Hundreds of people testified Tuesday on a slew of bills aimed at protecting Connecticut tenants, including measures to reform eviction law and others that would limit how much landlords can charge for a security deposit and what crimes can be considered when renters apply to live in an apartment.

Tuesday’s public hearing put two of the Housing Committee’s most politically difficult subject areas on display: zoning and landlord-tenant relationships.

In the marathon public hearing that promised to continue well into the night Tuesday, lawmakers on the committee heard testimony from tenants, landlords, housing advocates, justice advocates and local officials about the state’s housing crisis, ways to keep renters in their homes and how to encourage more housing construction.

The committee had a packed agenda with 26 bills to discuss and close to 300 people signed up to speak. Most of the bills focused on regulating the landlord-tenant relationship, and one would aim to increase the number of apartments built across the state by requiring towns to plan and zone for a set number of units of housing.

CT public hearing on eviction, zoning bills draws nearly 300 people, Ginny Monk, CT Mirror, February 18, 2025, available here