About TenantReportsCT.com

TenantReportsCT.com was created to help tenants document and share their experiences, ask questions, and raise awareness about mold-related health and safety concerns at The Glenbrook in Rocky Hill, CT. All content reflects individual tenant perspectives and is provided for informational purposes only.

Your Right to a Healthy Home: In Connecticut, landlords must keep rental properties safe and habitable, including addressing health-affecting issues like leaks, mold, and ventilation problems. The statute requires landlords to make repairs, maintain plumbing, sanitary, heating, and ventilating systems, and comply with health and housing codes (Dodson, 2025; 2022; Statewide Legal Services of Connecticut).

Tenants can help by:
• Keeping units reasonably clean and safe.
• Promptly reporting leaks, moisture, or ventilation issues.
• Using fans, windows, and other available ventilation when possible.
• Saving copies of maintenance requests and emails for documentation.

Landlords must address the root causes of mold, such as water intrusion, faulty plumbing, ventilation issues, or structural defects. Painting over mold or advising bleach on porous materials is not proper remediation, and moisture problems must be fixed to prevent mold’s return (Dodson, 2025; RPF Environmental, 2022; U.S. Army, 2019).

Free Speech and Tenant Protections

• Your experiences are protected speech. The First Amendment protects your right to share truthful accounts of your own experiences, especially when they involve health, housing conditions, or tenant safety (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts).

• Truth is a defense to defamation. If what you share is accurate and supported by documents, photos, or direct personal experience, it cannot legally be considered defamation (FindLaw).

• Opinions are protected. Sharing how you felt, for example, that you felt ignored, unsafe, or became sick while living somewhere, is considered opinion and not defamation (Justia).

• Questions are not accusations. Asking whether others experienced similar issues is a way to gather information and foster discussion—it is not making a factual claim about anyone.

• Connecticut’s Anti-SLAPP law helps protect people from frivolous lawsuits aimed at silencing them when they speak on matters of public concern, such as tenant safety and health hazards (Connecticut General Statutes, 2024, § 52-196a; Connecticut Inside Investigator, 2023).

Tenant Privacy and Housing Rights

• Entry: A landlord may enter only at reasonable times and with reasonable advance notice, except in emergencies; harassment and abuse of entry are prohibited (Connecticut General Statutes, 2024, § 47a-16).

• Retaliation: Landlords may not retaliate for good-faith repair requests, code complaints, rent-into-court actions, or tenant-union activity; actions like eviction, service reductions, or rent hikes within six months of protected activity can be retaliatory (Connecticut General Statutes, 2024, §§ 47a-20, 47a-20a).

• Security deposits: Security deposits must accrue annual interest set by the Connecticut Department of Banking, and landlords must return the deposit with interest, or provide an itemized damages letter within 21 days of move-out (or 15 days after receiving your forwarding address if it was missing). The Department of Banking oversees these rules (Connecticut General Statutes, 2024, § 47a-21).

Lease Termination and Unsafe Housing

• Unsafe or uninhabitable housing: If a landlord materially breaches the lease or legal duties (for example, persistent code-level conditions like leaks or ventilation failures), a tenant may terminate the rental agreement with proper notice under the termination statute. Other remedies include repair-and-deduct–type relief for essential services and “rent into court” to enforce duties (Connecticut General Statutes, 2024, §§ 47a-12–47a-14h).

• Domestic violence/sexual assault: Tenants (or parents/guardians of affected dependents) who reasonably believe they must vacate due to fear of imminent harm may terminate the lease without penalty with at least 30 days’ written notice, if statutory criteria are met (Connecticut General Statutes, 2024, § 47a-11e).

• Military service: Federal law, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), allows active-duty service members to terminate residential leases after entering service or upon receiving qualifying orders. No early-termination fee may be charged, and rent must be prorated (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. § 3955, 2018).

• Duty to mitigate: Even if you leave early without a legal justification, Connecticut law requires landlords to make reasonable efforts to re-rent and mitigate damages; they cannot simply charge you for the entire remaining term without trying to re-let (Connecticut General Statutes, 2024, § 47a-11a).

• Housing Is a Public Concern: Documenting conditions (work orders, inspection reports, photos) helps inform other tenants and supports enforcement efforts by health departments and courts. Tenant organizing and using fair-rent or code-enforcement processes are recognized avenues in Connecticut housing policy resources (Partnership for Strong Communities, 2025).

• Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. What does free speech mean? U.S. Courts. https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/what-does-free-speech-mean

• Connecticut General Statutes. (2024). Title 47a—Landlord and tenant; Title 52—Civil actions. Connecticut General Assembly. https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/title_47a.htm

• Connecticut Inside Investigator(2023). Anti-SLAPP: Combatting lawsuits to prevent free speech in CT. https://insideinvestigator.org/anti-slapp-combatting-lawsuits-to-prevent-free-speech-in-ct/

• Dodson (2025, May 21). Does your landlord have to remove mold? CT Project. https://ctproject.org/ct-project-blog/does-your-landlord-have-to-remove-mold

• FindLaw. Defamation law: The basics. https://www.findlaw.com/injury/torts-and-personal-injuries/defamation-law-the-basics.html

• Justia. Government restraint of content of expression. In U.S. Constitution Annotated: First Amendment—Religion and Expression. https://law.justia.com/constitution/us/amendment-01/16-government-restraint-of-content-of-expression.html

• Partnership for Strong Communities(2025, February 5). Opinion: CT housing advocates to Gov. Lamont — there is a path forward. https://pschousing.org/opinion-ct-housing-advocates-to-gov-lamont-there-is-a-path-forward/

• RPF Environmental (2022). Does bleach kill mold? Should you use it? AirPF. https://www.airpf.com/does-bleach-kill-mold/

• Statewide Legal Services of Connecticut. Renters’ rights and laws in Connecticut – for tenants. CTLawHelp.org. https://ctlawhelp.org/en/housing/landlord-tenant/renters-rights

• Thiboldeaux, R. (2007). Indoor fungal infestations and mycotoxicity: Guidance for public health professionals and industrial hygienists (Publication No. P-45074). Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Health. https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p4/p45074.pdf

• U.S. Army (2019, March 7). Ventilation, eliminating moisture keys to stopping mold in its tracks. https://www.army.mil/article/219276/ventilation_eliminating_moisture_keys_to_stopping_mold_in_its_tracks

• United States Code (2018). Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. § 3955. U.S. Government Publishing Office. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title50/chapter50&edition=prelim

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2025, March 27). A brief guide to mold, moisture, and your home. https://www.epa.gov/mold/brief-guide-mold-moisture-and-your-home

Disclaimer: This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For help with your situation, consult a licensed Connecticut attorney or the appropriate state agency.