Sec.17b-802-1. Definitions

As used in to 17b-802-12, inclusive, of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies:

(1) “Applicant” means a person age eighteen or older who has completed, signed and submitted an application to the department or to any entity so designated under section 17b-802-5 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies to obtain a security deposit guarantee or security deposit grant that, if approved, will allow the person to move into a dwelling unit;

(2) “Application” means a form prescribed by the commissioner to be used by an applicant to apply for a security deposit guarantee or a security deposit grant. Such form shall contain information that the commissioner or the commissioner’s designee deems necessary to determine an applicant’s eligibility for a security deposit guarantee or security deposit grant;

(3) “Administrative hearing” means a formal review of a decision of the Commissioner of Social Services pursuant to section 17b-60 of the Connecticut General Statutes;

(4) “Catastrophic event” means a situation that arises due to a natural or manmade disaster that results in destruction or loss of housing, as determined by appropriate local or state officials or by the department;

(5) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Social Services;

(6) “Current income status” means the household’s gross income for, at a minimum, the 30 days immediately preceding the date of application;

(7) “Department” means the Department of Social Services;

(8) “Departmental review” means an informal review by the department of a reimbursement claim made by a landlord for damages if requested by the tenant in accordance with section 17b-802-7 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies;

(9) “Designee” means an individual appointed by the commissioner to act on behalf of the commissioner;

(10) “Dwelling unit” means any house or building, including a mobile manufactured home in a mobile manufactured home park, as such terms are defined in section 21-64 of the Connecticut General Statutes, or portion thereof, that is occupied, is designed to be occupied, or is rented, leased or hired out to be occupied as a home or residence of one or more persons;

(11) “Emergency housing” means a temporary residential facility, other than an emergency shelter, such as a state institution or shelter for victims of domestic violence. Emergency housing includes, but is not limited to, a hotel, motel or the private residence of a friend or relative that temporarily houses individuals or families displaced due to an eviction, catastrophic event or domestic violence;

(12) “Emergency shelter” means a privately or publicly supported structure designed to shelter homeless persons on a temporary basis pending relocation to permanent housing;

(13) “Eviction” means one of the following:

(A) An applicant is forced to relocate after receiving a legal notice to quit;

(B) An applicant is sharing a dwelling unit with a lessee and the lessee has received a legal notice to quit or has been evicted through court action;

(C) An applicant is an owner or a tenant of a dwelling unit and is being forced to relocate as a result of a foreclosure judgment in a foreclosure action completed in court; or

(D) An applicant is illegally locked out of a dwelling unit by the landlord and the applicant has filed a complaint with the police concerning such lockout;

(14) “Gross income” means the total income of all household members, before deductions, derived from earned and unearned income. Earned income includes any compensation payable by an employer to an employee for personal services and includes wages, salaries, tips, commissions, bonuses and earnings from self-employment or contractual agreements. Unearned income includes, but is not limited to: pensions, annuities, dividends, interest, rental income, estate or trust income, royalties, social security or supplemental security income, unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation, alimony, child support and cash assistance from federal or state funded assistance programs;

(15) “Household” means one or more individuals living together as a unit;

(16) “HUD” means the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(17) “Landlord” means the owner of a dwelling unit. “Landlord” includes a licensee, permittee or any person who owns, operates or maintains a mobile manufactured home park, as such term is defined in section 21-64 of the Connecticut General Statutes. “Landlord” does not include a tenant who is a lessor or sublessor;

(18) “Lessee” means an individual who rents property from another;

(19) “Lessor” means an individual who rents property to another;

(20) “Recipient” means any individual or household that has received a security deposit guarantee or a security deposit grant by meeting the criteria set forth in section 17b-802-2 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies;

(21) “Security deposit grant” means a security deposit, as defined in section 47a-21 of the Connecticut General Statutes, that is paid by the department on behalf of an eligible applicant to a landlord pursuant to subsection (e) of section 17b-802 of the Connecticut General Statutes;

(22) “Security deposit guarantee” means a written agreement between the commissioner, the commissioner’s designee or the department’s agent and a landlord that provides that the department shall pay the landlord for damages up to the amount of the security deposit if the tenant fails to comply with the tenant’s obligations, as defined in section 47a-21 of the Connecticut General Statutes;

(23) “Sublessor” means an individual who rents property from a lessor and leases that property to a third party; and

(24) “Tenant” means the lessee or person entitled under a rental agreement to occupy a dwelling unit or premises to the exclusion of others.

(Adopted effective May 24, 2004; Amended June 28, 2013)