Connecticut property taxes have a one-month grace period. A tax due July 1 is delinquent if it isn't paid by August 1. Then state law charges 18% a year, or 1.5% for each month or part of a month back to the due date. Many towns bill in July and January, but your town sets its own schedule.

How does the grace period work?

Under Connecticut General Statutes section 12-146, a property tax installment becomes delinquent if it's not paid by the same day of the following month. So:

• Due July 1, delinquent if not paid by August 1.
• Due January 1, delinquent if not paid by February 1.

The grace period isn't a penalty-free extra month if you miss it. Once a payment is late, interest is calculated from the original due date, not from the end of the grace period.

How is interest calculated?

Section 12-146 sets interest on delinquent taxes at 18% a year, which works out to 1.5% a month. The key detail is how partial months count. Any part of a month is treated as a full month.

Here's what that means in practice for a $3,000 installment due July 1:

• Paid by August 1: no interest.
• Paid August 2: delinquent, with interest counted back to July 1. That's two months, or 3%, which comes to $90.
• Paid September 2: three months, or 4.5%, which comes to $135.

The statute also sets a minimum interest charge of $2 per installment, unless your town votes otherwise.

Does a postmark count?

Yes. Under the statute, a payment that's postmarked within the grace period, or paid electronically within it, is treated as on time. If you mail a check, get proof of the mailing date, especially near the deadline.

What happens with partial payments?

Partial payments are allowed, but the statute applies them to interest first, then to the oldest unpaid tax. If you're behind, a partial payment may mostly cover interest rather than reduce the tax itself. Ask your tax collector for a payoff figure before you send money so you know exactly where it's going.

When are taxes due in my town?

Connecticut towns set their own billing schedules. Many bill twice a year, with installments due July 1 and January 1. Some bill quarterly. Smaller bills are often due in full in July. Motor vehicle taxes and supplemental motor vehicle bills follow their own timing.

Check your town's tax collector website for the exact dates, or look at your bill. If you have a mortgage escrow account, your lender usually pays on your behalf, but you're still responsible if it doesn't. Watch for confirmation that the payment went through.

How do Connecticut taxes affect a home sale?

At closing, property taxes are usually prorated between buyer and seller, based on who owns the home during the period the tax covers. Connecticut's fiscal year for towns generally runs July 1 through June 30, and taxes are often paid in advance for that year. A seller who has already paid a July installment may get a credit from the buyer for the part of the period after closing.

For buyers:

• Ask your attorney for the next due date on the property.
• If the closing falls near July 1 or January 1, confirm who's paying that installment so it doesn't fall through the cracks.
• If there's a delinquency, it should be paid off at closing from the seller's proceeds.

For sellers:

• Make sure any delinquent taxes and interest are settled before closing.
• Keep proof of your last payment for the closing attorney.

What if you never got a bill?

That doesn't excuse a late payment. Connecticut tax collectors generally treat it as your job to know when taxes are due, whether or not a bill arrives. This trips up new owners most often, since the bill may still go to the seller or the previous lender. After you buy, call the tax collector to update the mailing address and ask for copies of any open bills.

What if you can't pay on time?

Call your tax collector before the delinquency date. Interest under section 12-146 is set by state law, but tax collectors can explain your options, and some towns offer tax relief programs for older homeowners, people with disabilities or veterans. The state also offers property tax relief programs for qualifying homeowners. Ask what applies to you.

Ignoring a delinquent tax bill is expensive. Beyond the interest, unpaid taxes become a lien on the property, and towns can pursue collection through liens, tax sales or other enforcement.

FAQ

When does a Connecticut property tax become delinquent? If it's not paid by the same day of the following month. A July 1 installment is delinquent after August 1.

What's the interest rate on late Connecticut property taxes? 18% a year, charged as 1.5% a month back to the due date, with any part of a month counted as a full month.

Is there a minimum interest charge? Yes. The statute sets a $2 minimum per installment, unless the town votes otherwise.

Does a postmark count as on time? Yes. A payment postmarked within the grace period, or paid electronically within it, is treated as on time.

Next step

Look up your town's due dates and set two reminders: one for the due date and one a week before the grace period ends. If you're buying or selling, talk with a licensed local agent about how taxes will be prorated at your closing.

Sources: Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 204, section 12-146; Connecticut Office of Policy and Management.

Office of Legislative Research report 2018-R-0309 says a person aggrieved by an assessor's action appeals in writing to the Board of Assessment Appeals on or before February 20. The report cites C.G.S. 12-111. The board notifies the appellant of the hearing by March 1.

