Fair Rent Commission

Minutes of the March14, 2024 meeting of the Norwich Fair Rent Commission Present: Commission members Lee-Ann Gomes, Chair, Ed Belli, Rebecca Melucci, Atty. Michael Driscoll,( Corporation Council for the City of Norwich), Alternates Nicole Haggerty and Laurie Messore Tenant Lisa Desso, tenant Erica Roosa and her landlord representative Angel Ayar, tenant Connie Phillips and her landlord representative Tyler Witkowski The mee�ng began at 9:00am. Minutes of the Sept. 27, 2023 and the January 18, 2024 mee�ngs were approved. The FRC decided to change its mee�ng dates to the 3rd Thursday of the month beginning in May 2024. Gomes to no�fy the City Clerk’s office. The FRC discussed a request received from Bria Lloyd asking for FRC decisions rendered between January 2019 and January 2024. We will send this informa�on to her with the names of the complain�ves redacted. The FRC started to discuss procedural issues but tabled these to our next mee�ng. The Commission heard the case of Lisa Desso who resides at 66 North Cliff Street. (Note; the FRC inadvertently forgot to swear in witnesses for this case). The tenant, Ms. Desso, was present for the hearing although the landlord, Doris Groner, could not make this date. As the Commission was unable to hear from the landlord, this hearing was con�nued un�l 4-11-2024 at 9:15 am. We advised Ms. Desso to converse with the landlord, present this no�ce of con�nuance and the email chain (which seems to imply she can con�nue to reside in her apartment) to the court. She was further advised, that if she and the landlord could not resolve the situa�on to the sa�sfac�on of both par�es, they should reappear to con�nue this hearing on 4-11-24. The Commission heard the case of Erica Roosa who resides at 27 Norwich Ave, unit 2 . Both she and Mr. Ayer were sworn in. Ms. Rossa’s complaint is, in large part, that the landlord is proposing to raise the rent from $750/month to $1102/month. Mr. Ayar agrees that the increase in rent is substan�al. Mr. Ayar believed that Ms. Roosa would contact him once presented with the increase in rent. Both par�es agreed to con�nue this hearing so that they could try to come up with an agreement that is sa�sfactory to both par�es. Should they come to an agreement the con�nued hearing will be cancelled. If not, this hearing will be The Commission heard the case of Connie Phillips who resides at 2897 Main Street, unit 3A. Both she and my Witkowski were sworn in. Ms. Phillips believes that the proposed rental increase of $380 (from rent of $1120/ mo. to rent of $1500/mo.) is unaffordable. Historically, rent has risen 2.5%. The landlord representa�ve, Tyler Witkowski, stated that the landlord is confident he can rent that unit for $1500/mo. He acknowledges that the usual annual rate increase is 2.5%. As the landlord did not show any reasons for increasing the rent to $1500/mo. (increases in costs, improvements to the property, added ameni�es) and because the tenants are low income and cannot afford the increase, the FRC decided that the historical increase of 2.5% was fair and warranted. Mr. Witkowski asked whether the landlord could forego giving a yearlong lease to Ms. Phillips and the have her leave the apartment for “lapse of lease”. A�er much discussion, the FRC decided that this would be retaliatory in nature. Having no further business, the mee�ng adjourned at 11:00 am. The next mee�ng of the FRC will be April 11, 2024 at 9:00 am.