Addressing housing challenges in Hartford. Local tenants met with Mayor Arunan Arulampalam sharing their landlord issues and asking for action.
Dozens of tenants came out to a community forum in Hartford to talk about their challenges with landlords on Saturday. This included Victoria Ramos who lives in the South End of the city. She says the conditions inside are deplorable such as falling ceilings.
“The inside of the building when it rains, it’s like a waterfall all the way down to the first floor,” she said.
She was one of a few who told their stories to the mayor and demanded concrete action.
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“I’m still paying my rent. Why should I have to live like animals at this point. It’s not safe for us,” Ramos said.
The mayor says he’s getting a clearer picture as to what’s going on.
“We’ve got some really great landlords in the City of Hartford, and we’ve got a few really bad ones that are creating so many layers of trouble of issues for our residents,” Mayor Arulampalam said.
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He says his administration will be taking actions such as looking at enforcement measures for bad landlords and helping tenants understand their rights.
“This administration has made it a priority of going after the worst offenders and making sure we’re holding them accountable,” he said.
Ramos, however, says she’s skeptical and says the city needs to put their words into concrete action.
“If it’s not face to face, I don’t see how a phone number and an email is going to fix my issues,” she said.
Mayor Arulampalam says his administration will be working to gain the trust of tenants over time.
“It’s showing results and this administration is about showing results,” he said.
