by the Ethan Allen Institute
H708, a Burlington charter change, passed in the State House of Representatives on February 18, 2022, by a vote of 98-49. The bill now proceeds to the Senate.
Purpose: The purpose of H.708 is to restrict the circumstances in which Burlington landlords can evict tenants. Burlington voters passed an eviction ballot item in March 2021 with similar language.
Vermont law currently gives landlords permission to not renew a tenant’s lease if they choose. H.708 removes this blanket permission, and lays out acceptable reasons the landlord may evict: nonpayment of rent, if they threaten the landlord, if the tenant damages the property or does something illegal on the property, or if the landlord chooses to remove the unit from the rental market. A tenant may not be evicted if the landlord imposes “unreasonable rent increases” that result in “de facto evictions or nonrenewals.” The acceptable reasons for eviction are meant to be more fleshed out further by Burlington’s City Council.
Analysis: Those voting YES believe Burlington tenants need better protection from eviction than they currently have.
Those voting NO believe contracts between landlord and tenant should lived up to on both sides, without more government interference. Burlington already gives the benefit of doubt to tenants when a dispute arises, and H.708 will put landlords at an even great disadvantage. The proposal could end up reducing Burlington’s housing supply if landlords are more cautious to put housing on the rental market.
As Recorded in the House Journal, for Friday, February 18, 2022: “Pending the question, Shall the bill be read a third time?, Rep. McCoy of Poultney demanded the Yeas and Nays, which demand was sustained by the Constitutional number. The Clerk proceeded to call the roll and the question, Shall the bill be read a third time?, was decided in the affirmative. Yeas, 98. Nays, 49” (Read the Journal, p. 320-322).
These roll call reports are designed to help citizens understand how their elected representatives vote on key issues. The bills may or may not eventually become law. Click on the link to the bill page at the top of this post for an up to date status on the bill.
How They Voted
(Click on your Rep’s name to send an email)
| Sally Achey (R – Middletown Springs) – NO Janet Ancel (D – Calais) – YES Peter Anthony (D – Barre City) – YES Norman Arrison (D – Weathersfield) – NO Sarita Austin (D – Colchester) – John Bartholomew (D – Hartland) – Scott Beck (R – St. Johnsbury) – NO Matthew Birong (D – Vergennes) – YES Alyssa Black (D – Essex) – YES Tiffany Bluemle (D – Burlington) – YES Thomas Bock (D – Chester) – YES Seth Bongartz (D – Manchester) – YES Michelle Bos-Lun (D – Westminster) – YES Erin Brady (D – Williston) – YES Patrick Brennan (R – Colchester) – NO Timothy Briglin (D – Thetford) – YES Jana Brown (D – Richmond) – YES Nelson Brownell (D – Pownal) – NO Jessica Brumsted (D – Shelburne) – YES Thomas Burditt (R – West Rutland) – YES Mollie Burke (P/D – Brattleboro) – YES Elizabeth Burrows (P/D – West Windsor) – YES Scott Campbell (D – St. Johnsbury) – YES Bill Canfield (R – Fair Haven) – NO Seth Chase (D – Colchester) – YES Kevin “Coach” Christie (D – Hartford) – YES Brian Cina (P/D – Burlington) – YES Sara Coffey (D – Guilford) – YES Selene Colburn (P/D – Burlington) – YES Hal Colston (D – Winooski) – YES Peter Conlon (D – Cornwall) – YES Sarah Copeland-Hanzas (D – Bradford) – YES Timothy Corcoran (D – Bennington) – NO Mari Cordes (D/P – Lincoln) – YES Lawrence Cupoli (R – Rutland City) – NO Lynn Dickinson (R – St. Albans Town) – ABSENT Karen Dolan (D – Essex) – YES Kari Dolan (D – Waitsfield) – YES Anne Donahue (R – Northfield) – NO Kate Donnally (D – Hyde Park) – YES David Durfee (D – Shaftsbury) – YES Caleb Elder (D – Starksboro) – YES Alice Emmons (D – Springfield) – YES Peter Fagan (R – Rutland City) – NO Martha Feltus (R – Lyndon) – NO John Gannon (D – Wilmington) – YES Rey Garofano (D – Essex) – YES Leslie Goldman (D – Bellows Falls) – YES Kenneth Goslant (R – Northfield) – NO Maxine Grad (D – Moretown) – YES Rodney Graham (R – Williamstown) – NO James Gregoire (R – Fairfield) – NO Lisa Hango (R – Berkshire) – NO James Harrison (R – Chittenden) – NO Robert Helm (R – Fair Haven) – NO Mark Higley (R – Lowell) – NO Robert Hooper (D – Burlington) – YES Mary Hooper (D – Montpelier) – YES Philip Hooper (D – Randolph) – YES Lori Houghton (D – Essex) – YES Mary Howard (D – Rutland) – YES Kathleen James (D – Manchester) – YES Stephanie Jerome (D – Brandon) – YES Kimberly Jessup (D – Middlesex) – YES John Killacky (D – S. Burlington) – YES Charles Kimbell (D – Woodstock) – YES Warren Kitzmiller (D – Montpelier) – YES Emilie Kornheiser (D – Brattleboro) – YES Jill Krowinski (D – Burlington) – PRESIDING Larry Labor (R – Morgan) – NO Robert LaClair (R – Barre) – NO