Conn. Gen. Stat. » Title 47a — LANDLORD AND TENANT · Chapter 832 — Summary Process
Connecticut General Statutes

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-26b (2026)

Motion and order for payments for use and occupancy

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section CT-CGAcga.ct.gov (official) JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
(a) If the defendant appears, the court shall, upon motion and without hearing, unless the defendant files an objection within five days of the filing of the motion, order the defendant to deposit with the court within ten days of the filing of the motion payments for use and occupancy in an amount equal to the last agreed-upon rent or, in the absence of a prior agreed-upon rent, in an amount equal to the fair rental value of the premises during the pendency of such action accruing from the date of such order. If the motion is served upon the defendant with the complaint, the motion shall be deemed for purposes of this section to have been filed on the date on which the defendant appears. If all or a portion of the defendant's rent is being paid to the plaintiff by a housing authority, municipality, state agency or similar entity, this requirement shall be satisfied if the defendant deposits with the court an amount equal to his portion of the last agreed-upon rent. The motion for use and occupancy payments shall include a statement of the amount of the last agreed-upon rent. The motion shall be filed on a form prescribed by the Office of the Chief Court Administrator and shall contain, in clear and simple language, a notice advising the defendant that, if the defendant files an objection within five days of the date the motion was filed, the court will conduct a hearing on the motion prior to entering an order, but, if the defendant does not file an objection during such time period, the court will order use and occupancy payments without a hearing. The form shall also contain a place for the defendant to claim an objection to the motion and notice that the defendant may file an objection at any time. The filing by the plaintiff of a motion for use and occupancy payments shall not suspend the time limits for pleading under section 47a-26a.

(b) Notice to the defendant of an order for use and occupancy payments shall be given on a form prescribed by the Office of the Chief Court Administrator. Such form shall state in clear and simple language and in readable format (1) the amount to be paid, (2) the date by which such payment must be received by the clerk, and (3) the consequences of failure to make payment as ordered.

(c) If the defendant files an objection to the motion, a hearing on the objection shall be held not more than seven days after such objection is filed, after which the court shall order the defendant to deposit with the court payments for use and occupancy in an amount equal to the fair rental value of the premises during the pendency of such action accruing from the date of such order. If all or a portion of the defendant's rent is being paid to the plaintiff by a housing authority, municipality, state agency or similar entity, this requirement shall be satisfied if the defendant deposits with the court an amount equal to his portion of the fair rental value of the premises. The last agreed-upon rent shall be prima facie evidence of the fair rental value of the premises. The party claiming a different amount shall have the burden of proving that the last agreed-upon rent is not the fair rental value. Such order shall permit the payment of such amounts in monthly installments, as such amounts become due. Nothing in this subsection shall preclude either party from subsequently moving to modify the amount of the payment order for cause shown.

(d) If the defendant fails to make such payments as ordered, the clerk shall, immediately and without the filing of a motion, order the defendant to file his answer and, if the defendant fails to do so within four days of the mailing of such order, judgment shall forthwith be entered for the plaintiff. If the defendant files an answer within such four-day period, the clerk shall set such matter down for hearing not less than three nor more than seven days after such answer and reply, if any, are filed.

(P.A. 79-571, S. 53; P.A. 80-399, S. 5; 80-483, S. 129, 186; P.A. 84-266, S. 2, 4; P.A. 86-267, S. 3; P.A. 89-254, S. 9; P.A. 92-171, S. 5; P.A. 95-247, S. 2.)

History: P.A. 80-399 required that hearing be held within seven days rather than five days; P.A. 80-483 made technical grammatical correction; P.A. 84-266 added provision that the last agreed-upon rent shall be prima facie evidence of the fair rental value and that the party claiming a different amount has the burden of proving otherwise; P.A. 86-267 divided section into Subsecs. and added provisions authorizing the court without hearing to order the defendant to deposit within ten days use and occupancy payments equal to the last agreed-upon rent unless the defendant files an objection, prescribing the contents of the notice of such order, specifying that the filing of a motion for use and occupancy does not suspend the pleading time limits under Sec. 47a-26a, requiring the court to hold a hearing within seven days if the defendant files an objection and order the defendant to deposit use and occupancy payments equal to the fair rental value of the premises, and specifying that nothing in Subsec. (b) precludes a subsequent motion to modify the payment amount; P.A. 89-254 amended Subsec. (a) to provide that if all or a portion of the rent is being paid by certain third parties the defendant satisfies the requirement of making use and occupancy payments by depositing with the court an amount equal to his portion of the last agreed-upon rent and to add provisions re the form and content of the motion for use and occupancy payments, designated the provisions re the notice of an order for use and occupancy payments as Subsec. (b) and required the notice be given on a form prescribed by the “office of the chief court administrator” rather than by the “judicial department”, redesignated Subsec. (b) as Subsec. (c) and added provision that if all or a portion of the rent is being paid by certain third parties the defendant satisfies the requirement by depositing with the court an amount equal to his portion of the fair rental value of the premises, and redesignated Subsec. (c) as Subsec. (d); P.A. 92-171 amended Subsec. (a) to provide that the time period for depositing use and occupancy payments with the court runs from the filing of the motion rather than from the issuance of the order and to add provision that if the motion is served with the complaint it shall be deemed to have been filed on the date the defendant appears; P.A. 95-247 amended Subsec. (a) to provide that “in the absence of a prior agreed-upon rent”, use and occupancy payments shall be “in an amount equal to the fair rental value of the premises”.

