Newington BOE member under fire for allegedly shutting off tenant's water

A Newington landlord, who is also a Board of Education member, was arrested after allegedly keeping the water off without cause at her tenant's property.

Court documents allege Anastasia Yopp’s tenant went 54 days total without water, which is considered a criminal offense in Connecticut.

Emily Martinez, the tenant, said she's relieved the apartment she rents has running water again after a months-long dispute with Yopp, who she shares the other side of a duplex with.

"It was mentally draining. I'm glad to have water back on,” Martinez said.

According to court documents, this all started back in December when the landlord believed there was a water leak on Martinez’s side of the duplex.

Court documents show Yopp claims that Martinez wouldn’t let her go check on the pipes.

But in court documents, police, along with Martinez, say she wasn’t restricting access, and the water issues were only on the landlord’s side, which the fire department confirmed.

Water was then turned off with the expectation a plumber would come and fix it.

"I had no water for 54 days. And there was one day that I did have water. The second plumber came to turn the water on, and I did have water for one day, and then it was turned off, the next day,” Martinez said.

Court documents say Martinez then contacted her landlord about getting the water back, and police even did, too.

During this process, Martinez said she had no other choice but to find another place to stay. She rented an Airbnb, just to use the water.

"It's in the in the middle of winter. It was just really inconvenient to just everyday pack a bag to go shower somewhere,” Martinez said.

She said she'd make the trip back and forth with her two young sons.

Yopp is an elected member of Newington’s Board of Education.

The mayor of Newington said the town has no comment at this point in time, saying this will be discussed at Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting.

The town council met as regularly scheduled Tuesday, but this topic was not discussed.

Renters in Connecticut have rights to safe housing. The State of Connecticut provided resources if you find yourself having utility problems, like in Martinez’s case.

"Just know your rights,” Martinez said.

Housing and tenant issues are a big topic in this year’s legislature, and a number of bills are proposed, from banning no cause evictions to rent control.

We reached out to Yopp multiple times but did not hear back as of Tuesday evening.

We also reached out to the Board of Education and have not heard back.