Connecticut's Renters' Rebate for Seniors and Disabled Renters: What to Expect and How to Apply
Connecticut's Renters' Rebate sends a once-a-year check of up to $700, or $900 for a married couple, to renters who are 65 or older or totally disabled. 2026 applications closed September 30, and the state says first checks go out around November 30. Here's what to watch for, how the amount is figured, and how Hartford residents apply next spring.
AT A GLANCE
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What the Renters' Rebate is
State law refunds part of the rent and utilities paid by Connecticut renters who are elderly or totally disabled and under the income limits. The Office of Policy and Management (OPM) runs it. Your town takes the application, and the state mails the check.
The rebate is based on what you paid in the calendar year before you apply. The 2026 filing period, which ran April 1 to September 30, 2026, covered rent and utilities paid in 2025.
It's an outright grant. OPM's Q&A booklet says it never has to be paid back, as long as it wasn't obtained with fraud or wrong information.
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Who qualifies
From the OPM program page and its 2026 Question and Answer Booklet, you need all of these:
Age or disability. You, or a spouse you live with, were 65 or older by December 31 of the benefit year. For the 2026 filing, that meant born on or before December 31, 1960. You can also qualify if:
You're 50 or older and the surviving spouse of a renter who qualified for the program when they died, and you lived with them at the time.
You're 18 to 64 and eligible for Social Security Disability. A comparable government or railroad disability plan also counts, but only if you didn't work in a job covered by Social Security.
Residency. You lived in Connecticut for any one-year period. It doesn't have to be the year right before you apply. You also have to live in Connecticut when you apply.
Income. Your qualifying income was at or under the limit (see below).
No other government aid or subsidy. Social Security, energy assistance, SSI, veterans' benefits, subsidized housing and DSS cash assistance are allowed. If you got Department of Social Services cash assistance, OPM subtracts it from your check. If what's left is under $10, no check is sent.
Your rent and utilities are high enough. 35% of what you paid for rent and utilities has to be more than 5% of your income.
You also have to be alive when the application is filed. Relatives can't file for someone who died before applying.
Disability proof
OPM accepts any one of these:
A current Social Security disability award letter
A Social Security Benefit Verification Letter or TPQY
If you're under 62, an SSA-1099 showing benefits on your own Social Security number
If you didn't work under Social Security, proof of permanent and total disability from a comparable government plan
A doctor's statement alone isn't enough, though it can back up other proof. Veterans need a current VA rating of 100% permanent and total. If they don't have enough Social Security work credits, they also need a statement from Social Security saying so.
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Income limits and what counts
For applications filed in 2026 (2025 income):
Household | Qualifying income can't be more than |
|---|---|
Unmarried | $46,300 |
Married | $56,500 |
The limits rise each year with the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, rounded to the nearest $100.
"Qualifying income" means all taxable and nontaxable income. A married couple's incomes are added together, even if they live apart or file separate tax returns.
Counts as income | Does not count |
|---|---|
Wages and net self-employment income | SNAP (food stamps) and TANF |
Social Security (net, Box 5 of the SSA-1099), with Medicare premiums added back | Gifts and help from family or friends |
SSI, veterans' pension and disability | Child support |
Taxable pensions, annuities and IRA amounts | Life insurance proceeds |
Interest (including tax-exempt), dividends, unemployment, workers' comp, alimony | Last year's Renters' Rebate check |
A business or tax loss can't be used to reduce other income. That line counts as zero.
If your spouse lives in a Connecticut nursing home and is on Medicaid (Title XIX), you don't count the Social Security that goes to the facility.
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How the check is calculated
The grant is the lesser of:
the maximum from the state's income table (up to $700 unmarried or $900 married), or
35% of what you paid for rent and utilities, minus 5% of your qualifying income.
If the table's minimum is higher than both, you get the minimum. The town assessor or agent does the math, and OPM can change it on audit.
Utilities means electricity, gas, water and fuel only. Phone, cable, trash pickup and air conditioning don't count, unless the air conditioning is medically required. Only amounts you actually paid count, not amounts billed. Federally reimbursed heating assistance counts as paid by you.
