welcome to this edition of housing fair safe and affordable my name is jonathan bond i'm the director of vermont tenants and the mobile home program at the champlain valley office of economic opportunity in the past we've had shows that have covered various topics from fair housing to the connections of housing and credit as well as different types of affordable housing options that are available today we're going to skip that step and and talk briefly about rights and responsibilities that renters have in vermont and we're going to call today segment tips for tenants so we're going to talk about several different topics today if you have specific questions about your rental concerns i would encourage you to call our message line at eight o two eight six four zero zero nine nine will usually be able to return a call within twenty four to forty eight hours and you can ask questions that may not be answered here today we 're going to be going over today or the basics and hopefully will provide an opportunity to for a lightbulb moment of what your tent rights are so it's hard for us to talk about your rights and responsibilities as a tenant without acknowledging that we have a lot of very tight rental market statewide our rental vacancies are only about one percent meaning for every hundred homes there's only one rental that may be available in burlington those numbers are a little bit better with a few more rentals being available but generally it's a very tight market and provides very little choice along those lines there's also we have also a lot of older housing in vermont and so the types of quality of the rental units sometimes are older and need more more attention as a renter as we move on to our rights and responsibilities as tenants it's important to know that this is what what is outlined in vermont's laws renters have a specific set of rights and they have a specific set of responsibilities and together they hopefully will help you navigate the very complicated waters of rent of renting in vermont let's start first with our rights so a tenant has a right to safe and decent housing and this includes the right to reporting substandard housing should the conditions be less than ideal we have the right as tenants to forty eight hours notice before our landlord enters our unit and they're only allowed to enter our unit with that notice between the hours of nine am and nine pm there are exceptions if there are emergencies or if we're inviting our landlord in to address an issue but generally it's a forty eight hour notice while we don't have the right to negotiate our rent in most situations we do have the right to proper notice if rent is going to increase generally about sixty days we also have the right for proper notice if our landlord is deciding to move away from our tendency to terminate and if it should come to an eviction we have the right to contest it in the court and finally we have the right to a refundable security deposit and we're going to get some more details about that later in conjunction with our rights we have several responsibilities that tenant we as tenants need to be meeting the first is probably the most obvious it's paying our rent on time there is no grace period in vermont law for paying rent it's important when we rent the new unit to know when rent is d and what the process of paying rent to our new landlord is going to be it's our responsibility to keep our apartment safe and clean it up to code and generally what that means is we're not piling things in front of the doorways or windows we're not making unsafe situations regarding fire safety and we're keeping it generally clean including bathrooms and kitchen if there are problems and problems always crop up in every rental it's important that we immediately notify our landlord of any issues and we're responsible for our gues behavior and that's really important any rental unit the buck stops with the tenant regarding who is coming over so whether it's friends or family it's knowing that we're responsible for a guest should something happen it's our responsibility to act in respectful manner that doesn't disturb our neighbors and it's our neighbors responsibility to also work with us in that way we need to make sure we deal appropriately with the trash and recycling and oftentimes that means knowing how at that particular  so whether trash is picked up weekly or whether there's a dumpster on the premise and how recycling is sorted in the community that you're living in when it comes time for us to move on we have the responsibility to give proper notice and we'll go over that a little bit what proper notice is but essentially it's advance warning to our landlord that we're moving on and whether it's to a new apartment due to a change of job or other life circumstance or perhaps we're buying our own home and moving out of the rental market completely and then the final responsibility we have as tenants is to follow the terms of our lease and this is just a reminder that any lease agreement that we sign it's very important for us to make sure we understand it completely because it's a contract between a ten and a landlord as to how renting is going to be how the rent of that unit is going to be conducted as we move on to all of these specific rules and rights we want to make sure we have some just basic tips for us to remember the first is know your rights and keep it professional  want to make sure that we as tenants are working with our landlords but we want to do this through the enforcement of our rights we want to keep everything important in writing and this is critical in a digital age it's so easy for us to send an e mail or send a text but a lot of our renting law requires us to make sure we write a letter to our landlord and very in most situations and then finally there are some other resources that are out there and it's important to know what resources are available in your community when you rent a new apartment starting with renting starts with a lease agreement after we found an apartment that we might be able to afford and we're able to contact the landlord for a showing if everything goes well we're going to be offered a lease agreement that's going to define the terms of who's renting the apartment where the apartment is located making sure that the apartment that were shown is also the same address as the apartment that's being rented on our lease it defines the terms of when the department is being rented whether it's for a year for an initial lease whether the lease is starting to a month to month term or there's some other term or agreement that's being being proposed for the timeline and then finally it's going to go over the except the exceptions on  expectations on how are renting so how are we paying rent how is trash and recycling being dealt with where is there parking on the premise what are the shared and open spaces used by other tenants and what are the spaces or the dwelling that we're renting at the exclusion of all others and those are going to be in the lease agreement it's important to know that in vermont a lease can be written or it can be verbal although we encourage everyone to have a written lease when they rent it is important to know that if you enter into a rental agreement and you do not pay you do not sign anything but are paying rent you have tenant rights and you have things that are protecting you and if you have questions you should feel free to call our hotline at eight zero two eight six four zero zero nine nine regarding your specific rights under a verbal lease the next thing that we're going to go over are deposits so generally considered deposits security deposits a deposit is anything that's paid up front before you started renting the unit these deposits are never nonrefundable generally in most circumstances fees are for heavy did in vermont tenant law but a low landlord is allowed to ask for reasonable deposit as part of that it's a means to protect the landlord for excessive wear and tear that may occur during the unit essentially damages that may be occurring whether it's a hole in the wall or if we don't report damage that causes further damage such as a leaky faucet that turns into a rotting sink these are the types of extra damages that we would be looking at that would be coming out of a deposit however if a unit is returned to the landlord in the same condition it was received in we should be expecting to get one hundred percent of our security deposit back and we'll go over some of the tips on how to get those back in just a moment one final thing is is that deposits while they're meant to protect against excessive wear and tear they are not meant to protect against normal wear and tear and a classic example is a carpet a carpeted room if there's old carpet in a building that's been there for ten or fifteen years it simply may be wearing out over tenants over the years and it's not the responsibility of the last tenant to be able to replace that when the time comes in that sense it's normal wear and tear and the landlord is going to replace that carpet as part of their normal business practice in maintaining their unit and shouldn't be coming out of your security deposit another way of looking at it however would be if the carpet was just replaced upon before and renting the apartment and then if there was damage a year later it may be excessive wear and tear to that particular carpeted entryway or room and that might come out of your security deposit so they're going to be variations depending on the damage and the expected life expectancy of the various things in the apartment but how do we protect ourselves and that's really the key here the first is looking to take as many pictures as possible before you move in it's very tempting when you're moving into an apartment to kind of hold off on on taking the photos and just move all of your stuff in however it's exceptionally important before you move your things in to get a look of the condition of the apartment beforehand take as many pictures as possible the next strategy is walking through the apartment with your landlord responsible landlord is going to ask you for a walkthrough all right from the beginning but if a landlord for whatever reason forgets it's a great opportunity for a tenant to show that they are responsible and that they do care about the unit by asking to do a walk through this walk through should go through a basic checklist of any things that need to be repaired or conditions of various surfaces sinks anywhere where there is water is important to be monitoring any large holes in the wall or dents that might need to be fixed making sure all of the window sills are free from rotten paint flakes making sure all of the windows and doors open properly and checking all of the locks making sure that the room that we're being rented to has a way to get out of in the case of an emergency because all bedrooms are required to have at least two eat grass meaning whether it's a main door and a large window or two doors essentially two ways to get out of the room in the emergency and this is your opportunity to double check that when you're renting the unit that you're going and the checking the bedroom you're going to call home making a list of all these damages are important and then finally having a signed copy of this list that signed and dated by both you and your landlord and making sure you both get a copy of it if you're the one doing the walkthrough i would encourage you to make sure you make a copy of it immediately and get it to your landlord as quickly as possible if your landlord is the one holding on to the document as just a final check to make sure it doesn't get loss make sure you take a picture of it because that picture will serve as your proof that you did a walk through and the various conditions of the apartment before you moved in anything that was broken before you moved in is not your responsibility and shouldn't come out of your rent or security deposit after the fact when the time comes to move out we're going to look to do everything in advance in reverse we're going to do a walk through with the landlord after we've moved all of our stuff out and just like it were as were eager to move all of our stuff into the unit after we get that last box in the moving truck instead of rushing over to our new apartment our new home it's important to take a pause and to do the walk through with your landlord you're also going to wander of you and take pictures of the unit in the same way you did when you moved in this is incredibly important because you're now will have before and after photos of the apartment that you're renting and you should be able to get most of your security deposit back if there are a few damages or be able to show there are no damages as a result of your tenancy there were unaddressed at the time that you moved out if for whatever reason someone causes damages when they move in such as the next tenant you're not going to be the one responsible and you'll have the evidence to support this generally you should be getting your security deposit back or an itemized letter with a detailed reasons as to why you're not getting a portion or all of your security deposit back within fourteen days it's important that you give your landlord your last your best forwarding address because your landlord is required to send it to your last known address and you want to make sure your last known address is your new apartment and not the apartment you were previously renting if you're living in burlington and you like to dispute your security deposit there is a housing boarder view that will allow these disputes in a timely fashion within thirty to forty five days after that outside of the burlington area if there are further said disputes they are usually governance small claims court and we would encourage you to contact a legal assistance for more information  the next thing we're going to talk about are renters of with disabilities and the some protections that we have with various ailments and disabilities that we're dealing with generally in every apartment there's going to be quirks to the apartment and some of the times that might interfere with a physical or other medical condition that we may be experiencing in the case where there are physical changes that need to be made to the apartment we call those reasonable modifications and a great example of a reasonable modification is that for whatever reason you have a medical condition that may make it difficult to go in and out of the tub without worrying about slipping and so the simple fix would to be have proper installation of grab bars as well as anti slip surfaces so you can be more confident when you're getting in and out of the tub now while it's really tempting to try to install these on our own we want to make sure that the installation of any of these modifications first goes your process of notifying the landlord of the symptom that you're trying to you're trying to address as well as the fact that it's going to be installed professionally if you're not someone who is used to installing these things you're going to want to find a professional to do so in the case of anti slip surfaces they may be as simple as stickies at the bottom of a tub but for the grab bar it made me something that needs to be installed properly it's important to note that for private landlords it's the responsibility to pay for these modifications  is on the tenant if you're in subsidized housing there may be a responsibility by the nonprofit owner of the building to make these modifications true so you're just going to want to check with your landlord and they'll know which of those they need to address it is important to note that there aren't such things as reasonable modifications so if i need for whatever reason a large ramp on the third floor apartment or an elevator that might actually be seen as an unreasonable modification and i may need to be looking for other types of housing that can accommodate that but generally if i lived on the first floor a ramp in and out of a few steps would be considered reasonable and an easier ask for us to make the next type of special situation when it comes to a renter who has any sort of disability is what we call reasonable accommodation and just like reasonable modifications addressed this it will disability reasonable accommodations address rules policies or practices of the apartment that my interfere with a condition or a symptom of that condition that we have a classic example is that some of us are assigned medical assistance animals as part of our day to day lives to treat a condition that we may have but we may live in an apartment that has a no pat policy generally speaking it's important to get a note from someone who's familiar with your condition and familiar with the animal that treats that condition or symptom and be able to provide that to the landlord to be able to overcome this obstacle another example would be an apartment that has parking spaces but may not have assigned parking space if for whatever reason there was a medical condition that made it hard to walk from our apartment to our car  were otherwise ok in our apartment or in our car we might ask for an assigned parking space a little bit closer and that's acceptable under reasonable accommodation assuming the parking is part of your apartment that's available to you moving on we're going to be looking at repairs and every apartment at some point is going to need a repair whether it's a minor repair such as a loose kit a loose cabinet or a more modern per pair such as a leaky faucet it's important to know what steps we could take and our responsibilities as tenants as well any issues that you have in your apartment need to be promptly reported to your landlord and just as we noted that most of this requires  writing this requires writing our landlord a letter and dating that letter saying that there is a specific issue that needs to be addressed in the apartment any damage or repair that needs to be made in an apartment is the responsibility of the landlords to make even if the repairs are being made as a result of damage that's not the fault of the tenant a tenant may be responsible for paying for damage that there they caused but generally the repair should still be made by the landlord it's important to also note that we want to make sure that we're telling our landlord properly about any issues that we have in the apartment because reporting damage in and of itself isn't a negative activity however if we don't report that damage and it becomes a larger problem through our tenancy we can be responsible for all of the damage that was caused because we didn't or it classic example is a leaky faucet bots are going to leak and there's very little that we can do about it however if we don't report that problem and the leak in the fossett gets worse it's likely that water is going to rot out the back of the faucet base or perhaps even encourage the growth of mold and now the problem has become a simple fix to the fossett to a much larger issue to the actual structural integrity in the bathroom or a kitchen and we might be responsible for that if we don't report it so it's important to put in writing any issues to the landlord as small as a leaky faucet so if it does become a larger issue later on we're not responsible for that we've already made that  now if you have an issue that you're not sure if you need to tell your landlord it's a great opportunity to call for my tenants we're going to walk you through that again the number for our message line is eight zero two eight six four zero zero nine nine it will take the guesswork out of when you need to write that letter and we also have pre formatted letters that we can direct to you either via e mail or on our website that will help you through the process of writing the correct correctly worded letter to your land now under the law there are certain caviar regarding what they call repair and deduct and today we're not going to go over that in much detail generally it's important to make sure that you promptly report anything to your landlord and there's a waiting period of at least thirty days if not more before we attempt to make any repair of selves we want to give our landlord the chance to be able to make that but if you have questions about a repair that's been reported to your landlord and is not being taken seriously or for whatever reason the landlord is unable to get to it in a timely manner give us a call as we have some tips to help you that now when we talk about repairs we're usually talking about minor issues whether it's a dent in the wall a scrape in the paint a small leaky faucet or something minor like that however there are major repairs that need to be made sometimes and those are under rental safety code and so we're going to put up a brief list of what these issues might be so for instance if your water isn't running at all or you don't have any hot water if you don't have any water working toilets if there's no heat and the leaks in the roof windows that don't open are broken windows that can't be escaped through during a fire no smoke alarms any standing water or the visible or obvious presence of mold these would constitute safety issues that would impact the safety of you and everyone living in that unit and these are a bit more serious it's important that you tell your landlord right away and while you still need to make sure that you put all of these issues in writing it's your opportunity to call your landlord right away and let them know about the issue a responsible landlord is going to respond immediately to items like no heater no running water and it's important that you know that if your landlord doesn't respond promptly that you have some rights to be able to report this to your local code enforcement or town health officer to make sure that these issues are properly addressed in those cases where it's not properly addressed in the town health officer or code enforcement officer does an inspection they're going to inspect the issue at hand and make sure that there are no other rental safety violations in the home if there are they're going to give the landlord a reasonable amount of time to make those in the case of having no heater no running water that might be til the end of the day or to come up with some alternative emergency fix in the meantime in the issues such as a broken window they might give the landlord more time to be able to replace that window specifically in the winter time where it's a bit more difficult to do so if you have questions about whether it's a minor or major repair before you call anyone i would encourage you to simply call them on tenants at eight zero two eight six four zero zero nine we're going to help you to dissect the issue whether it's a major or minor repair and get you on the right path to getting that now we talked a little bit about our rights and responsibilities as notice periods both our landlord giving us proper notice if they're going to stop ranting to us at the end of a rental agreement or our responsibility as tenants to give our landlord proper notice that we're moving out so they can rent the unit to someone else we're going to start first with landlord notice period the landlord notice period is the amount of time a landlord must provide you before you leave your apartment generally it's about thirty days but it can be longer or shorter depending on the issue  for instance if you live in the towns of cities of burlington or bury there may be a longer period of time and if you have questions about that you should just give us a call and we also have information on our website at c v ojo dot org backslash tenants generally though you can assume about thirty days as your general notice period for rent increases it's actually sixty days you have a little bit more time if you're going to be able to continue to rent the unit