SB 301 — AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PILOT PROGRAM TO FUND REIMBURSEMENTS TO LANDLORDS FOR LOST RENTAL PAYMENTS.

Senate General Assembly RaisedFile Bill No.

301221 February Session, 2022 LCOSenate Bill No.

2529301 ReferredSenate, toMarch 30, 2022 The Committee on HOUSINGHousing Introducedreported by:through SEN.

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AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PILOT PROGRAM TO FUND REIMBURSEMENTS TO LANDLORDS FOR LOST RENTAL PAYMENTS.

Such pilot program shall assess the unmet needs for landlord reimbursement in the state and, for a one- year period beginning on October 1, 2022, provide for reimbursement to any such landlord who applies and adequately demonstrates that such landlordwouldhavebeenentitledtoreimbursementundertheUniteCTlandlordwouldhavebeenentitledtoreimbursementunder theUniteCT program but for the lack of tenant participation, in an amount not greater than would have been available to such landlord had the landlord'sSB301 UniteCT/ applicationFile beenNo. approved.

LCO221 25291 \\PRDFS1\SCOUSERS\FORZANOF\WS\2022SB-00301-R01SB301 ofFile 2 SB.docx Raised Bill No.

301221 (b)landlord's NotUniteCT laterapplication thanbeen Decemberapproved. 1, 2023, the Commissioner of Housing shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to housing concerning the pilot program established pursuant to this section.

(b) Not later than December 1, 2023, the Commissioner of Housing shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to housing concerning the pilot program established pursuant to this section.

from passage Section 1 from passage New section HSG Joint Favorable LCOSB301 2529/ {\\PRDFS1\SCOUSERS\FORZANOF\WS\2022SB-003012File ofNo. 2 R01-SB.docx }

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221 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 23 $ FY 24 $ Department of Housing GF - Cost Significant See Below Note:

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill results in a significant state cost, as it requires the Commissioner of Housing to establish a one-year program to reimburse certain landlords for certain unpaid rent.

The bill also requires the Commissioner to assess the unmet need for such rent reimbursement and to report on the program and its performance by December 1, 2023.

As the Department of Housing (DOH) does not currently have information on how many landlords would be eligible or what the average reimbursement amount would be, the total cost for grants is unknown.

As a reference, the average rent payment made by the UniteCT program is $8,446 and to date, UniteCT has served 8,260 landlords and 36,666 unique households.

1 The Department of Housing (DOH) has operated the federally funded UniteCT emergency rental assistance program at an administrative cost of about $47 million to process 104,231 applications during FY 21 and FY 22.

It is anticipated that DOH would incur similar Statistics taken from the UniteCT dashboard on March 27, 2022;

Figures reflect payments of $196.8 million for rent assistance and $41.8 million for utility payments.

The statistics will change as the remaining $162 million in committed funding is processed.

SB301 / File No.

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221 ($452 per case) or higher administration costs per application for the landlord program due to the staff time necessary to review and verify additional application criteria (i.e., both tenant eligibility and landlord eligibility).

DOH may also be required to contract with a third-party for assistance completing the assessment of unmet needs and/or the program performance reporting at a one-time cost of less than $100,000.

Programmatic and administrative costs would be incurred in FY 23 and the first half of FY 24.

The Out Years There is no fiscal impact in the out years.

Sources:

Department of Housing SB301 / File No.

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221 OLR Bill Analysis SB 301 AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PILOT PROGRAM TO FUND REIMBURSEMENTS TO LANDLORDS FOR LOST RENTAL PAYMENTS.

SUMMARY The Office of Legislative Research does not analyze Special Acts.

COMMITTEE ACTION Housing Committee Joint Favorable Yea 15 Nay 0 (03/15/2022) SB301 / File No.

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