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County readies Fair Housing Month events, tenants' rights forum and poster contest
Summary
The county's fair housing representative outlined April events for Fair Housing Month, including a tenants' rights forum with legal-aid and state representatives, a poster contest for local schoolchildren, and guidance on landlord-tenant procedures and security deposit rules.
The county's Fair Housing officer told supervisors on March 19 that the county will hold a tenants' rights forum, a poster contest and outreach for Fair Housing Month in April.
The officer said the tenants' rights forum will be 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on April 16 at the Central Firehouse in Hudson, and that legal-aid and a regional representative on Section 8 have committed to attend. "We will have the executive director of legal aid and the Saratoga Springs regional director to be here to talk about Section 8," the officer said.
Nut graf: The county's Fair Housing program is planning public events intended to educate tenants and landlords about eviction procedures, repairs, security deposit rules and emergency preparedness. The program also runs an annual poster contest for elementary students and solicits volunteers to help run events.
The officer walked supervisors through common tenant questions that will be part of outreach: what constitutes a reasonable time for a tenant to retrieve belongings after vacating a unit; obligations for landlords to provide itemized security deposit accounting within 14 days; and steps tenants can take if landlords place personal property outdoors or deny access. The officer recommended filing a police report for incidents where landlords will not allow tenants to retrieve property and noted that landlords who withhold security deposits without proper notice risk forfeiture under New York state law.
On the poster contest, the officer said the event has run for decades, will include framed winners and art-set prizes, and already has school commitments from Conak Hills and Hudson. A tenants' rights workshop will include a code-enforcement representative and a fire company representative to advise on smoke detectors, evacuation planning and related safety concerns.
Ending: The Fair Housing officer said outreach materials and a press release will be circulated; supervisors were invited to share event information through town channels to maximize attendance and awareness.
