by Guy Page
The Vermont Attorney General announced a $300,000 settlement Wednesday after an investigation into security deposit withholdings at five motels housing Vermonters through the state’s motel program.
The five motels that are subjects of the settlement are all owned by Anil Sachdev or by companies he controls. These include: The Comfort Inn (Rutland), EconoLodge (Montpelier), Hilltop Inn (Berlin), Pine Tree Lodge (Rutland), and Quality Inn (Brattleboro).
Attorney General Charity Clark said that 429 deposits were originally made by the Agency of Human Services to motels owned by Anil Sachdev on behalf of occupants or former occupants participating in the Transitional Housing Program.
The State of Vermont decided that, to help their transition, the ‘homeless hotel’ recipients would receive the full security deposit paid by the State to the hotel owners on their behalf when they moved in.
However, some program participants did not receive the security deposits paid on their behalf due to damage claims or poor recordkeeping. As a result of the settlement, former occupants who received deficient notice are entitled to receive up to the full $3,300 security deposit.
At the time of move out, some occupants received notices stating that they “may have” caused damage and requiring a waiver to contest any disputed amount, Clark said. These notices were deemed unfair or deceptive by the Attorney General.
Other former occupants had deposits withheld in full or in part based on records deemed problematic. For example, records that could not expressly verify whether a particular occupant caused the alleged damages, or that were submitted without adequate supporting photographic evidence, or showed inconsistencies or appeared duplicative of other similar damages forms.
The original Covid-era ‘homeless hotel’ program was funded largely by federal Covid-relief funds. The State has continued a less costly program on its own dime when the federal funds ran out.
A third-party administrator paid for by the motel owners will establish a website: http://www.vtmoteldeposit.com. The administrator will send out claims forms to qualified former occupants within a couple of weeks.
A report by the Journal-Opinion contributed several paragraphs of this news story.