Who does not automatically get a hearing?

The board holds the hearing in March and decides by the last business day of March. These dates come from that research report, not from a fresh reading of a 2026 amendment. Commercial, industrial, utility, or apartment property assessed at more than $1 million does not automatically get a hearing. If the board will not hold one, it notifies the appellant by March 1, and that owner may go to Superior Court. A house assessed under that threshold is on the February 20 track. An apartment property over $1 million is the exception the report names. Read the assessment card before you assume a hearing is guaranteed.

A revaluation can stretch the schedule. The report says the chief executive officer may extend the deadlines up to two months after a revaluation and up to one month otherwise. That extension pushes the hearing request to March 20 and the hearing notice to April 1. Ask the town whether this year is a revaluation year before you rely on February 20 as the only date. The extension is the town's action. It is not a grace period you can declare yourself.

What comes after the board?

Office of Legislative Research report 2010-R-0118 says a timely board appeal can go to Superior Court within two months of the board's notice. A direct court challenge, skipping the board, is only for a manifestly excessive assessment that involves misfeasance or nonfeasance, and it must be brought within one year of the valuation date. Those are narrow doors. Missing February 20 and then suing because the number feels high is not the path the report describes.

Motor-vehicle appeals are heard in September. They are not on the February 20 real-estate track. Do not file a car assessment on the house form and expect the March hearing. The report separates the two calendars.

What an appeal does not change

The appeal challenges the assessment. It does not rewrite the conveyance tax you paid at the closing. See the conveyance tax. It does not replace the senior or disabled circuit breaker, which is a credit you apply for with the assessor between February 1 and May 15. See that credit. A circuit-breaker application and an assessment appeal can both be open. They ask different questions. One asks for a credit against the tax. The other asks the board to change the value.

Statewide, the legislative research report on assessments says towns use 70 percent of fair market value, with a Hartford residential ratio the report does not state. See the 70 percent rule. An appeal that ignores the ratio the town is required to use will argue the wrong number. Ask the assessor which ratio was applied before you compare the assessment with a sale price.

Insurance and the condition report are other files

A high assessment is not a FAIR Plan application. The plan's dwelling cap and its 21-day binder are insurance rules. See the limits and day 21. Flood exclusions on policies effective on or after July 1, 2026 are a bulletin, not a tax appeal. See the flood notice.

The residential condition report is due before the buyer signs, with a $500 credit if the seller skips it. See that report. A seller's disclosure of a leak does not set the assessment, and a February 20 appeal does not cure a missing condition report.

How to treat these reports

Both OLR reports cite the statutes and were the sources fetched for this article. They are not a substitute for the current section if a later legislature changed the date. No amendment after those reports was fetched. If the town's form prints a different day, ask the assessor which statute the form is using, and keep the form.

File in writing. February 20 is the report's date for the ordinary year. March 20 is the extended hearing-request date the report describes after a revaluation extension. The board's decision date in an ordinary year is the last business day of March. Put that decision date on the calendar if you may need the two-month court appeal.

FAQ

When is the written appeal due? On or before February 20, according to OLR 2018-R-0309, citing C.G.S. 12-111.

When is the hearing? The board notifies you by March 1, hears the appeal in March, and decides by the last business day of March, unless a revaluation extension moves the request to March 20 and the notice to April 1.

Does a property assessed over $1 million get a hearing automatically? Commercial, industrial, utility, or apartment property over $1 million does not. The board tells you by March 1 if it will not hold one.

How long do I have to go to court after the board? OLR 2010-R-0118 says within two months of the board's notice.

Is a car on this calendar? No. Motor-vehicle appeals are heard in September.

Next step

Ask the assessor whether this is a revaluation year, then file the written appeal by February 20, or by the extended date the town actually adopted. Keep the March 1 notice and the board's decision so the two-month court period has a start date.

Sources: Office of Legislative Research 2018-R-0309; Office of Legislative Research 2010-R-0118.

Office of Legislative Research report 2023-R-0006 says that since Public Act 74-299, Connecticut municipalities assess property at 70 percent of fair market value under C.G.S. 12-62a. The report's own note says Hartford uses a different ratio for residential property. Ask the assessor which ratio is printed on your notice.

