East Lyme’s Board of Selectmen lost no time responding to appeals for help from residents of Windward Village apartments. The new owner is raising monthly rents on some 60 units by amounts of $800 to $900, and tenants are feeling the shock of hikes averaging 60 percent.

In a special meeting held Friday, the selectmen voted to approve a draft ordinance creating a Fair Rent Commission and to set a public hearing on the proposal for noon Tuesday, Aug. 20 at East Lyme Town Hall and on Zoom.

The board is acting in a levelheaded and evenhanded manner to create an orderly process for an emotion-laden situation and a permanent way to address future issues. That should assure the residents, most of whom are senior citizens, that they can hope for help in reaching a resolution they can live with.

It also serves notice to the new landlord, Alpha Capital Funds real estate investment firm, about what to expect while doing business in East Lyme.

Alpha Capital Funds purchased Windward Village, a pleasant-looking apartment complex on Main Street near downtown Niantic, in June for $8.4 million. The company, based in Shelton, posted on social media that the complex would be worth $14 million by the time rent increases go into effect and property improvements are completed.

Landlords certainly have the right to charge rents that allow for improvements, taxes and other expenses while earning them a reasonable profit on their investment. But when a company’s business is the roof over other people’s heads, the proprietors know — or should know — that even in a time of great demand for housing, it is not just a matter of cashing in on the demand.

State law empowers towns to form fair rent commissions to investigate complaints and hold hearings, and can order landlords to reduce rent increases for specific reasons. A Fair Rent Commission is mandatory for municipalities of more than 25,000 residents — Groton and New London have them — but optional for others. East Lyme has 18,788 residents.

As drafted and approved by attorneys for the town, the ordinance calls for a commission of five unpaid members and three unpaid alternates who are all resident electors. One regular member and one alternate must be landlords; one regular member and one alternate must be tenants of properties in town. The Board of Selectmen will make the appointments. The ordinance excludes seasonal properties, defined as those rented for not more than 120 days in a year.

Given the concern of Windward Village tenants that they may be unable to stay in their homes, immediate attention will be on the proposed powers of the commission to determine after a hearing “whether or not the rent for any housing accommodation is so excessive as to be harsh and unconscionable” and “to order a reduction of any excessive rent to an amount which is fair and equitable.”

In the long term, however, the commission’s authority to study and investigate rental housing within the town will give East Lyme voters and decision-makers essential, fact-based information on which to base policies regarding rental housing; identify fair rental rates for market-based and affordable housing; and contribute to conversations with would-be developers and landlords.

As The Day has repeatedly documented, the number of available, affordable housing units in the state is more than 90,000 shy of the number needed. The state recognizes how deeply that affects retirement-age tenants by granting people over 62 special status regarding evictions.

A town cannot meet every human need; utilities costs and food prices are beyond its scope. But a municipality can do something to address the need for shelter. It falls to a local Fair Rent Commission to identify and remedy unreasonable rent hikes, and East Lyme is wise to act now.

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The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.