East Lyme ― Several dozen Niantic tenants facing stark rent increases were congratulated for “speaking truth to power” by members of the Board of Selectmen who on Tuesday ratified the creation of a Fair Rent Commission.

First Selectman Dan Cunningham acknowledged the crowd of roughly 50 people gathered in the Town Hall meeting room for a noontime public hearing and vote on the ordinance establishing the commission.

“It takes courage to speak truth to power,” he said. “And everyone in this room did that.”

Since last month, residents of the 60-unit Windward Village complex on Main Street and affordable housing advocates had urged town officials to take advantage of a 50-year-old state law by creating a fair rent commission to regulate “harsh and unconscionable” rent increases.

The first-term first selectman has been instrumental in expediting the often lengthy process that comes with enacting local laws. His efforts were endorsed in a unanimous vote of the selectmen.

The ordinance will go into effect 10 days after it is filed in the town clerk’s office.

The move comes after Shelton-based Alpha Capital Funds real estate investment firm purchased the Windward Village building in June for $8.4 million and began to inform tenants their rent would increase between $800 and $900 when their leases came up for renewal.

The company in a social media post predicted the complex would be worth $14 million once the rent hikes kick in and improvements to the property are completed.

The tenants, most of them elderly, said the company’s efforts to raise rents ― and in some cases not to renew leases ― came unexpectedly and without enough notice for them to find another place to live at a time when affordable housing is in short supply.

They also described hidden fees, sloppy maintenance and building and fire code violations at Windward Village. Alpha Capital did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

The new commission can order landlords to reduce rents to a “fair and equitable” amount, force them to make repairs to bring residences up to code or into compliance with local or state laws, and address allegations of retaliation by landlords.

‘First one there’

Resident Tonya Harris was one of the first to learn the new ownership would not be renewing her lease, which was up at the beginning of August. Subsequent negotiations led to a rent offer for her two-bedroom unit that landed at $2,000, up from the $1,450 she paid under the old lease.

After the meeting, she hailed the creation of the Fair Rent Commission with a “Yay, we did it!” to the departing crowd. They cheered back.

Harris told The Day she’ll be keeping track of the process so she’s prepared when the commission is ready to take complaints.

“I’m going to be the first one there to get my rent decreased,” she said.

The selectmen will need to appoint members to the commission and pinpoint who on the Town Hall staff will oversee the administrative process, according to Cunningham.

The tenants have emphasized the urgency of the situation.

Harris said she’s currently past due on her rent, but the company has not initiated eviction proceedings. Earning $1,700 a month in Social Security disability benefits resulting from a 2017 car crash, she said she paid as much as she could on time and has been making additional payments as she is able.

Big business vs. big government

Selectwoman Candice Carlson during deliberations characterized the new Windward Village ownership as bullies.

“I am so proud of you,” she told the tenants. “Keep going. Keep standing your ground. Keep speaking truth to power.”

While nobody at the public hearing spoke against the ordinance, Carlson and others referenced calls they’d received from people who criticized the commission as an effort by the government to regulate the free market that could negatively affect small scale local landlords.

But Carlson disputed the idea of the commission as “big government.” She instead characterized real estate investment firms like Alpha Capital Funds as out of touch and out of scale compared to local companies.

“There is something very, very wrong with big business coming in and forcing an unjustifiable rent increase in the fashion that these people have done,” she said.

Deputy First Selectwoman Ann Cichiello acknowledged the Board of Selectmen often doesn’t get a lot of public input when making decisions. She applauded the tenants for speaking up while reminding them the commission is meant to benefit everyone in town.

“I’m hoping that it will be fair, not only to the tenants but also to landlords,” she said. “It is not designed just to be for tenants.”

Windward Village resident Judy Plouffe, who is facing an $800 rent increase when her lease is up in January, was hopeful the commission will allow the tenants to successfully negotiate with the company.

“I’m trying to be optimistic,” she said.

Jean Church was more confident the commission would have the effect for which the tenants had been rallying.

Church’s lease is up Feb. 28. She said the wait lists on apartments she could afford was about 2½ years long.

“I’m thrilled we’ll be able to stay,” she said.

e.regan@theday.com