402 A.2d 1 | Conn. Super. Ct. | 1979
This is a trial of a summary process action brought on the basis of nonpayment of rent. The defendant, hereinafter the tenant, denies that she has paid no rent for the three-month period in question and claims by way of special defense that payment of rent during this period was excused by *152
operation of General Statutes §
The pertinent facts in this case are as follows: The plaintiff, hereinafter the landlord, leased an apartment to the tenant in April, 1975, for $230 per month on a month to month oral lease. In May, 1978, the landlord gave the tenant notice of an increase in rent to $260 per month commencing in June. The tenant neither paid the increased rent in June nor tendered any of the old rent. No rent has been paid or tendered to the landlord since that date although the tenant has remained in possession of the premises and has continued to live there with her five minor children.
The director of the city health department inspected the premises the day prior to the trial and found, inter alia, the following violations of the city health code: defective windows, i.e., rotten window frames; lack of provision on the front door for the attachment of an adequate locking device; and evidence of possible roach and rodent infestation. It was his opinion that the window and door defects developed over a long period of time and that they were hazardous to the health and safety of the occupants of the premises.
The tenant had requested the landlord to repair or correct those defects or conditions on many occasions both before and after the refusal to pay the *153 June rent. Furthermore, despite numerous complaints by the tenant to the landlord of the presence of roaches, the apartment in question had never been visited by an exterminator nor had the tenant ever been contacted by the exterminator whom the landlord kept on retainer. The landlord admitted on examination by the court that he had agreed to repair the tenant's doors and windows and to exterminate any roaches or rodents which might be present in her apartment.
The landlord claims that the fact that the tenant failed to tender even the old rent is dispositive of the case. Ordinarily it would be. It is settled law in this state that despite the absence of an agreement on a new rental figure, the tenant must tender each month what he or she claims is due under the old rental schedule in order to avoid a default. Kligerman
v. Robinson,
The issue thus raised is whether §
The issue in this case turns on whether the statutory duty to maintain the premises in a habitable condition as required by §
Under §
The section which must be construed is §
A final point should be mentioned with respect to §
Thus, by established principles of statutory construction, it seems clear that §
Since the court concludes that the premises were in fact uninhabitable by virtue of the long-standing defective window and door conditions and the