Tenant urges just‑cause eviction and rental registry; small landlords warn reforms could strain local providers

Burlington — At a House General and Housing Committee hearing convened at 1 p.m., tenant advocate Nora Arons and housing provider John Dunbar delivered contrasting testimony about landlord‑tenant dynamics and possible statutory changes, including statewide just‑cause eviction protections and a rental registry.

Arons, who testified she was nominated as a tenant representative to a landlord‑tenant law study committee, told the committee she has lived in seven Burlington apartments and "have endured 4 different no cause terminations carried out by my landlords — 4 no cause evictions in 3 years." She said that uncertainty is "overwhelming" and urged passage of statewide just‑cause eviction legislation and a rental registry so tenants can remain near their work and support networks.

The issue matters, she told lawmakers, because of the tight rental market and affordability pressures. Arons said Chittenden County has a rental vacancy rate of "less than 1%" and said research she cited showed an average renter needs to earn about $22 an hour while the average renter earns about $13 an hour. "I currently do not know where I am going to live past the May when my current lease ends, and that scares me," Arons said. She also said she works full time as a family supportive housing advocate at a local nonprofit and participates in the landlord‑tenant study committee.

Tom Proctor of Rights & Democracy Vermont, who was in the room, clarified a study Arons cited: the Princeton analysis she referenced examined New York data, not Vermont. "We're not looking at Vermont," Proctor said.

John Dunbar, a housing provider from Bellows Falls who also serves on his town planning commission and select board, described the costs and risks faced by small landlords who maintain older housing stock. Dunbar said he and his brother have invested more than $275,000 in upgrades and are currently converting a duplex into four one‑bedroom units using bank financing and state rehabilitation funds. He provided figures showing mortgages on some units ranging from about $125,000 to $156,000 at interest rates he said run "from 4% to 6.75%."

Dunbar said one nonpaying tenant has left approximately $3,900 in arrears and that a single problem tenant can wipe out expected net income for a year. He described using state programs such as a VHIP/BHIP rehabilitation award and weatherization rebates and said some tenants historically have been on Section 8. He asked the committee what remedies a small landlord should expect to recover lost rent without incurring attorney fees and long eviction timelines. "Without protections or remedies for the landlords, our local housing providers will not be the small, local, mom and pop landlords ... but rather ... larger scale, institutional, out of state investors," Dunbar said.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about the Princeton study, the timing of Arons's evictions, lease lengths and how just‑cause provisions would interact with criminal activity or lease violations. Arons said she had always signed yearlong leases and that her first no‑cause termination occurred in May 2022; she answered that just‑cause standards typically preserve landlord ability to evict for lease violations such as criminal activity.

No bills or formal votes were before the committee during the testimony; members described the testimony as relevant to work already underway in a landlord‑tenant law study committee and to ongoing conversations in the legislature.

The hearing combined personal testimony about housing instability with provider testimony about financial pressures, leaving lawmakers with direct anecdotes and specific figures to inform potential statutory proposals such as a just‑cause eviction law and a statewide rental registry. The committee recessed after the witnesses' remarks and indicated it would take further testimony at subsequent meetings.

(Reporting note: direct quotes and numbers in this article are taken from the committee transcript and testimony.)