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Vermont study committee frames landlord-tenant issues, offers topics for legislative action
Summary
A bipartisan landlord-tenant study committee that met six times produced a report outlining areas for further investigation — including a rental registry, just-cause eviction protections, tenant right to counsel, and rent stabilization — and presented findings at a Jan. 22 joint hearing of House and Senate housing committees.
A joint hearing of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs and the House Committee on General and Housing on Jan. 22 heard the results of a fall study committee that reviewed Vermont’s landlord-tenant laws and the eviction process.
The committee, chaired by Representative Emily Krasnow, met six times to take testimony from stakeholders including tenants, landlords, judiciary representatives and housing experts. The report does not endorse specific bills but identifies topics for further legislative work: a rental registry, just-cause tenant protections, tenant community right-to-purchase opportunities, tenant right to counsel, rent stabilization or rent control, and additional housing supports.
Krasnow told lawmakers the committee purposely did not adopt specific legislative positions but instead sought to “ground conversation” for the session by collecting testimony and presenting questions for additional study. Committee members and staff emphasized the report is intended as a resource for policymakers and noted it collected stakeholder testimony, public comment and presentations by state housing experts.
Why it matters: Witnesses and committee members repeatedly tied landlord-tenant law discussions to Vermont’s housing availability and affordability problems, saying those broader market conditions shape eviction patterns and tenant bargaining power. The report notes that both tenants and landlords identified housing affordability and access as central to eviction trends.
Committee staff and members said tenants described a power imbalance that discourages habitability complaints and can lead to “self-eviction” — tenants leaving to avoid an eviction record. Landlords told the committee they face costs and risks (including responding to criminal or disorderly conduct in units) and are concerned that new requirements could be passed to tenants through higher rents.
The report also flags empirical gaps the committee did not have time to resolve: the relationship between evictions and homelessness, granular data on timelines in eviction proceedings, how landlords respond to price pressures, and unfinished recommendations from earlier legislative work.
What lawmakers heard: Committee staff summarized testimony that some Vermont municipalities have considered or proposed charter amendments or local regulations (including rental registries), and that the group recommended a statewide approach to avoid a patchwork of local laws. Members discussed trade-offs between a “just cause” eviction regime and whether rent limitations or other measures would be required to prevent circumvention by lease design or rent increases.
The committee asked the Legislature to consider targeted follow-up work on the listed topics, including further empirical analysis and convening stakeholders to draft specific statutory language. No formal actions or votes were taken at the Jan. 22 hearing; the report was presented for policymaker use and further discussion.