What 70 percent is, and what it is not

Hartford's ratio is not in that report, so this article does not invent one. Ask the Hartford assessor for the residential ratio that office is using. The assessment is the number the town multiplies by its mill rate to produce the tax. If fair market value is the town's number for the house, the assessment is 70 percent of that number in a town that follows the statute the report describes. A sale price and the town's fair market value are not always the same figure. The appeal, if you disagree, challenges the assessor's action. It does not let you substitute a neighbor's asking price and multiply by 0.70 yourself and call the result the legal assessment.

The report is legislative research. It cites the statute. It is not a 2026 revaluation notice from your town. Read the notice the assessor mailed. If the notice shows a different ratio, ask which statute or special act the town is applying. Outside Hartford, the report's rule is 70 percent. Inside Hartford, stop at the report's statement that the residential ratio is different, and get the number from the city.

How this sits next to the February appeal

OLR 2018-R-0309 says the written appeal to the Board of Assessment Appeals is due on or before February 20, with a hearing in March, unless a revaluation extension moves the dates. See that calendar. Bring the ratio into the hearing. An argument that the town assessed at 100 percent of a sale, in a town required to use 70 percent, is a different argument from a claim that the sale was not fair market value. Commercial, industrial, utility, or apartment property assessed over $1 million does not automatically get that hearing.

A court appeal after a timely board case is within two months of the board's notice, according to OLR 2010-R-0118, which the February article also cites. A direct court case, skipping the board, is limited to a manifestly excessive assessment with misfeasance or nonfeasance, within one year of the valuation date. The 70 percent rule does not extend those deadlines.

Credits and the conveyance tax use other math

The elderly and disabled circuit breaker is a credit of up to $1,250 or $1,000, applied for between February 1 and May 15, with 2025 income ceilings of $46,300 and $56,500 in the OPM booklet. See the circuit breaker. The credit does not change the 70 percent ratio. It reduces the tax for a person who qualifies. A homeowner who is not 65 and not totally disabled does not get the credit because the assessment ratio is 70 percent.

The conveyance tax uses consideration, starting at $2,000, with a state rate of 0.75 percent and a municipal rate of 0.25 percent, and higher state tiers at $800,000 and $2,500,000. See the conveyance tax. Do not take 70 percent of the sale price and then apply 0.75 percent. The recording tax and the annual assessment are separate calculations on separate days.

The condition report and the insurance policy

A seller's condition report is due before the buyer signs, and a missing report means a $500 credit under C.G.S. 20-327c. See that credit. The report does not state the assessment ratio. A disclosure about the roof does not tell you whether the town used 70 percent.

Insurance limits are not assessments. The FAIR Plan dwelling cap of $350,000 is a policy limit in a regulation, not a town's fair market value. See the FAIR Plan. A flood-exclusion notice on a policy effective on or after July 1, 2026 does not change the grand list. See the notice. Auto liability of 25/50/25 is a different card entirely. See the auto minimums.

What to ask the assessor

Ask for the fair market value the town used and the ratio applied to it. In a town following C.G.S. 12-62a as the 2023 report describes it, the ratio is 70 percent. In Hartford, ask for the residential ratio the report says is different, and do not fill the blank with 70 if the city says otherwise. Ask whether the year is a revaluation year, because that can move the appeal dates.

Keep the notice, the ratio, and the February deadline in one folder. If you also qualify for the circuit breaker, file that application in the February 1 to May 15 window even while an appeal is pending. One folder is the value. The other folder is the credit. The town will not merge them because you asked once.

FAQ

What ratio does the report state? 70 percent of fair market value, since Public Act 74-299, under C.G.S. 12-62a.

Does Hartford use 70 percent for houses? The report says Hartford uses a different residential ratio. It does not state the number. Ask the city.

Is 70 percent of the sale price the conveyance tax? No. The conveyance tax uses the consideration and the rates in section 12-494. The assessment ratio is for the annual property tax.

Does the circuit breaker change the ratio? No. It is a separate credit for qualifying older or disabled homeowners.

Where did this 70 percent figure come from? Office of Legislative Research report 2023-R-0006. It is not a substitute for the assessor's notice.

Next step

Read the assessment notice for the ratio. If you are outside Hartford and the notice is not 70 percent of the town's fair market value, ask the assessor why before the February 20 appeal date. If you are in Hartford, ask for the residential ratio the city is using.

Sources: Office of Legislative Research 2023-R-0006.

Connecticut's real estate conveyance tax applies when the consideration equals or exceeds $2,000. C.G.S. 12-494 sets the state rate in subsection (a)(1) at three-quarters of one percent, which is 0.75 percent. The municipal rate in subsection (a)(2) is one-fourth of one percent, which is 0.25 percent. Town clerks remit the state share within ten days.

