2011 Connecticut Code
Title 42 Business, Selling, Trading and Collection Practices
Chapter 734a Regulation of Apartment Listing Services
Sec. 42-103c. Registration. Application, fee and surety bond. Refusal to issue, revocation and suspension. Notice and hearing. Enforcement.

      Sec. 42-103c. Registration. Application, fee and surety bond. Refusal to issue, revocation and suspension. Notice and hearing. Enforcement. (a) No person may engage in business as an apartment listing service without first obtaining a certificate of registration from the Commissioner of Consumer Protection, except that a person holding a valid real estate broker's license in this state shall not be required to obtain a certificate.

      (b) Any person seeking a certificate of registration shall apply to the commissioner in writing, on a form provided by the commissioner. Such person may file one application on behalf of all of its employees, members, officers, agents and partners, provided the names of all such persons are listed on the application. Such application shall include the applicant's name, residence address, business address, employees' names and residence addresses and such other information as the commissioner may by regulation require. No such application may be approved unless it is accompanied by a fee of one hundred dollars for registration and a surety bond in which the applicant shall be the principal obligor in the sum of ten thousand dollars, with one or more sureties satisfactory to the commissioner. The bond shall run to the Department of Consumer Protection for the use of the state and to any person who may have a cause of action against the obligor of the bond for any malfeasance or misfeasance in the conduct of the apartment listing service. An applicant may file a consolidated bond on behalf of all of its employees, members, officers, agents and partners. The commissioner may release the bond not less than one year after the applicant ceases operation as a registered apartment listing service, provided there are no claims pending against the bond.

      (c) Each registration shall be valid for a period of one year or a part thereof and shall expire on December thirty-first of each year and may be renewed for additional one-year periods on or before January first of the next and each following year upon written application under oath in the form prescribed by the commissioner and containing such information as he may require and the filing of the bond prescribed in subsection (b) of this section.

      (d) Upon receipt of a completed application and surety bond, the commissioner shall: (1) Issue and deliver to the applicant a certificate to engage in the business of an apartment listing service; or (2) refuse to issue the certificate for conduct of a character likely to mislead, deceive or defraud the public or the commissioner or violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or any regulation established pursuant to any of such provisions.

      (e) Upon refusal to issue a certificate, the commissioner shall notify the applicant of the denial and of his right to request a hearing within ten days from the date of receipt of the notice of denial. In the event the applicant requests a hearing within such ten days, the commissioner shall give notice of the grounds for his refusal and shall conduct a hearing concerning such refusal in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 concerning contested matters.

      (f) The commissioner may revoke, suspend or refuse to renew any certificate of registration as an apartment listing service for: (1) Conduct of a character likely to mislead, deceive or defraud the public or the commissioner; or (2) violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or this section or any regulation established pursuant to any of such provisions. No such revocation, suspension or refusal to renew shall be ordered by the commissioner except upon notice and hearing in accordance with chapter 54.

      (g) The Attorney General, at the request of the commissioner, is authorized to apply in the name of the state of Connecticut to the superior court for the judicial district of Hartford for an order temporarily or permanently restraining and enjoining any person from acting as an apartment listing service without first obtaining a certificate of registration from the commissioner.

      (P.A. 82-146, S. 2; P.A. 83-500; P.A. 87-153, S. 1; P.A. 88-230, S. 1, 12; P.A. 90-98, S. 1, 2; P.A. 93-142, S. 4, 7, 8; P.A. 95-220, S. 4-6; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(c), (d); P.A. 04-169, S. 17; 04-189, S. 1; P.A. 05-288, S. 143.)

      History: P.A. 83-500 amended Subsec. (b) by requiring applicants for a certificate of registration to pay a $100 filing fee and removed the commissioner's discretionary power to fix the amount of bond at less than $10,000; P.A. 87-153 amended Subsec. (b) by authorizing the commissioner to release the bond not less than one year after the applicant ceases operation as a registered apartment listing service provided there are no claims pending against the bond; P.A. 88-230 replaced "judicial district of Hartford-New Britain" with "judicial district of Hartford", effective September 1, 1991; P.A. 90-98 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1991, to September 1, 1993; P.A. 93-142 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1993, to September 1, 1996, effective June 14, 1993; P.A. 95-220 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1996, to September 1, 1998, effective July 1, 1995; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 and P.A. 04-169 replaced Commissioner and Department of Consumer Protection with Commissioner and Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004; P.A. 05-288 made a technical change in Subsec. (c), effective July 13, 2005.