Terminating a Lease for a Landlord's Breach and Unlawful Entry

Attorney Answer

Yes — Connecticut gives you two separate statutory routes to end the lease, and one of them also pays you at least a month's rent plus attorney's fees. But the notice rule is not what you have been told, and getting the procedure right is what makes the termination stick.

Entry. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-16(c) provides that "[a] landlord shall not abuse the right of entry or use such right of entry to harass the tenant. The landlord shall give the tenant reasonable written or oral notice of his intent to enter and may enter only at reasonable times, except in case of emergency." Subsection (d) bars entry without the tenant's consent except in an emergency, as permitted by § 47a-16a, under a court order, or where the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the premises.

Two corrections to what is commonly assumed. The statute requires reasonable notice, written or oral — there is no 24-hour rule and no minimum notice period in § 47a-16. And your landlord's argument that he need not give notice because he owns the property and lives there is not a carve-out in § 47a-16. That section contains no owner-occupancy exception.

The remedy that answers your question. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-18a provides that if the landlord makes an entry prohibited by § 47a-16 or § 47a-16a, or makes repeated otherwise-lawful demands for entry that have the effect of unreasonably harassing the tenant, "the tenant may recover actual damages not less than an amount equal to one month's rent and reasonable attorney's fees. The tenant may also obtain injunctive relief to prevent the recurrence of the conduct or terminate the rental agreement." That is a statutory right to end the lease for unlawful entry, plus a damages floor.

The general breach route. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-12(a) covers the rest of it: "If there is a material noncompliance by the landlord with the rental agreement or a noncompliance with section 47a-7 which materially affects health and safety, the tenant may deliver a written notice to the landlord specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach. If the breach is not remedied within fifteen days after receipt of the notice, the rental agreement shall terminate on such date." And if substantially the same act or omission recurs within six months of the first noncompliance, you may terminate on at least fourteen days' written notice.

Note what § 47a-12 demands: a written notice that specifies the acts and omissions. A verbal complaint or a general grievance does not start the fifteen-day clock.

What you can do

1. Start a dated entry log now: every entry or attempted entry, the date and time, what notice you were given and how, and whether you consented. This is the § 47a-18a record. 2. Send a written notice under § 47a-12 that lists each unremedied condition specifically — the holes in the wall, and anything affecting health and safety — and keep proof of delivery. Vague notices fail. 3. Calendar fifteen days from the landlord's receipt. If the items are not fixed, the rental agreement terminates on that date by operation of the statute. 4. For the entry problem, decide between the § 47a-18a remedies: an injunction to stop it, or termination, plus actual damages of not less than one month's rent and reasonable attorney's fees. 5. Do not stop paying rent as a self-help remedy. Nonpayment gives the landlord an eviction ground and can swamp your own claim. If conditions are serious, ask the Superior Court housing session clerk about paying rent into court instead. 6. Photograph everything, and keep every text and email with the landlord. If it comes to a hearing, your documentation is the case.

⏱ Time limits apply. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-12 runs on fixed periods: fifteen days after receipt of your written notice for the landlord to remedy, at least fourteen days' written notice for a recurrence, and a six-month window measured from the first act of noncompliance. When each clock starts depends on your specific dates and on when your notice was actually received.