New City Ordinance Ups Blighted Property Fines From $100 to $1,000 Per Day: Mayor

NEW HAVEN, CT — City officials Friday signed into law new legislation to "strengthen" New Haven's "ability to combat blighted properties and hold negligent property owners accountable."

The ordinance increases municipal fines for blight violations from $100 per day to a maximum of $1,000 per day, the highest penalty allowable by state statute.

Initiated by the Elicker Administration earlier this year, the legislation (OR-2025-0014) was unanimously passed by the New Haven Board of Alders earlier this month, and it represents the latest in a series of measures by the city to strengthen its housing code enforcement and help ensure residents are living in affordable, safe, healthy, and well-maintained homes.

According to Mayor Justin Elicker's office, the ordinance allows the city to serve and enforce anti-blight and property maintenance citations via first-class U.S. mail, as opposed to the previous requirement of certified mail. Elicker said the former "made it easier for bad-acting property owners to evade enforcement and virtually impossible to render enforcement to absentee landlords with a P.O. Box mailing address."

Following the bill signing, LCI neighborhood specialists were "deployed to conduct inspections at other troublesome properties across the city," the Mayor said.

A news briefing was held outside 1303 Chapel Avenue, a "long-standing blighted property in the Dwight neighborhood," with Elicker, Livable City Initiative Executive Director Liam Brennan, and other city officials and community leaders in attendance.

Watch the briefing here: