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Vermont Legal Aid attorney tells committee H.772 would shorten eviction timelines and risk tenant due process
Summary
Jean Murray of Vermont Legal Aid told the Judiciary committee that bill H.772 would weaken notice reliability, broaden grounds for eviction to vague "other activity," impose tight hearing deadlines (90 days and 10–21 days), and shift evidentiary burdens onto tenants, increasing risk of erroneous deprivation of housing.
Jean Murray, an attorney with Vermont Legal Aid, urged the Judiciary committee on April 16 to reject or substantially redraft H.772, saying the measure's procedural changes would undermine tenant protections and create legal uncertainty.
Murray said the bill substitutes less reliable methods for the longstanding statutory idea of "actual notice," adding options such as posting on doors and electronic notice that she called unreliable in rural and low-income contexts: "Posting on the door is not a reliable method," she said, and many rural tenants lack steady internet or have difficulty opening attachments. She warned…
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