Expect more of this, now that tenants unions can form at buildings with at least 5 rental units. Five thousand more apartments’ worth of New Haven renters are now eligible to form tenants unions — thanks to a Board of Alders-approved update to the laws governing the Fair Rent Commission.Local legislators unanimously OK’d that ordinance text amendment Monday night during the latest full Board of Alders meeting, The now-approved update clarifies and expands the purview of the state-empowered local body charged with cracking down on rents deemed ​“harsh and unconscionable” and hearing tenants’ retaliation complaints against landlords.In particular, it builds off of a September 2022 local law that made New Haven the first municipality in Connecticut to create a legal pathway for the formal recognition of tenants unions, which are then able to participate in Fair Rent Commission investigations and hearings.That 2022 law established that tenants unions could form only at apartment buildings with 10 or more dwelling units. A total of seven tenants unions have formed in New Haven during the intervening two years. (Six of those unions formed at buildings that were owned at the time by affiliates of the megalandlord Ocean Management.)The amendment passed on Monday night, meanwhile, lowered the threshold for buildings open to tenants union organizing from ten units to five. To quote from the ordinance update itself: ​“Tenants’ Union shall mean an organization whose membership is comprised of the tenants living in a housing accommodation containing five (5) or more separate rental units sharing common ownership and located on the same parcel or adjoining parcels of land, and that has been created by agreement of a majority of the tenants listed as lessees within the housing accommodation.”During a Nov. 12 Board of Alders Legislation Committee meeting, Fair Rent Commission Executive Director Wildaliz Bermúdez and Assistant Corporation Counsel Joseph Merly explained the rationale behind lowering that bar from ten to five units.“In the City of New Haven, there are more tenants unions meeting and forming,” Bermúdez said. Reducing the size of buildings eligible for official tenants union organizing from those with at least ten units to those with at least five is ​“a way to meet the needs of what constituents have been approaching us with.”How many more apartments would be eligible for tenants union organizing thanks to this shift? asked Board of Alders Majority Leader Richard Furlow during that committee meeting.According to data provided by the city assessor’s office, Bermúdez said, there are a total of 19,191 rental units in New Haven that are included in apartment buildings that have at least ten dwelling units.Lowering the threshold for tenants union organizing to buildings with at least five units, she said, adds another 5,293 apartments to that list.That means, thanks to Monday’s vote, the number of apartments in New Haven where renters can legally seek to form tenants unions has increased from around 19,000 to over 24,000.“Our understanding is that the majority [of five-unit buildings] are [owned by] LLCs,” as opposed to individuals who may reside in the building they own, Bermúdez said. That’s why the city proposed lowering the tenants union organizing threshold to buildings with at least five units, as opposed to buildings with at least three units, for example, which are more likely to be owned by ​“mom and pop” landlords, she said.Other updates included in the ordinance amendment approved on Monday night include: • An expansion of the definition of prohibited landlord ​“retaliatory” behavior. Previously, the Fair Rent Commission ordinance barred landlords from evicting or hiking the rent on tenants within six months of a tenant filing a complaint with the Fair Rent Commission. Monday’s expansion states that landlords can’t undertake such retaliatory actions within six months of a tenant filing a complaint with not only the Fair Rent Commission, but also the Livable City Initiative, or the city’s health, building, or fire departments ​“relating to the conditions of the tenant’s housing unit.”• The commission may administratively dismiss a tenant’s complaint if that tenant fails to comply with three attempts by the commission to inspect their property after issuing an order, to make sure that a landlord has complied with the terms of that order.• The commission can now take into consideration whether or not a property complies with the city’s residential rental business licensing program when determining whether or not to order a rent reduction.• A requirement that Fair Rent Commission orders, including rent reductions or recognitions of tenants unions, be filed on the city’s land records, so that a future buyer of a property can clearly see if that property is subject to any Fair Rent Commission matters.• A requirement that tenants unions provide the commission with updated membership rosters on an annual basis.“We are happy to receive the news of the Board of Alders passage of amendments to the Fair Rent Commission Ordinance,” Bermúdez told the Independent in an email comment after Monday’s vote. ​“The amendments help to provide clarity for all parties involved in the Fair Rent Commission cases. Overall, the new measures will help create opportunities for tenants and landlords to come together to resolve housing issues related to fair rent practices.”Wooster Square Alder and Legislation Committee Chair Ellen Cupo agreed during brief remarks Monday night as she urged her colleagues to support the Fair Rent Commission proposal. “New Haven is in a housing crisis,” she said. ​“I believe it will take a multi-faceted approach” to combat. She praised Bermúdez and the commission’s work to date.