"Horrible" Stamford Rooming Houses Grow In Number

Stamford residents of differing income levels, backgrounds, and races seeking affordable and safe housing are finding something quite different when renting a single room from local homeowners.

"Renting in Stamford is like the worst place to rent, the rents are so high that you need two incomes to get a studio, and the landlords, they don't give you anything for your money, they give you nothing," experienced welder and near-downtown Stamford rooming house tenant Gary Feighery, 49, told Patch.  Feighery occupies a single bedroom in the two-floor plus basement rooming house, meanwhile, his wife lives with her mother elsewhere in Stamford, but visits him daily.

"And they don't care, they want their money, they don't care anything about you. It's horrible, you have to share a bath, you have to share a kitchen...who wants to share a bathroom...renting a room for $700 a month. A room! And you get nothing," Feighery said.

Rooming houses such as the one that Feighery lives in are becoming increasingly common in Stamford, a city where an estimated 37% of its households are non-family. It is unclear where rooming houses fit within this percentage, as many Stamford rooming houses exist beneath the eyes of the law.

Most Stamford rooming house arrangements are advertised solely through Craigslist, and are generally advertised for $650-$1000 per month. Electricity is usually the only utility covered.  According to Feighery, rooming houses do not always request security deposits. Stamford rooming homeowners rarely conduct background checks,  either, and a tenant's occupation of a room can be dependent upon a verbal month-to-month arrangement instead of a written lease. 

"Rentals are only available in bad areas, there's no good areas where there's apartments," Feighery said. 

"There's some good areas, but they're expensive," Feighery's wife added.

Some Stamford apartment complexes require that rental applicants have a minimum yearly income, a standard that can begin at $45,000.

The house that Feighery rents a room in is occupied by 5-7 tenants at any given time, not including the landlord's family. Tenants and visitors, including Feighery's wife, have been attacked by one of the landlord's aggressive dogs. Tenants are typically restricted from entering any areas of the home besides the kitchen and garage, are asked to not drink alcoholic beverages outside of their rooms, must pay for nessecary luxuries such as air-conditioning during the summer, and must purchase their own locks if they wish to secure their doors.

According to Feighery, more of the landlord's family recently moved in and received various living priorities over most of the tenants, such as use of the kitchen.

"The kitchen's tied up from 6 in the morning until 2 in the morning. You can't even get in there, every burner is on 12-14 hours a day. So [one of the tenants] told [the landlord] 'I want to cook something, I don't like what's going on', and [the landlord] said 'if you don't like it, leave'," Feighery said. At the same time, Feighery stated that the rooming homeowner has always been nice to him and his wife, and other tenants have gotten along with the rooming homeowner.

Feighery, who has returned to work from following an injury, stated that he was glad he didn't have to spend much so time around the rooming home now.

"...And you have no recourse, you have no place to go. Where are you going to go," Feighery said.