Martin LaLonde (D – S. Burlington) – YES Diane Lanpher (D – Vergennes) – YES Wayne LaRoche (R – Franklin) – NO Paul Lefebvre (R – Newark) – YES Samantha Lefebvre (R – Orange) – NO Felisha Leffler (R – Enosburgh) – NO | William Lippert (D – Hinesburg) – YES Emily Long (D – Newfane) – YES Michael Marcotte (R – Coventry) – NO Marcia Martel (R – Waterford) – NO James Masland (D – Thetford) – YES Christopher Mattos (R – Milton) – NO Michael McCarthy (D – St. Albans City) – YESCurtis McCormack (D – Burlington) – YES Patricia McCoy (R – Poultney) – NO James McCullough (D – Williston) – YES Francis McFaun (R – Barre Town) – NO Leland Morgan (R – Milton) – NO Michael Morgan (R – Milton) – NO Kristi Morris (D – Springfield) – YES Mary Morrissey (R – Bennington) – NO Michael Mrowicki (D – Putney) – YES Emma Mulvaney-Stanak (D – Burlington) – YES Barbara Murphy (I – Fairfax) – NO Logan Nicoll (D – Ludlow) – YES Michael Nigro (D – Bennington) – YES Robert Norris (R – Sheldon) – NO Terry Norris (I – Shoreham) – NO William Notte (D – Rutland) – YES Daniel Noyes (D – Wolcott) – YES John O’Brien (D – Tunbridge) – YES Carol Ode (D – Burlington) – YES “Woody” Page (R – Newport City) – NO Kelly Pajala (I – Londonderry) – YES John Palasik (R – Milton) – NO Joseph Parsons (R – Newbury) – NO Carolyn Partridge (D – Windham) – YES Avram Patt (D – Worcester) – YES Henry Pearl (D – Danville) – YES Arthur Peterson (R – Clarendon) – NO Ann Pugh (D – S. Burlington) – YES Barbara Rachelson (D/P – Burlington) – YES Lucy Rogers (D – Waterville) – YES Carl Rosenquist (R – Georgia) – NO Larry Satcowitz (D – Randolph) – YES Robin Scheu (D – Middlebury) – YES Heidi Scheuermann (R – Stowe) – NO Patrick Seymour (R – Sutton) – ABSENT Charles “Butch” Shaw (R – Pittsford) – NO Amy Sheldon (D – Middlebury) – YES Laura Sibilia (I – Dover) – YES Katherine Sims (D – Craftsbury) – YES Taylor Small (P/D – Winooski) – YES Brian Smith (R – Derby) – NO Harvey Smith (R – New Haven) – NO Trevor Squirrell (D – Underhill) – YES Gabrielle Stebbins (D – Burlington) – YES Thomas Stevens (D – Waterbury) – YES Vicki Strong (R – Albany) – NO Linda Joy Sullivan (D – Dorset) – NO Heather Suprenant (D – Barnard) – YES Curt Taylor (D – Colchester) – YES Thomas Terenzini (R – Rutland Town) – NO George Till (D – Jericho) – YES Tristan Toleno (D – Brattleboro) – YES Casey Toof (R – St. Albans Town) – NO Maida Townsend (D – S. Burlington) – YES Joseph “Chip” Troiano (D – Stannard) – YES Tanya Vyhovsky (P/D – Essex) – YES Matt Walker (R – Swanton) – NO Tommy Walz (D – Barre City) – YES Kathryn Webb (D – Shelburne) – YES Kirk White (P/D – Bethel) – YES Rebecca White (D – Hartford) – YES Dane Whitman (D – Bennington) – YES Terri Lynn Williams (R – Granby) – NO Theresa Wood (D – Waterbury) – YES David Yacovone (D – Morristown) – YES Michael Yantachka (D – Charlotte) – YES |
Categories: Legislation
Is there ANYTHING the VT government doesn’t believe THEY should be in charge of & making decisions about instead of leaving this up to the landlord who OWNS said property?? Now they are all De facto landlords too.
These Marxists are in every Vermonter’s grill 24/7 & it needs to STOP! This is NOT the intended role of government whatsoever. Throw the bums out!
government playing to where the votes are and landlords are a small group and unpopular. that a landlord cannot refuse to renew a lease is too much interference in private property. let these folks try being a landlord and they could appreciate the difficulty
Let this be a lesson that whenever the powers that be declare something a “human right”, those private individuals that are in the business of providing said goods or services are going to have their rights violated and sometimes their other paying customers are going to end up paying more to balance their books. Keep that in mind when the enlightened ones of Montpelier maintain that phone service, electricity and broadband internet are on the list of “human rights”. Look at your phone and electrical bills to see the fee that the paying customers get itemized for to pay for those who cant or wont pay. Deadbeat tenants drive up the cost of renting for everyone and restrictions like those in the process of being proposed for Burlington will winnow out a lot of conscientious small-time landlords leaving the slumlords running the show since they can better weather rent dodgers.
Remember that we saw something utterly unconscionable happen during the pandemic response wherein an agency of the Federal government ordered private landlords to continue to provide their service to their tenants but were no longer entitled to collect their contracted fee for service. Scary stuff.
Let’s use this logic to restrict the Vermont criminal justice system from “evicting” violent criminals from jail.
Burlington is halfway (at least) down the drain folks. Just awful