Connecticut tenant screening laws

A landlord, a third party acting for a landlord, or a third party acting for the state may not charge for processing, reviewing or accepting a rental application. The permitted tenant screening report fee is limited to $50 plus the annual inflation adjustment determined by the Commissioner of Housing. Section 59 of Public Act 26-68 extended these rules to the named third parties effective May 26, 2026. The current adjusted dollar figure has not been read for this page (P.A. 26-68, section 59 (effective May 26, 2026); Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-4d(b), (c)).

• A tenant screening report is a credit, criminal background, employment history or rental history report, or any combination of them (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-4d(a)).
• A landlord or either of the named third parties charging a screening report fee must give the applicant the report and the screening company's receipt or invoice. Only when prohibited from supplying the report may the charging party instead give information enabling the applicant to request it from the producer (P.A. 26-68, section 59 (effective May 26, 2026); Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-4d(d)).
• Move-in and move-out fees are not allowed (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-4d(b)).
• Check an eviction record's current status before using a screening report. Section 47a-26j requires the Judicial Department to remove identifying case information from its website within 30 days after withdrawal, dismissal, nonsuit or a final disposition with judgment for the defendant. Removed records are also excluded from the Department's commercial bulk sales (Conn. Gen. Stat. 47a-26j(a), (c)).See Eviction process on the Connecticut page
• The same section bars commercial disclosure of records removed under subsection (a), including disclosure for consumer reports or prospective-tenant screening. Appeals or later case activity can require website retention or restoration, and formal written judicial opinions remain publishable. Website removal is therefore a specific access and disclosure rule, not a statement that every eviction record disappears (Conn. Gen. Stat. 47a-26j(b), (d), (e)).

Connecticut bars housing discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, age, lawful source of income, familial status, learning, physical or mental disability, veteran status, and status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or trafficking. A separate section adds sexual orientation and civil union status (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-64c(a); Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-81e).

• The source of income rule does not stop a landlord from denying an applicant solely for insufficient income (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-64c(b)(5)).
• The law does not apply to renting rooms in a single-family home the owner lives in, or a unit in a two-family home where the owner lives in the other unit. The familial status rule also exempts owner-occupied buildings of up to four units (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-64c(b)(1), (b)(4)).
• Refusing reasonable accommodations, or reasonable modifications at the tenant's expense, for a person with a disability is discrimination (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-64c(a)(6)(C)).
• Violations are a class D misdemeanor, and complaints go to the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-64c(f), (g)).