What changes for a nonresidential deed?

Subsection (b) taxes nonresidential property, except unimproved land, at 1.25 percent instead of 0.75 percent. Unimproved land stays on the lower state rate. A store, an office, or other nonresidential property that is not unimproved land uses 1.25 percent. Read the deed's description before you apply the house rate to a commercial parcel.

A residential estate is the primary dwelling plus auxiliary structures, regardless of how many deeds are used. If the consideration is $800,000 or more, the state tax is 0.75 percent on the portion up to and including $800,000. On and after July 1, 2020, the portion above $800,000 up to and including $2,500,000 is taxed at 1.25 percent. The portion above $2,500,000 is taxed at 2.25 percent. The tiers apply to slices of the price, not to the entire price at the top rate. A $900,000 house is not taxed at 1.25 percent on all $900,000.

Who is liable?

The statute imposes the tax on the person who makes, executes, delivers, accepts, or presents the deed for recording. Office of Legislative Research report 2020-R-0020 says the seller pays and the town clerk collects. Use the statute's list when the question is who can be charged. Use the report for the ordinary practice that the seller pays at the clerk's counter. The report also says some municipalities may add up to another 0.25 percent. Which towns have adopted that local option was not re-checked town by town. Ask the clerk in the town where the deed will be recorded. Do not assume every town added the extra quarter percent, and do not assume none of them did.

The municipal 0.25 percent in subsection (a)(2) is the statewide municipal piece. The possible extra local option in the 2020 report is a further amount. They are easy to add together by mistake. Ask the clerk for the rate on the form you are about to sign, and match it to the statute's tiers before you add any local option the clerk says the town adopted.

What the tax is not

It is not the annual property tax, and it is not the circuit breaker. The circuit breaker is a credit of up to $1,250 or $1,000 for qualifying older or disabled homeowners, filed with the assessor from February 1 to May 15. See that credit. It is not an assessment appeal. That appeal, in the 2018 legislative research report, is due February 20. See the February 20 appeal. The conveyance tax is paid when the deed is recorded. The assessment appeal happens later, against the value the town uses for the annual bill.

Assessments are 70 percent of fair market value in OLR 2023-R-0006, with a Hartford residential exception whose ratio that report does not give. See the ratio. The conveyance tax uses consideration, which is the price or other value the statute measures. It does not use 70 percent of that price as the tax base. Do not multiply the price by 0.70 and then by 0.75.

Closing papers that sit beside the tax

The residential condition report is due before the buyer signs. A missing report means a $500 credit at closing under C.G.S. 20-327c. See that credit. The $500 is not a reduction of the conveyance tax rate. It is a credit between the parties if the seller skipped the form. Compute the tax on the consideration, then apply the credit if the contract requires it.

Insurance does not collect this tax. A flood-exclusion notice, a FAIR Plan quote, and an auto policy are separate. See the flood notice. The town clerk collects the conveyance tax. The Insurance Department does not.

A worked slice, using only the statute's rates

Take a residential estate with consideration of $900,000, and ignore any extra local option until the clerk confirms it. The statute's state tiers put 0.75 percent on the first $800,000 and 1.25 percent on the $100,000 above $800,000. The municipal 0.25 percent in subsection (a)(2) is a separate line. This article does not print a single combined percentage for every town, because the 2020 report says some towns may add more and the list of those towns was not re-fetched.

Below $800,000, the state rate on a residential deed stays 0.75 percent, plus the municipal 0.25 percent, if the consideration is at least $2,000. Below $2,000 the tax does not apply. Unimproved land and nonresidential property follow the exceptions above. Bring the deed, the price, and the town's form to the clerk, and ask which line is the state share that must be remitted within ten days.

FAQ

When does the tax apply? When consideration equals or exceeds $2,000.

What is the basic state rate? Three-quarters of one percent, 0.75 percent. The municipal rate in subsection (a)(2) is 0.25 percent.

What if the house sells for more than $800,000? On and after July 1, 2020, the state tax is 0.75 percent up to and including $800,000, 1.25 percent on the slice through $2,500,000, and 2.25 percent above $2,500,000.

Who does the statute name as liable? The person who makes, executes, delivers, accepts, or presents the deed for recording. A 2020 legislative research report says the seller pays and the town clerk collects.

Can the town add more? The 2020 report says some municipalities may add up to another 0.25 percent. Which towns have done so was not re-checked here. Ask the clerk.

