New London ― Tenants in the city will soon be able to bring complaints to a local commission about excessive rental charges.

The City Council on Monday night adopted an ordinance to create a Fair Rent Commission, a municipal board of volunteers that can hold hearings and make decisions in response to tenant complaints. The city, because it has a population of more than 25,000, was required by state law to adopt a fair rent commission ordinance by July 1.

Two dozen towns and cities in the state already have fair rent commissions in place.

A fair rent commission can investigate tenant claims, deny an “unconscionable rent” increase and reduce the rent to a fair price, phase-in a rent increase, or delay a rent increase until housing code violations are fixed. It can also deny a tenant’s claim.

Monday was the council’s third reading of the ordinance, and there was no comment during the public hearing.

As stated in the ordinance, the commission will consist of five members and two alternates, all of whom will be city residents. Of the five regular members, two will be a landlord and two will be tenants. Among the alternates, one will be a landlord and the other a tenant.

Two of the regular members and one alternate would be appointed by the City Council and three regular members, including the commission’s chairperson, and one alternate would be appointed by the mayor. The chairperson would not be a landlord or tenant.

The ordinance will go into effect 30 days after being approved. Mayor Michael Passero said right now there is no specific timeline for when commission members will be appointed.

j.vazquez@theday.com