but your rent is going to be increasing at some point in the future notice periods though can be changed as part of the lease agreement in some certain situations so it's really important that you read your lease agreement carefully and understand the notice periods as well as communicating with your landlord often times notice periods just mean clear communication in writing to and from your landlord now while your landlord's notice periods under the law are measured in the number of days that they have to revise in advance the notice periods for tenants are a little bit different and we're going to show a little bit of a graphic to help demonstrate that so the tenant notice period is in the number of rental periods so whereas a landlord has thirty days we have a number of rental periods and we're going to assume  rental period of the month of december so if in on november fifteenth i determine that i'm going to need to move out of my apartment i'm responsible and i'm at the end of my lease agreement or i'm in a month the month lease agreement is important that this doesn't include being in the middle of your term that would be breaking your lease this is for when you're at the end of the lease agreement or in a month a month lease agreement giving a proper notice but getting back to the visual if on november fifteenth i'm moving out of my apartment i need to give the entire month of december for my notice period and that is going to be the notice period which i'm still responsible to pay the rent make sure the apartment is maintained by myself before someone else can move in and then in january i'm able to move on just like in burlington giving landlords more time giving landlords requirement to give us more time it's important to know that we as tenants have to give more time so when the rest of the state we have one rental period notice but in burlington embury we need to provide two rental periods notice so given the same example if i move in deciding i'm moving out in the middle of november i have to give the entire month of december and january as my rental period if we break the lease or we don't give proper notice at the end of that period we can be responsible for the months that were accumulated during the period that we didn't report as well as the cost of advertising the apartment because we have such a tight rental market there's no need for a renter to have to pay those costs so just make sure when it comes time to move out of your apartment that you know what your rental periods are and that you give the proper notice  final topic we're just going to really brush over is terminations verses of action and these terms sometimes get used a little bit interchangeably determination of tenancy simply means of the landlord is asking you to leave and sometimes the letters for terminations of tenancy are strongly worded but generally speaking tenants can be terminated because you're at the end of the lease agreement and you're not signing a new agreement with that landlord you're going to get a letter for terminations of ten many situations or all situations the same letter will happen if for whatever reason we don't meet our responsibility in pair rent we also may get a letter for terminations in that case it will then turn into an eviction but it's important to know that it's not the landlord of victim the ten ultimately innovation still has to go through a fairly lengthy court process that will allow the tenant and the landlord to air their case for why they're trying to force the contract being broken between the ten and the landlord if we're generally paying our rent and maintaining our unit we may get a terminations intensity but will likely avoid eviction if you receive a terminations notice that you weren't expecting or your seat any court documentation that says it's that you may be at risk for being a victim and that your course that the case has been started it's extremely important that you don't call vermont tents but actually obtain legal resources such as the lawyer while we can give a lot of advice to help you navigate the complex waters of tenancy when it comes to an eviction you need someone who's going to be able to help you through the court process and stand before you for a judge if you don't know where to start feel free to call us and we can help point you in the right direction with the various legal resources that are out there so we're going to close today with a quick recap of what we're what we're trying to accomplish the real basics for tips for tenants is knowing our rights and keeping a professional this is the number one thing that we can recommend the next just as we've said a few times is keep everything in writing and if you're unsure sending a letter is the best way when you send a letter it's important that your name the issue your signature as well as the date that you're sending the letter or on the letter it's important for you to also keep a copy of any letters that are mailed and if you need extra proof that your landlord is receiving your letters you can sort of send a certified mail to add a little bit of extra security to the process and then finally know what resources are out there renting doesn't have to be a guessing game it's something you can be sure of you can call us a vermont tenant's or you can ask to learn a little bit more about this so while we've gone through a really brief segment of what you renters rights we have full education packages that are available and so we're going to put two numbers up on the board to go over that if you're interested in taking a class to learn more about your test skills and you live in the chinning county area you can give us a call at eight o two six six zero three four five five extension two zero five this is our hotline for our class coordinator and we'll be able to register you for an upcoming class  going over what we did today such as tenant skills or recommending other classes that we have available throughout the year that help with rent