Landlord and Tenant

You wanted to know whether tenants residing in a building that is subsequently forfeited are evicted.

Tenants residing in a building that is forfeited are not automatically evicted. But the new landlord can evict them if (1) the lease terminates for any one of the five reasons specified in statute, (2) they never had a right or privilege to occupy the premises, or (3) they had a right or privilege to occupy the premises but that right or privilege has terminated. When any one of the grounds for eviction exists, a landlord may begin a summary process (eviction) action by serving his tenant with a notice to quit followed by a summons and complaint.

As you know, Connecticut's drug asset forfeiture law, enacted in 1989, authorizes law enforcement agents to seize, and prosecutors to bring a civil forfeiture action against, property (1) used or intended to be used to commit or facilitate an illegal drug sale or (2) derived or obtained from the proceeds of an illegal drug sale. Although prosecutors are authorized to bring forfeiture actions against rental real estate, they have only exercised it once.

By law, a landlord may terminate a tenant's lease for any one of five reasons: expiration of lease, nonpayment of rent, breach of tenant's statutory duties, breach of lease, or illegal conduct or serious nuisance. Following is a brief explanation of the circumstances that must exist for each ground before a summary process action may be brought.

1. Expiration of the Lease. Once a lease expires, the landlord is under no obligation to renew it. This is true whether the lease is written or oral, year-to-year, or month-to-month. There is an exception for tenants who are 62 years of age or older, blind, or disabled who reside in a building with five or more units (CGS § 47a-23c). For these tenants the landlord must have a legally sufficient reason (“for cause eviction”) such as nonpayment of rent or permanent removal of the unit from the housing market.

2. Nonpayment of Rent. If a tenant does not pay his rent, the landlord may evict him. But there is a nine-day grace period for tenants on a month-to-month lease and a four-day grace period for week-to-week tenants. If, for example, rent is not paid when due and the landlord gives the month-to-month tenant notice that he is going to be evicted on that ground, the ground for eviction can be nullified if the tenant pays within nine days of when the rent was due (CGS § 47a-15a).

3. Breach of Tenant's Statutory Duties. Tenants have certain duties imposed on them by statute. Basically these are to refrain from creating a nuisance, or defacing the premises, to obey the health and fire codes, and to keep the premises clean and safe (CGS § 47a-11). If the tenant corrects the problem within 21 days and has not caused the same problem within the past six months, it nullifies the breach (CGS § 47a-15).

4. Breach of Terms of the Lease. A landlord may impose terms to a lease beyond just paying rent. For example, he may prohibit pets and waterbeds and require that he be allowed reasonable inspection of the premises. Breach of these terms are grounds for eviction. However, the terms must be rational, apply to everyone, and pertain to such things as welfare of the other tenants or preventing property damage. And, as with breach of statutory duties (above) the tenant can cure the breach within 21 days (CGS § 47a-15).

5. Illegal Conduct or Serious Nuisance. Assaulting the landlord or other tenants, or using the premises for gambling, prostitution, or for selling drugs is grounds for eviction. Unlike the above two grounds, the tenant is not given 21 days to correct this problem (CGS §§ 47a-15, 47a-31).

A landlord may evict someone who never had a right or privilege to occupy the leased premises (CGS § 47a-23 (a)(2)). When using this ground to evict, a landlord must show that he never had a landlord and tenant relationship with the person he seeks to evict. For example, an adult child who moves into an apartment with his parents (parents signed the lease) may be evicted under this ground if his parents move.

A landlord may evict a tenant using this ground if the landlord can prove that (1) he owns the premises, (2) the tenant once had the right to occupy, and (3) the right to occupy has terminated (CGS § 47a-23 (a)(3)). Connecticut courts have allowed banks to use this ground to evict tenants residing in property that has been foreclosed. These courts have held that a foreclosure action terminates a lease (Hite v. Field, Conn. Supp. 70 (1982)). We were unable to find any cases where courts have held that forfeiture terminates a lease.

Once a ground for eviction has been established, a landlord may bring a summary process action by serving a tenant with a notice to quit. If the tenant fails to respond to this notice by remaining on the leased premises, the landlord may file a summons and complaint in Superior Court. The court schedules a hearing after the filings and enters judgment at the conclusion of the case. The process ends once judgment is executed.

Connecticut's drug forfeiture law authorizes prosecutors to institute civil forfeiture actions against any property derived or obtained from the proceeds of an illegal drug sale or exchange, or used or intended to be used to commit or facilitate an illegal drug sale. Property may be forfeited even if there is no criminal conviction. In addition, all proceeds and property obtained by a corporation as a result of money laundering are subject to forfeiture (CGS § 54-36h).

Within 90 days of the date property is seized, the state may petition the court for a forfeiture order. The court must identify people who have a property interest in the seized property and the prosecutor must notify them of the hearing by certified or registered mail. The hearing is a civil proceeding, and the state must prove its case by clear and convincing evidence. The clear and convincing standard is higher than the preponderance of evidence required in federal law but not as high as the standard required in criminal cases (beyond a reasonable doubt).

The court must enter a forfeiture order if it finds that the owner used the property as indicated above or that he knew or could have reasonably known that the property was used in this manner. The commissioner of administrative services must sell the forfeited property at a public auction. Any sell proceeds must be used to pay (1) the balance due on any lien preserved by the court in the forfeiture proceedings; (2) the costs incurred for storing, maintaining, securing, and forfeiting the property; and (3) court costs (CGS § 54-36h(f)). Any balance must be deposited in the Drug Assets Forfeiture Revolving Account for substance abuse treatment, education programs, and drug enforcement in accordance with the following formula: 70% to the Department of Public Safety, 20% to the Department of Public Health and Addiction Services, and 10% to the Division of Criminal Justice (CGS § 54-36i).

According to Chris Malaney, supervisory assistant state's attorney of the Chief State's Attorney's Office's Asset Forfeiture Unit, the state has brought a forfeiture action against rental property only once. He sites three reasons for this. First, the general condition of rental property where drugs are sold (typically slum) makes it undesirable and not worth anything. Thus, instead of seizing and seeking forfeiture of the property, the states notifies the landlord and tries to get him to work with the police to abate the nuisance. Second, Malaney indicated that landlord and tenant laws sometime make it difficult for landlords to evict individuals engaged in drug trafficking on leased premises. Although selling drugs on leased premises is a ground for eviction, Malaney argues that the procedures for actually gaining an eviction are difficult and his office will not penalize a landlord for a “legal impossibility” (i.e., his office will not seek forfeiture if there is a possibility that the landlord cannot evict the tenant). The third reason has to do with management. According to Malaney, the Department of Administrative Service is not capable of acting as landlord once rental property is forfeited. Thus, courts would have to appoint attorneys as receivers of rent with the duty to perform all other management duties at a cost to the state.