Next step

Ask the town clerk for the rate that applies to this deed, including any local option the town has adopted. Compare that form with the 0.75 percent state rate, the 0.25 percent municipal rate, and the higher tiers if the consideration is $800,000 or more.

Sources: C.G.S. chapter 223, section 12-494; Office of Legislative Research 2020-R-0020.

The Office of Policy and Management says homeowners who are 65 or over, or totally disabled, and whose income is within the limits, can receive a property-tax credit of up to $1,250 for a married couple and up to $1,000 for a single person.

Who is a first-time filer?

Apply with the assessor between February 1 and May 15. The credit is on a graduated income scale. The two dollar figures are maximums, not a flat payment for every filer. The OPM homeowners question-and-answer booklet says a person filing for the first time must have been 65 as of December 31 of the previous calendar year. Disability is the other qualifying status on the program page. The booklet's income test for the year it describes is 2025 total income of not more than $46,300 if you are unmarried, or $56,500 if you are married. Both spouses' income counts. Qualifying income is taxable and nontaxable income unless the booklet excludes it.

Food-stamp allotments are not counted. A tax loss is not subtracted. If you filed a federal return, a copy goes to the assessor. Those three rules are how the booklet keeps the income number from being whatever the applicant prefers to report. Bring the return. Do not subtract a loss the booklet says is not subtracted, and do not add food stamps the booklet says are excluded.

What the booklet does not print

The $1,250 and $1,000 figures are caps. The portion of the booklet that was read does not print the full dollar credit for every income bracket. Bracket-by-bracket amounts are not stated here. Ask the assessor which credit the scale produces at your income. Do not assume the maximum because you are over 65. Income has to fall inside the ceiling, and the scale can pay less than the cap.

A denial, or a notice that the credit changed, can be appealed in writing to the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management within 30 business days. The booklet cites C.G.S. 12-170cc. The Secretary has 30 business days to grant or deny the appeal. Count business days, not calendar days. The assessment appeal to the Board of Assessment Appeals is a different filing, due on or before February 20 in the legislative research report. See that appeal. One changes the credit. The other challenges the assessed value.

The credit is not the assessment ratio

Towns assess at 70 percent of fair market value under the rule described in OLR 2023-R-0006, except that Hartford's residential ratio was not stated in that report. See the 70 percent article. The circuit breaker does not change the ratio. It is a credit against the tax for people who qualify by age or disability and by income. A buyer who is 40 does not receive it because the seller did.

The conveyance tax paid at the deed is also separate. See the conveyance tax. A $1,250 credit on a later tax bill does not reduce the tax the town clerk collected when the deed was recorded. The condition report's $500 credit, if the seller skipped the form, is a closing credit under C.G.S. 20-327c, not this program. See that $500.

Insurance does not file this form

A homeowners policy, a flood-exclusion notice, and a FAIR Plan quote do not apply for the circuit breaker. The assessor does. February 1 is the first day of the application window. May 15 is the last day the program page gives. A file that arrives on May 16 is late on that page. Do not wait for a renewal of the insurance policy to remind you.

If the credit is denied, the 30-business-day appeal to the Secretary is the path the booklet names. A complaint to the Insurance Department, which gives a company two weeks to answer an insurance complaint, is the wrong mailbox. See the insurance complaint only when the dispute is a policy.

What to bring the assessor

Bring proof of age or of total disability, the income figure that matches the booklet, and the federal return if you filed one. If you are married, bring both spouses' income. Leave food stamps out of the total. Leave a tax loss in the return where it is, and do not subtract it again. Ask the assessor for the credit the scale assigns, and keep that writing.

If the notice later changes the credit, start the 30 business days from that notice. The Secretary's 30 business days to decide are the office's clock, not a reason to skip your own deadline. File the appeal in writing. A conversation at the counter is not the booklet's appeal.

FAQ

What is the largest credit? Up to $1,250 for a married couple and up to $1,000 for a single person. The scale can pay less. Bracket amounts between those caps were not printed in the portion of the booklet used here.

When do I apply? With the assessor between February 1 and May 15.

What income ceilings does the booklet state? 2025 total income of not more than $46,300 if unmarried, or $56,500 if married.

Do food stamps count? No. The booklet says food-stamp allotments are not counted. A tax loss is not subtracted.

How do I appeal a denial? In writing to the Secretary of OPM within 30 business days. The Secretary has 30 business days to grant or deny it. The statute the booklet cites is C.G.S. 12-170cc.

