Middletown panel orders landlord to repair heat within 15 days, ties rent cut to noncompliance

The Middletown Fair Rent Commission ordered a landlord on Wednesday to repair heating in a tenants unit within 15 days and to arrange inspections by health, building and fire officials, after a tenant testified he has gone without heat for several years.

Kenneth McPherson told the commission he currently pays $1,100 for a one-bedroom apartment and described a long-running lack of heat and past hot-water problems. McPherson said he had contacted the health department and preserved text and rent records; commissioners reviewed those materials and an inspectors note that a prior hot-water issue had been closed.

Commissioners debated remedies, emphasizing immediate habitability concerns. The motion the commission adopted ordered the landlord to complete required heating repairs and have the building inspected for compliance by the health, building and fire departments by a set deadline; commissioners set a conditional rent adjustment that would reduce monthly rent to $875 if repairs were not completed by the deadline and then reduce rent by $100 for each additional day of noncompliance until the problem is corrected and re-inspected.

Commission staff said the commission would issue a written order quickly and encouraged the landlord to schedule required inspections; the commission said once inspections confirm compliance, rent would revert to the prior amount. The commission also encouraged the tenant to provide documentation of repairs or ongoing failures so staff can verify compliance.

The order instructs municipal departments to inspect and report; staff will circulate the written decision and schedule follow-up at the next meeting to confirm whether repairs were completed.