The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-08-05
Information Given
 On Rooming Houses
Hotel Owners Interested in Provisions of Rent Ceiling
 Act-RegistratiOn Deadline August IS

Problems confronting owners of hotels, rooming houses and other es- tablishments who must register un- der rent ceiling regulations are an- sWered today in questions and an- swerS issued by the OPA. The period for registration, scheduled to end Aug. 15, has been extended to Aug. 31.
 The questions and answers follow:
 @. How are maximum rents set for rooms in hotels and rooming houses?
 A. Different maximum rents for such rooms may be set according to the length of the term of occu- pany daily basis, weekly basis pr monthly basis. Maximum rent rates are also based on the num- Der of occupants in any given room, whether one person lives in the room, two persons, or more.
 @. What yardstick woes the fed- eral government use in fixing maxi mum rents for rooms in hotels and rOoning houses?
 A. The maximum rent date", that is, freezing rents as of cer- tain date, is used for hotels and rOoming houses as 1t is for houses, Hats and apartments, with vari- ation. Instead of using a single date to set the rent for a room, a S0-day period is used, and maxi mum rents are determined by talk ing the highest rent for a room on each basis of occupancy during this period, and setting that rent as the maximum legal rent.
 Q. What 30-day period is used? When does it start and end?
 A. The period is t!!ie 30 days end ing on the maximum rent date of 8 defense rental area. Tn this area the maximum rent date Is April |, l941. and the 30-day period would be From March 3, 1941, to April l., 194l, inclusive.
 Q. What if the room wasn't oc- cupied during this 3O-day period?
 A. The maximum rent is the rent for which the room was regularly offered for rent during this period.
 Q. What about rooms which weren't on the rental market dur ing the 30 days? What about a rooming house or hotel which has been opened since the maximum rent date?
 A. In cases such as these the 3O-day period begins from the date when the rooms were first offered for rent, and the maximum rent again is the highest rent during this period.
 @. What about a room which rented during the 30-day period for $5 a week for one person and l$8 week for two persons? Which rent becomes the maximum?
 A. In this case, two maximum rents are set: for single occupancy, the rent which can be charged for the room is $5; for double occu- pancy, the charge for the room can be no more than $8.
 Q. Then the number of occu- pants for any room is taken into confederation when setting the maximum rent? A. That is correct.
 @. What about a room which was always rented for single cccu- pancy, and now the landlords wants to rent 1t to two persons? How is this rent fixed?
 A. The maximum rent is the first rent after the room is rented for two persons. However, 1t cannot be higher than the maximum rent for double occupancy of similar rooms in the same hotel or rooming house. The landlord must report this max imum rent to the Area Rent Office.
 e. If a roomer was paying $36 q month for his room, and this became the maximum legal rent for monthly occupancy, can the roomer be forced to change his term of occupancy to 8 weekly basis at SIG weekly?
 A. No. The regulation states: No tenant shall be required to hange his term of occupancy if at will result in the payment of a higher amount per day than the maximum rent established for his present term of occupany. How ever, if $10 is the legal maximum for weekly occupancy, then the landlord Is permitted to charge this amount in future rentings of the room on a weekly basis, but he must also continue to offer the room on the monthly basis.
 e. How are maximum room rents fixed in q boarding house? For ex- @nple, 0Hpposing the landlord