Court Opinion

ID: 9927206
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-01-26 15:39:18.250506+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:24:08.588056
License: Public Domain

Vermont Superior Court
                                                                                                 Filed 11/28 2
                                                                                                    Rutland m

VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT                                    1
                                                         ﬂ4                   CIVIL DIVISION
Rutland Unit                                                              Case No. 23-CV-03647
83 Center St
Rutland VT 05701
802-775-4394
WWW.Vermontiudiciarv.org

SVitlana Woodford and Ryan Woodford
       Plaintiffs

V.

Bonnie Phillips
      Defendant

                              Decision on Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss

        Federal housing regulations establish certain requirements for landlords who accept
federal housing payments. One of those requirements is that landlords must provide their tenants
with a notice of the tenant’s occupancy rights under the federal Violence Against Women Act.
24 C.F.R. § 5 .2005(a). The notice must be provided “no later than” several different junctures
throughout the tenancy, including when the landlord provides the tenant with a notice of
termination of the tenancy. 24 C.F.R. § 5.2005(a)(2)(iii). The notice is meaningful at that
moment because it contains information regarding the tenant’s rights not to be evicted “on the
basis or as a direct result of the fact that the . . . tenant is or has been a victim of domestic
violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking,” 24 C.F.R. § 5.2005(b)(l), and the tenant
has steps that they must take in order to preserve their housing or request safe housing if they
believe that the regulations apply to their situation, e.g., 24 C.F.R. § 5.2005(a)(ii); Bayonne
Housing Auth. v. Wilkes, 2023 WL 3579054           mlApp. Div. May 22, 2023). In situations Where
the landlord is responsible for complying with this requirement, multiple courts have held that
the landlord’s failure to provide a copy of the notice along with the termination letter requires
dismissal of an ensuing eviction, e.g., Lambert v. Gharounz', No. 23-CV-02410 (Vt. Super. Ct.
Sept. 1, 2023) (Toor, J.); Tolstoi v. Worth, No. 23-CV-01292 (Vt. Super. Ct. June 13, 2023)
(Shafritz, J.); DHI Cherry Glen Assocs., L.P. v. Gutierrez, 259 Cal. Rptr. 3d 410, 416 (Cal. Ct.
App. 2019); Housing Auth. 0f City 0f Hartford v. Shahine, 2022 WL 2663954 (Conn. Super. Ct.
Apr. 26, 2022).
        Here, defendant receives federal housing beneﬁts, and plaintiffs issued the termination
letter Without providing defendant with a copy of the required VAWA notice. Plaintiffs do not
contest these facts, but argue that the case should not be dismissed because they have since
provided a copy of the notice to the defendant. Federal regulations, however, require the notice
to be provided “no later than” the time when the termination notice is issued, 24 C.F.R.

Entry Regarding Motion                                                               Page 1 of 2
23-CV-03647 SVitlana Woodford et a1 v. Bonnie Phillips
§ 5.2005(a)(2), and for the above-described reasons, the timing of the notice is material. It is
important to ensure that survivors of domestic and sexual violence receive the required
information at a time when they can access the protections to which they are entitled. For these
reasons, and following the holdings of the above-cited cases, defendant’s motion to dismiss is
granted.
        Electronically signed on Monday, November 27, 2023 pursuant to V.R.E.F. 9(d).

                                                           H. Dickson Corbett
                                                           Superior Court Judge

Entry Regarding Motion                                                               Page 2 of 2
23-CV-03647 Svitlana Woodford et al v. Bonnie Phillips