By Guy Page
The Montpelier City Council will hold a public hearing January 24 on a charter change question that would prevent landlords from evicting tenants because their lease has expired.
The City Council has already decided the question will go before City voters at the annual meeting on March 4. If approved by voters, the charter change requires approval from the Legislature.
The ‘just cause’ charter change would allow eviction for (“including but not limited to”) failure to pay rent, violation of rental agreement, and failure to negotiate lease renewal in good faith. But evicted tenants would receive adequate notice and “reasonable” relocation expenses, and a probationary period after initial occupancy. Also, landlords couldn’t inflict “unreasonable” rent increases as de facto evictions.
The charter change explicitly protects tenants from facing eviction solely due to the expiration of their lease: “Such ordinance shall exclude from ‘just cause’ the expiration of a rental agreement as sole grounds for termination of tenancy.”
Small, owner-occupied rental buildings would be exempt.
Gov. Phil Scott vetoed Burlington’s municipal ‘just cause’ eviction charter change in 2022. The House failed to reach the 100-vote veto override threshold by only two votes. This year, following a 2022 election favorable to the Democratic supermajority, the House has overridden other gubernatorial vetoes with a dozen votes to spare.
Just cause eviction charter changes and legislation have been promoted by Rights and Democracy, a Progressive advocacy group.
The ballot question reads: ARTICLE 14. Shall the Charter of the City of Montpelier as amended, be further amended to give the City Council the power to provide by ordinance protections for residential tenants from evictions without “just cause” by adopting and adding a new section 301(b)9?” The specific language of the proposed charter change can be read here.