Cited. 4 CA 162; 17 CA 314; 19 CA 32; 20 CA 733. Where defendants already had filed their answer to the summary process complaint months before they failed to make timely use and occupancy payments, trial court erred by rendering judgment of possession for plaintiff without first conducting the hearing prescribed by Subsec. (d). 162 CA 333. Section does not provide an exclusive remedy and does not preempt plaintiff from recovering retroactive use and occupancy payments. 188 CA 714.

Cited. 37 CS 688; Id., 897; 38 CS 70. Contempt remedy was inappropriate since remedy for noncompliance with statute is included within section and is self-executing. Id., 370. Cited. 40 CS 53.

(Return to Chapter
Table of Contents)		 (Return to
List of Chapters)		 (Return to
List of Titles)

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 20 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1981–2024 · leading case: City of Bridgeport v. Barbour-Daniel Elec., Inc., 548 A.2d 744 (Conn. App. Ct. 1988).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
City of Bridgeport v. Barbour-Daniel Elec., Inc., 548 A.2d 744 (Conn. App. Ct. 1988). · cites it 10× “General Statutes § 47a-26b provides a landlord with a method of ensuring that payments are made into court during the pendency of a summary process action.”
A1Z7, LLC v. Dombek, 205 A.3d 740 (Conn. App. Ct. 2019). · cites it 14× “General Statutes § 47a-26b permits a property owner in a summary process action to seek the fair rental value of the premises occupied by a defendant during the pendency of a summary process action.”
MFS Assocs., Inc. v. Autospa Realty Corp., 560 A.2d 484 (Conn. App. Ct. 1989). · cites it 8× “2 Meanwhile, the court had ordered the defendant to pay for use and occupancy during the pendency of the action, pursuant to General Statutes § 47a-26b, and the defendant paid $4500 per month into court for the five months between the court’s use and occupancy order and its…”
Udolf v. West Hartford Spirit Shop, Inc., 570 A.2d 240 (Conn. App. Ct. 1990). · cites it 9× “Pursuant to General Statutes § 47a-26b (c), 1 the defendant had four days from the mailing of the order, that is, until May 22,1989, to file its answer.”
Young v. Vlahos, 929 A.2d 362 (Conn. App. Ct. 2007). · cites it 2× “The party claiming a different amount shall have the burden of proving that the last agreed-upon rent is not the fair rental value. ...” The defendant has offered no evidence that the agreed upon rent in this case was not the fair rental value of the premises.”
Sproviero v. J.M. Scott Assocs., Inc., 948 A.2d 379 (Conn. App. Ct. 2008). · cites it 2× “See General Statutes § 47a-26b. The defendant, therefore, received an agreed upon compensation for the plaintiffs’ use and occupancy of the premises during their tenancy at sufferance.”
Boardwalk Realty Assocs., LLC v. M & S Gateway Assocs., LLC, 340 Conn. 115 (Conn. 2021). · cites it 2× “3d 740 (2019) (summary process was not exclusive remedy, and property owner could seek use and occupancy via unjust enrichment action); see also Gen- eral Statutes § 47a-3c (‘‘[i]n the absence of agreement, the tenant shall pay the fair rental value for the use and occupancy of…”
Hous. Auth. of East Hartford v. Morales, 786 A.2d 1134 (Conn. App. Ct. 2001). · cites it 3× “General Statutes § 47a-26b provides in relevant part that the court in a summary process action shall order “payments for use and occupancy in an amount equal to the last agreed-upon rent or, in the absence of a prior agreed-upon rent, in an amount equal to the fair rental value…”
JPMorgan Chase Bank, Nat'l Assn. v. Essaghof, 336 Conn. 633 (Conn. 2020). · cites it 2× “We are aware of no statutory or common-law authority that would authorize such a pendente lite order.”
Groton Townhouse Apts. v. Marder, 435 A.2d 47 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1981). · cites it 5× “General Statutes § 47a-26b. 1 In one of the summary process actions *690 the court rendered judgment for the tenant upon the ground that the plaintiff had accepted the payment tendered as rent for September, 1979, the month for which the plaintiff claimed a default.”
Messinger v. Laudano, 493 A.2d 255 (Conn. App. Ct. 1985). · cites it 2× “General Statutes § 47a-26b gives notice to the parties that a hearing on the motion for use and occupancy payments must be held not less than three nor more than seven days after the motion is filed.”
O & P Realty v. Santana, 551 A.2d 1287 (Conn. App. Ct. 1989). · cites it 2× “A holding that disclaimers such as the one at issue here are ineffective would force landlords to file a motion for use and occupancy payments pursuant to General Statutes § 47a-26b in every case and would require them to return any tendered offers of rent or run the risk of…”
Show all 20 citing cases →
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-26b(d): 1 case
Gray v. Coan (In Re Spiro), 305 B.R. 142 (Bankr. D. Conn. 2004).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.