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