Next step

If you were 65 as of December 31 of the previous year, or you are totally disabled, and your income is within the booklet's ceilings, file with the assessor between February 1 and May 15. Ask for the credit the scale actually assigns at your income.

Sources: Office of Policy and Management, elderly and disabled circuit breaker; OPM homeowners Q&A booklet.

The seller of a Connecticut residential property of four dwelling units or less, including a cooperative or a condominium, must give the buyer a residential property condition report before the buyer signs a binder, a contract, an option, or a lease with a purchase option.

Who fills out the form?

If the seller does not, C.G.S. 20-327c requires a $500 credit to the purchaser at closing. The purchase agreement has to require that credit. The Department of Consumer Protection form says the seller completes it, not the licensee. A broker still has to disclose material facts under section 20-328-5a of the regulations. Those are two duties. The seller's form is the seller's knowledge. The broker's duty does not move onto the seller's blank, and the seller's blank does not cancel the broker's duty. If the form is handed over already filled by someone who does not own the house, ask who signed it.

The report is not a warranty. It is not a substitute for an inspection. A clean form does not mean the roof, the septic system, or the wiring was tested. Hire the inspection on its own calendar. The $500 credit is the remedy for a missing report. It is not a cap on the cost of a defect the inspection finds.

What the $500 credit does not excuse

The statute, as printed in the 2020 Connecticut General Assembly supplement, says the credit does not excuse the seller from disclosing a defect that is subject to section 20-327b, is within the seller's actual knowledge, and significantly impairs value, the health or safety of future occupants, or the useful life of the property. The buyer may sue for actual damages. A seller who knows about a significant defect cannot buy silence with the $500 credit.

Public Act 12-122 raised the credit from $300 to $500, effective July 1, 2012. An older Department PDF that still says $300 is obsolete. Use $500. The Department form and the 2020 supplement agree on that figure. No buyer revocation period, in days, was on the pages used here. Do not invent a three-day or five-day cancellation. The fetched remedy for a missing report is the $500 credit, plus damages if a known significant defect was withheld.

Other papers that are not this form

Flood insurance is not created by a water answer on the condition report. Homeowners policies effective on or after July 1, 2026 must say flood is excluded and must say how to buy flood coverage. See that notice. The FAIR Plan, if standard insurers decline the house, has its own dwelling cap of $350,000. See the FAIR Plan limits.

The conveyance tax is computed on the consideration, not on whether the condition report was delivered. See the conveyance tax. An assessment appeal, if the tax seems high after you own the house, is a February 20 filing with the Board of Assessment Appeals in the legislative research report. See that appeal. The condition report does not freeze the assessment.

What to do before you sign

Ask for the report before the binder. Four units or fewer includes a condo and a co-op. If the seller will not produce it, the contract you sign should still require the $500 credit at closing. Read the credit line yourself. A contract that is silent does not match the statute's instruction that the purchase agreement must require the credit.

Schedule the inspection anyway. Keep a copy of the report with the date you received it. If a defect the seller knew about was left off, the damages claim is separate from the $500. A mover's bill of lading and an auto policy do not document the condition of the house. See the mover certificate only when the dispute is the shipment, not the roof.

What to keep if you close without the form

Keep the purchase-agreement page that requires the $500 credit. At closing, that credit should appear on the settlement statement as a credit to the purchaser. A missing line is the page to show the closer. The statute says the agreement must require the credit. It does not say the credit replaces an inspection, and it does not cap a lawsuit over a known significant defect.

Four dwelling units or fewer is the threshold on the Department form, and cooperatives and condominiums are inside that group. A larger apartment building is outside this form. Public Act 12-122 is the act that set the credit at $500 on July 1, 2012. If an older photocopy still says $300, the supplement and the current Department form are the pages that say $500.

FAQ

When is the report due? Before the buyer signs a binder, contract, option, or lease with a purchase option.

What if the seller never gives it? The seller credits the purchaser $500 at closing, and the purchase agreement must require that credit.

Is $300 still the number? No. Public Act 12-122 raised it to $500 effective July 1, 2012.

Is the form a warranty? No. It is not a warranty and not a substitute for an inspection.

Is there a set number of days to cancel after you receive it? No revocation period in days was on the Department form or the statute pages used here.

Next step

Ask for the residential condition report before you sign the binder or the contract. If it is missing, read the purchase agreement for the $500 credit at closing before you treat the form as optional.

Sources: Department of Consumer Protection, residential property condition report; Connecticut General Assembly, 2020 supplement, chapter 392.