Special cases
Roommates or adult family members: Each unmarried adult who shares the unit is treated as paying an equal share, no matter who pays. Each person files separately. A married couple counts as one renter.
Section 8 or UniteCT: Only the part of the rent you paid yourself counts.
Rooming houses or meals included: Meals and services are taken out. If there's no breakdown, OPM uses 34% of the total as rent.
Nursing homes: An unmarried resident who pays privately counts only the room cost, or 34% of fees if it can't be separated. An unmarried resident on Medicaid isn't eligible. For a married private-pay resident, only the at-home spouse's rent and utilities count.
Mobile home owners: You can choose the homeowner program or this one. As a renter, only lot rent and utilities count.
Part-year renters: Your income is prorated by the months you rented. Rent and utilities for those months are multiplied by 35%.
Renting from family: OPM requires the landlord's federal tax return, with Schedule E or C, showing that rent as income.
This is an outright grant to the applicant and never has to be paid back as long as no fraud nor incorrect information was used to obtain it. (OPM Renters' Rebate Q&A Booklet)
A quick example
This is our own math. An unmarried 70-year-old with $20,000 of qualifying income paid $12,000 for rent and allowed utilities in 2025:
35% of $12,000 is $4,200.
5% of income is $1,000.
The difference is $3,200, well above any table maximum.
So the grant would be the income-table maximum for their income, $700 at most.
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Applied this year? What happens now
According to OPM's processing calendar for 2026:
Date | What happens |
|---|---|
Sept. 30, 2026 | Last day towns could accept applications |
Oct. 31, 2026 | Towns' last day to send applications to OPM. Missing documents had to be in by then. |
Nov. 30, 2026 | Payment date set by law. First checks go out around now. |
Dec. 15, 2026 | No check yet? Call the Renters' Rebate hotline, 860-418-6377. |
Checks are mailed to the address on your application. Direct deposit isn't available. If you've moved, your town can update your mailing address.
If you die after an approved application, the check becomes part of your estate. Probate Court Form PC-212 is used to cash it.
If you're denied or the amount is cut
Appeal in writing within 30 days of the denial or change notice. Send it to the Secretary of OPM.
OPM has 60 days to decide.
If OPM denies the appeal, you have 30 more days to ask in writing for a hearing.
If you missed September 30
There are no extensions. Your 2025 rebate is lost, but you can apply for your 2026 rent and utilities in the next filing period, which runs April 1 to September 30.
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Applying in Hartford
In Hartford, the City's Department of Health and Human Services takes Renters' Rebate applications every year from April 1 to September 30. The program is paid entirely from state funds.
Hartford contact | Details |
|---|---|
Renters Rebate information | (860) 757-4737 |
Renters Rebate emergency hotline | (860) 757-4736 |
Health and Human Services | 131 Coventry Street, Hartford 06112. (860) 757-4700. Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
Hartford 311 | (860) 757-9311 |
The City's Renter's Rebate page has the 2026 checklist, landlord affidavit and application packet. Outside Hartford, apply at your own town assessor's office or the social services agency it designates. Don't send applications to OPM.
Before you file
☐ Proof of age or a current disability letter
☐ Your SSA-1099 (each applicant), or a Benefit Verification Letter
☐ Your federal tax return, if you filed one, plus other income proof
☐ Rent receipts and paid electric, gas, water and fuel bills for the whole benefit year
☐ For a family landlord: their tax return showing your rent
WHAT TO DO THIS MONTH
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More help
Related guides
Official sources
Last checked: October 30, 2026. Eligibility, income limits, the grant formula, the 2026 processing calendar, appeal steps and phone numbers come from the OPM program page, the 2026 OPM Q&A booklet, Form M-35R, CGS §12-170d and the City of Hartford's Renter's Rebate and HHS pages.
This is general information, not tax or legal advice. For your situation, contact your town assessor, Hartford HHS or the OPM Renters' Rebate hotline.
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