Connecticut Roommate Agreement
The Connecticut rules that shape the document: no lodger shortcut, the sublease security deposit rule, and why one co-tenant usually cannot evict another.
Find out where you stand in Connecticut
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
Introduction
A roommate agreement is a private contract between co-tenants, not a lease, and it does not bind the landlord or change what the lease says. In Connecticut, a handful of state rules sit on top of the national template: there is no lodger statute, so removing an occupant always requires a formal summary process eviction in Housing Court, and a co-tenant who is not the other's sublessor has no legal standing to remove them at all. Connecticut's security deposit statute also pulls a subletting roommate into landlord-style obligations toward their subtenant. Everything else, the rent split, chores, guests, and quiet hours, is covered by the national template.
Key Things to Know
- 1
Connecticut has no lodger law like California's, and no roommate-specific removal process. Removing an occupant requires a formal summary process (eviction) in Housing Court, after a written notice to quit at least three days before the termination date (Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 47a-23(a)). A co-tenant who is merely a co-equal named tenant, not the other's sublessor, has no legal standing to evict a fellow co-tenant at all; only the property owner, or a tenant with genuine sublessor status toward a subtenant, can do so.
- 2
No Connecticut statute gives a tenant an affirmative right to add a roommate over the landlord's objection, unlike New York's Roommate Law. The lease controls whether a new occupant may move in.
- 3
Whether an added Connecticut roommate is a co-tenant on the lease or a subtenant of the existing tenant depends on the facts of how they moved in, not on any statutory default (Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 47a-1(d), (l)).
- 4
If one roommate is a true subtenant under a sublease, Connecticut's security deposit statute treats the subletting roommate as a landlord toward the subtenant, so the same deposit cap, escrow, interest, and 21-day return rules that bind an actual property owner apply between them (Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 47a-21(a)(7)).
- 5
Between co-equal named tenants on the same lease, no Connecticut statute addresses how they split a security deposit refund between themselves; that split is left to the roommate agreement.
- 6
No Connecticut statute sets a default joint-and-several or pro-rata rent-liability rule among roommate co-tenants. The lease controls what the landlord can collect, and this agreement should state the reimbursement split explicitly.
- 7
Connecticut's own Fair Housing Act exempts renting a room in an owner-occupied single-family home, and a unit in an owner-occupied two-family home, from its discrimination provisions, mirroring rather than exceeding the federal shared-living exemption. No Connecticut municipality has a roommate-specific ordinance; local Fair Rent Commissions review rent-increase fairness only.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Roommate Agreement in Connecticut, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Roommate Agreement guide walks through them.
Open the Roommate Agreement guideCustomize your Roommate Agreement Template with DocDraft
Connecticut Requirements for Roommate Agreement
Connecticut Has No Lodger Shortcut for Removal
Connecticut has no lodger statute and no roommate-specific removal process. A departing occupant can only be removed through a formal summary process eviction in Housing Court, preceded by a written notice to quit at least three days before the termination date (Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 47a-23(a)).
Connecticut Co-Tenant Lacks Standing to Evict Another Co-Tenant
A co-tenant who is a co-equal named tenant on the same lease, and not the other's sublessor, has no legal standing under Connecticut law to remove or evict a fellow co-tenant. Only the property owner, or a tenant with genuine sublessor status toward a subtenant, may pursue that removal. The agreement should not suggest any self-help removal right.
Connecticut Sublease Security Deposit Rule
Where one roommate is a true subtenant under a sublease, Connecticut's security deposit statute treats the subletting roommate as a landlord toward the subtenant, applying the same deposit cap, escrow, interest, and 21-day return rules that bind an actual property owner (Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 47a-21(a)(7)).
Connecticut Security Deposit Split Between Co-Equal Tenants
Between co-equal named tenants on the same lease, no Connecticut statute addresses how they split a security deposit refund or reimburse each other for damage. State the split or reimbursement rule explicitly in the agreement.
Connecticut Rent Liability Has No Statutory Default
No Connecticut statute sets a default joint-and-several or pro-rata rule for rent liability among roommate co-tenants. The lease controls what the landlord can collect from each signer; the agreement should state the reimbursement split between roommates separately.
Connecticut Roommate Selection and Fair Housing
Connecticut's Fair Housing Act exempts renting a room in an owner-occupied single-family home, and a unit in an owner-occupied two-family home, from its discrimination provisions, and separately exempts marital-status-based refusals to rent to an unrelated, unmarried man and woman together (Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 46a-64c(b)(1)-(2)). This mirrors, and does not exceed, the federal shared-living exemption.