Other concerns raised by those who testified included the failure rate of bed bug treatment, lack of guarantee by treatment applicators, and scant research about bed bugs, their effects and proper treatment and control methods.
“I’ve actually dealt with this problem. I can’t even explain to you the nightmare that it was,” said Scalino, who described his experience with a female tenant who was completely unaware of the infestation and mortified as a result of it.
Publicizing the existence of bed bugs in a unit could create social repercussions.
“I think it’s an invasion of privacy to be honest,” said Scalino. “You’re gonna look at that tenant like she’s dirty and nasty even though she had nothing to do with it.”
Committee members were aware of the lack of clarity on the issue of bed bugs. “We are trying very hard to present a responsible bill with that information, taking into account that it is a public health issue but it is also a tenant and landlord issue,” said Sen. Danté Bartolomeo, D-Meriden who co-chairs the housing committee.
The concerns raised by the landlords at the public hearing may lead to reconsideration of the bills, as the committee can still make changes before casting their votes.
“We’re trying to get away from placing the blame anywhere, whether it’s the landlords or the tenants; this isn’t about placing blame,” said Rep. Larry Butler, D-Waterbury, c0-chairman of the housing committee. “No one thinks that this is a problem that landlords turn a blind eye to.”