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We're trying to help a family member get ready to rent their home, but we're having a hard time finding out much information on what it's like to be a landlord in Vermont, what the requirements and financial ramifications are, etc.
Seriously, it's risky, lots of rules to comply with, and if you get bad tenants it's hard to get rid of them. Be very careful is my advice. You might consider hiring a property management company to do the work for you, but be sure to get a good one with a good reputation.
You will undoubtedly hear people, mainly landlords, tell you that the landlord-tenant laws in Vermont are skewed to favor tenants. This is not true.
What is true is that Vermont law does create an implied warranty of habitability, so that all landlords are required to maintain the premises in a condition that is safe, sanitary, and in compliance with all applicable health and safety codes. This can cost money and require work, and if you are not willing to make this commitment you should not be in the landlord business.
In addition, although Vermont law allows termination of tenancy for no cause, it does require proper notice of termination to the tenant, and does not allow self-help eviction.
You can obtain a publication in wide circulation around Vermont called Renting in Vermont, available through an organization called Vermont Tenants, Inc., and it lays out the general outlines of the obligations of landlords and tenants in Vermont.
Jack do you have a quick list of habitability? I understand you need hard wired smoke detectors for one, probably a bunch of other stuff. Lots of horror stories, lots of slumlords too. Probably like most things VT tons of regulations and no one to enforce them.
You will undoubtedly hear people, mainly landlords, tell you that the landlord-tenant laws in Vermont are skewed to favor tenants. This is not true.
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Vermont laws do favor tenants. There is no question about that. The number one problem landlords have with tenants is non payment of rent. If a tenant does not pay rent, the landlord should be able to get them out quickly, wthin a week or two. Not in VT. It takes a long time.
Tenants say things like I can't live there, it's not safe, if something doesn't work. If that's the case, they should move out. Simple. If you don't like a place, then go somewhere else. Instead it is an entitlement mentality.
I am a landlord in Vermont and have spent close to $180,000 remodeling and maintaining my property over the last two years. I have a tenant (my second in a row) that I have to hound on a monthly basis to get the rent. At one point they were two months behind. I still can't get them out of my place. I will be able to get them out, but it is not as fast as many think. In past years I have been able to get a tax break on the property for lost income, depreciation, etc. With the big loss I took this past year I got nothing.
The other thing to worry about is damage done to the property. The deposit never covers all of it and taking someone to court for the remainder is easy enough, but then getting the money after the fact is a whole other can of worms. I'm still trying to collect from the last tenants who were out a year and a half ago.
It's not just Vermont. Renting anywhere can be a gamble. Get a great tenant and you'll want to do it forever. Get a bad one or several bad tenants and you will want to give the place away to be over with it.
It's not just Vermont. Renting anywhere can be a gamble. Get a great tenant and you'll want to do it forever. Get a bad one or several bad tenants and you will want to give the place away to be over with it.
This point needs to be stressed. I know landlords in RI that have the same issues. I know people in CT who were waiting for their landlord to evict their neighbor, but the eviction process takes a long time. It's really like that everywhere.
This point needs to be stressed. I know landlords in RI that have the same issues. I know people in CT who were waiting for their landlord to evict their neighbor, but the eviction process takes a long time. It's really like that everywhere.
I rented in Ct for a long time and had some good and bad tenants. I surprised myself by doing it all over again. No matter where you are there will always be irresponsible tenants. A good back ground check helps, but you can't always catch every one of them.
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