Middletown commission cuts tenant’s contested rent increase, ties rise to repairs

The Middletown Fair Rent Commission on July 1 voted to reduce a recent $125 rent increase for tenant Vincent Marufi to $100 and required that the building’s main security door and Marufi’s cracked window be repaired before the higher charge may take effect.

The commission’s decision followed several hours of testimony and cross-examination in a fair‑rent proceeding concerning the Stonegate Apartments. Marufi testified the unit’s rent rose from $920 in June 2019 to $1,275 now, and that services and security had deteriorated after owner CoSell Equity and manager Up Realty took over. "I am paying more and getting less," Marufi said, describing broken entry-door hinges, a cracked bedroom window left unreplaced for two years, and repeated parking-lot thefts documented in police reports and a tenant petition signed by about 75 residents.

Responding, Up Realty’s regional property manager, Miss James, said the owner invested in the property after purchasing it in 2019 — citing interior renovations, new windows and roof work — and described the company’s rent-setting methodology using HUD fair-market rents and area comparables. "For the whole property, it was over 1,200,000" in renovations, Miss James testified, adding that some unit-level work (interior renovations) was limited to vacant or renovated units.

The panel heard claimant exhibits showing year-by-year rent increases and a CPI‑based analysis prepared by tenants; Marufi’s calculations showed the rent rose by roughly 19.5% in one year, then smaller increases, with the cumulative change he described as about 39% since 2019. Defense counsel disputed applying the tenant’s toolkit benchmark and emphasized that the claimant bears the statutory burden to show a charge is excessive.

Commissioners expressed concern that some property services and safety issues had not been addressed, particularly the broken security door that prevents the building from locking automatically and a cracked window that Marufi said had been reported to management in 2022 without repair. After deliberation the commission offered a compromise: reduce the contested $125 increase to $100, order that the two repairs be completed before that $100 increase becomes effective, and direct staff to address any remittance or credit for amounts already paid (the commission discussed calculating retroactive remittance back to a prior month but did not finalize an exact back‑date in the hearing record).

Chair and staff said the commission will issue a written decision documenting the order and the factual findings that supported it. The motion carried with three commissioners voting in favor and one opposed; an abstention was recorded on a related procedural amendment. The panel adjourned at 9:48 p.m.

The commission’s order is expected to specify the timeline and compliance reporting requirements for the repairs and to lay out how any credits or refunds will be calculated. No further vote was taken on a precise retroactive period during the hearing.