BARRE – City councilors had hoped to hear from tenants this week in
their continuing effort to update local ordinances on rental properties
in the city, But instead, with one exception, they heard from their
advocates.
During a forum that was scheduled to solicit input from tenants, renters were in short supply.
Ericka
Reil, of the Vermont Center for Independent Living, blamed Monday's
underwhelming turnout on short advance notice of the meeting that was
scheduled on the heels of a similar session attended by more than 40
landlords last week.
"A day's notice is difficult," Reil said, noting she had to juggle her own schedule in order to make it to the 6 p.m. session.
Barre
Mayor Tom Lauzon said there will be additional opportunities to discuss
the ordinance he's drafting – it's currently at 56 pages and counting –
but welcomed input on an initiative that has been pitched as a plan to
reclaim neighborhoods by holding both landlords and tenants accountable.
"It's a war on 'irresponsible people,'" Lauzon explained. "'Irresponsible landlords' and 'irresponsible tenants.'"
However,
after listening to some of Lauzon's ideas – including a proposal to
fine tenants, whose rent includes trash service, for allowing garbage
to accumulate outside their apartments – Christopher Curtis, a staff
attorney for Vermont Legal Aid said he was troubled by many of them.
"We
cannot turn the war on poverty into a war on poor people." he said,
flatly rejecting Lauzon's suggestion the state create a registry of
troublesome tenants.
"Absolutely not," he said, noting that "blacklisting" tenants is illegal.
Curtis and Lauzon clashed over the mayor's proposal to fine tenants.
"This
issue of fining tenants for any conduct that may be the responsibility
of the landlord is fundamentally at odds with what the law is,' Curtis
said. "The tenant should not be at risk, period."
"We'll agree to disagree," Lauzon replied.
Meanwhile,
Curtis sought to undercut the dominant complaint councilors heard from
landlords last week: that the eviction process is too time-consuming
and expensive. Curtis told councilors that is a "myth." The reality, he
said, is there is now an expedited eviction process for tenants who
engage in criminal activities, and, in any event, most cases are
resolved relatively quickly at a rent escrow hearing.
"Frequently
in cases that take a longer period of time the court is looking into
habitability issues," Curtis said, noting tenants are well within their
rights to withhold rent to force their landlord to bring a substandard
apartment up to code.
While the eviction process was the hot
topic at last week's landlords' forum, councilors were told tenants are
more concerned about uncertainty associated with what many predict will
be an increasing number of foreclosures over the course of the next
year.
Dale Hackett, the lone tenant at Monday's forum, said
foreclosure represented a nightmare for tenants who learn way too late
that their landlords have effectively walked away from the property and
stopped paying for utilities.
"If something is going to happen
to the property that affects the quality of life within the building
there does not seem to be enough time to allow the tenants to do
anything," Hackett said, citing faulty furnaces and unpaid water bills
as other events that could put tenants into crisis mode.
City
Manager John Craig said he preferred not to discuss issues associated
with the city's water shut-off policy – primarily because Curtis is
representing a tenant who is suing the city for shutting off the water
to her apartment based on her landlord's failure to pay the bill.
"We have an open court case," he said.
Lauzon
twice suggested there was shared blame for the circumstances that led
to the lawsuit filed Curtis filed on behalf of Brenda Brown, the lone
remaining tenant of a four-unit apartment house that is currently in
foreclosure.
"I look at that (case) as a total failure on everyone's part," he said.
Lauzon adopted an ignorance-of-the-law-is-no-excuse stance for much of the meeting.
"Just
because you're a tenant doesn't absolve you of responsibility," he
said, responding to Reil's suggestion that many tenants aren't savvy
enough to realize the steps they can take to hold their landlords
accountable.
"You need to know your rights," he said.
However,
Reil worried many tenants – particularly those with special needs –
could be steamrolled by a process that they either were not aware of,
or hadn't been adequately explained to them. She said Lauzon's
suggestion the city create a voluntary registry to more quickly and
efficiently communicate with tenants with disabilities was unrealistic.
"A lot of people would rather put themselves in harm's way rather than let people know that they're disabled," she said.
Curtis also strenuously objected to the idea.
"The
potential for discrimination … is too great," he said, thanking the
council for soliciting input from tenants and suggesting it focus on
strengthening and enforcing existing health and safety codes in an
effort to improve Barre's aging housing stock. Lauzon, who lamented the
fact more tenants did not attend, suggested they would have "another
bite at the apple."
"Once we roll out the (proposed) ordinance we'll have more meetings," he said.
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