Houle v. Quenneville

787 A.2d 1258 (Vt. Sup. Ct. 2001) ; Clearinghouse Number: 54344

Description

Landlord Not Required to Serve Housing Authority with Notice of Nonrenewal of Section 8 Lease

Abstract

The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed the decision that the parties’ Section 8 lease did not require contemporaneous service of a notice of nonrenewal on Vermont State Housing Authority. After defendant-appellant tenants threatened to withhold rent unless repairs were made, plaintiff-appellee landlord commenced an eviction action alleging that tenants violated their Section 8 lease. When the lease expired during the pendency of the eviction, landlord served tenants with a notice of nonrenewal, and the court awarded landlord possession based on expiration of the lease. On appeal, tenants argued that the lease required service of the notice of nonrenewal on the housing authority when an owner evicted tenants for any reason. Finding that the lease distinguished between termination of the tenancy during the lease term and termination at the end of the lease term, the state high court held that service on the housing authority was required only when the tenancy was terminated for good cause during the lease term. The court also held that the retaliatory eviction defense was available in nonrenewal cases; however, the court found that tenants had not met their burden of proving the nonrenewal to be defendant-appellee retaliatory.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Appellants represented by: John J. McCullough III, Vermont Legal Aid, Inc., P.O.Box 606, Montpelier, VT 05601-0606, (802.863.5620)
Docket Date
2001-11-09 00:00:00+00:00

Files

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