How to Evict a Roommate in Connecticut (and Other Household Situations)
What Connecticut law says about roommates who are not on the lease, guests who won't leave, family members, renting a room in your own home, and tenancies at will — each with the statute or official source.
Short answer: A "tenant" is the lessee, a sublessee, or a person entitled under a written or oral rental agreement to occupy the unit. A roommate who has no agreement with the landlord or the tenant is an occupant, not a tenant; a roommate who sublets from the tenant is a sublessee and so a tenant of that tenant. Whether a landlord's acceptance of rent from a roommate creates a tenancy depends on the facts. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-1(i), (l)
| Roommate not on the lease | A "tenant" is the lessee, a sublessee, or a person entitled under a written or oral rental agreement to occupy the unit. A roommate who has no agreement with the landlord or the tenant is an occupant, not a tenant; a roommate who sublets from the tenant is a sublessee and so a tenant of that tenant. Whether a landlord's acceptance of rent from a roommate creates a tenancy depends on the facts. If a tenant who is a victim of family violence or sexual assault ends the rental agreement early under § 47a-11e, any occupant without a right or privilege to occupy must leave before the termination date (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-11e(d)). Source: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-1(i), (l) |
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| Removing a roommate or subtenant | A tenant who sublets is a "landlord" (the definition includes a sublessor), so a subtenant roommate is removed through the court eviction (summary process) route: a written notice to quit, delivered by a proper officer at least 3 days before the quit date, followed by a summary process case. The notice can also be used against an occupant who never had a right to occupy or whose right or privilege to occupy has ended. Only a state marshal can carry out an eviction after judgment. Changing locks or removing belongings without court process can lead to an entry and detainer case (Conn. Gen. Stat. ch. 833). |
| Guests who won't leave | No statute sets a number of days after which a guest becomes a tenant. An owner who wants a guest to leave uses the notice to quit and summary process route, which covers someone who never had a right or privilege to occupy as well as someone whose right or privilege has ended. If the person's name is unknown, the notice can be addressed to "John Doe" or "Jane Doe." |
| Removing a family member or partner | No statute names family members specifically. A family member or partner who was allowed to live in the home, but whose permission has ended, falls within the summary process ground for "one [who] originally had the right or privilege to occupy" whose right has terminated, so the owner serves a notice to quit (at least 3 days) and files a summary process case. Protective or restraining orders in family-violence cases are a separate court process that can order a person out of the home. Source: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-23(a)(3) |
| Renting a room in your own home (lodgers) | No separate lodger statute for owner-occupied homes. Connecticut defines a "roomer" as someone occupying a unit without their own refrigerator, stove, kitchen sink, toilet and shower or bathtub, where one or more of these are shared; roomers are still covered by the summary process eviction law, but a few rules (such as the cannabis and drug-test protections) do not apply to a roomer who does not lease the entire residence. |
| Tenancy at will | Unless the rental agreement fixes a definite term, a tenancy is month to month (week to week if rent is paid weekly), and an oral lease with monthly rent and no agreed end date is a lease for one month only. A notice to quit for nonpayment turns a month-to-month or week-to-week tenancy into a tenancy at sufferance. The landlord ends any of these with a notice to quit served at least 3 days before the quit date. The quit date for a lapse-of-time notice should fall at the end of a rental period. Some older or disabled tenants in larger buildings have extra protection against no-cause eviction (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-23c). |
| Hotel and extended-stay guests | Transient hotel or motel occupancy is excluded from the landlord-tenant title. A stay of less than 30 days is transient unless the room is the occupant's primary residence from the start. A stay of 30 days or more is not transient, unless the room is not the occupant's primary residence and the stay is less than 90 days. |
Never remove someone by changing the locks or taking their belongings: if the person has become a tenant, only a court can order them out. If there is violence or a threat, call 911 and ask about a protective order.
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Connecticut eviction laws · Free legal help in Connecticut · Roommate rules in other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.