Daily Archives: April 20, 2008

Block Landlords’ Eviction Bill

An op-ed piece from today's Times Argus: 

Article published Apr 20, 2008
Renters' rights deserve protection
Assertions made by landlord lobby are not backed by facts

The Legislature is considering making changes to Vermont's decades-old landlord-tenant law that will strip renter protections from it. The Sunday Rutland Herald and Times Argus accurately reported in its April 6 edition many of the changes S.372 would make to current law that would make it easier for landlords to evict tenants. However, it failed to provide the full context within which these changes are being proposed and our primary objections to them.

Vermont Legal Aid and others oppose S.372 for three principal reasons:

  • First, the current law works. The Residential Rental Agreements Act is the result of a finely crafted balance enacted in 1987. The law protects both landlord rights to property and tenant rights to possession during the time they live in a rental unit. Most landlords are good landlords, and most tenants are good tenants. The current law provides a fairly balanced set of rules by which parties in conflict can resolve their differences. The proposed changes to the law are promoted by a small, aggressive special interest group, the landlords' lobby, at the expense of the general public. It would tilt the playing field too far in favor of landlords.
  •  

    The point of this bill is to facilitate evictions by landlords, mainly by undermining or rolling back victories tenants have been able to obtain in the courts in recent years. The bill would allow landlords to serve misleading,  confusing eviction notices with inconsistent and contradictory grounds and termination dates, would delay tenants' refunds of their security deposits, and would shorten the time a tenant has to vacate the premises if the court rules in favor of the landlord. Bob Kiss, the mayor of Burlington, is on record opposing the bill.

    To call on your representatives to oppose S. 372 you can leave a message at the office of the Sergeant at Arms, 828-2228, or find your represesentative at the online legislative directory. 

    Sun Burn Saturday

    Ok everyone, who got a sun burn over the weekend?  My daughter did the honor of spraying Solarcaine on my back after I spent three hours planting willow and lilac on my small picnic lot next to Stony Brook. 

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