Category Archives: housing crisis

The Debate Around the Legality of Fees During the Rental Application Process

affordable housing, Disparate Impact, Economic Inequality, housing crisis, housing inequality, rental housing market, renters

A consideration of the issue and the resources available for renters

Illustration by Natalie Williams/VTDigger

You may have seen this recent VTDigger article, which highlights the illegal practice of collecting rental application fees and the uncertainty created by vague wording in Vermont law around what constitutes an “application fee.” Under Vermont state law, rental application fees are clearly illegal. But are other fees related to the rental application process illegal too? According to Vermont Legal Aid, the answer is clearly yes; according to the Vermont Landlord Association, the answer is clearly no.

This blog post is intended to clarify some of the context around the issue and provide resources for renters who are trying to secure housing in this uncertain environment.

The Definitive Guide to Renting in Vermont, published in 2015 by CVOEO’s Vermont Tenants Program in collaboration with the Vermont Landlord Association, states that application fees are not legal, but that “charging potential renters for the actual cost of background and credit checks is permitted.”

This is a stance Vermont Tenants has maintained since the guide was written. Vermont Tenants cannot present a stronger position on the debate until a legal precedent is set. As a service and education organization (rather than a legal one), we don’t have the tools or the credentials to interpret the legislative intent of the statute – that is for the lawyers.

Meanwhile, even with the interpretation that the actual cost of credit and background check fees are permitted, it is likely that fees are collected for credit and background checks that don’t happen. In this rental housing market with the lowest vacancy rate we’ve seen in many years and a high number of applicants for every available apartment, if a landlord is charging all applicants the credit and background check fees, it is highly unlikely that all of these checks are actually being run. And if landlords are running the checks for all applications submitted, this practice is wasteful and impractical in a market where hundreds of applications are submitted for any single unit.

In the meantime, it is the lowest-income Vermonters who are most negatively impacted

Unfortunately, in this confusion, the people most impacted are the lowest-income Vermonters. A competitive rental market means that even slight disadvantages can pose real barriers to renting for those pinched hardest by the housing crisis, and discrimination is harder to prove. Leaving the decision up to the renter on whether or not they choose to speak up about their rights and refuse to pay a rental application fee or file a complaint will negatively impact the people already most vulnerable in their housing search. As VTDigger reports, the charging of any kind of fee to apply for housing will continue to prevent many people from submitting enough applications to actually get access to the housing they need. This is a systemic problem that could be addressed by clarity in statute – and better enforcement.a variety of illustrated apartments, apartment buildings and houses

What can we do?

One solution some tenant advocates propose to renters in their housing search is to pull their own credit check report and offer to share the report with each potential landlord. Another solution offered is for prospective tenants to ask for a copy of their credit report after the landlord pulls it. Of course, this still puts the tenant in a vulnerable position, and some may not want to jeopardize their relationship with a potential landlord.

Although the law is very clear that rental application fees are illegal in Vermont, the practice is still common. One contributing factor is the third-party application platforms used by many larger rental companies which don’t allow customization to the forms. Some housing providers, report that the software they rely on doesn’t allow them to change the language from “application fee” to “credit check” fee. Not every renter is aware of the laws around rental application fees, and even those who do know may be hesitant to assert their rights with such stringent competition for rental units. 

Some renters have found remedy by contacting the state Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance Program. If Vermonters are unjustly charged an application fee (worded as such), they may be able to recoup their costs by filing a complaint through the Attorney General. According to VTDigger, some rental companies stopped charging rental application fees after receiving several complaints through the program. Landlords can choose to include the cost of background checks and credit checks in their overall business operating expenses, and adjust their rent accordingly. 

9 V.S.A. § 4456a “Residential rental application fees; prohibited says “A landlord or a landlord’s agent shall not charge an application fee to any individual in order to apply to enter into a rental agreement for a residential dwelling unit. This section shall not be construed to prohibit a person from charging a fee to a person in order to apply to rent commercial or nonresidential property. (Added 1999, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.), § 5.)

Resources for renters

CVOEO has supports available for renters with questions about their rights and responsibilities under landlord-tenant law. For renters seeking support finding housing, working through barriers to renting, and developing application materials, the Finding Housing workshop – offered both as live Zoom classes and a self-paced, on-demand workshop – is a great resource. For renters seeking to repair their credit, to better understand their finances, or needing one-on-one financial coaching, CVOEO’s Financial Futures program has free educational opportunities as well. For people who are currently without housing or at risk of loosing their housing, CVOEO’s Community Action program can assist people with housing navigation, and potentially help with back rent, first month’s rent, security deposits and short-term rental subsidies for eligible applicants. As always, the Vermont Tenant’s Hotline – (802) 864-0099 and vttenants@cvoeo.org – is a resource for people with any questions about their tenancy.

Fair Housing Month Recap:

affirmatively furthering fair housing, affordable housing, April Fair Housing Month, civil rights, fair housing fridays, housing crisis, Inclusive Communities, zoning, ,

Thank you for celebrating Fair Housing Month this past April with the Fair Housing Project of CVOEO and statewide partners. This year’s Fair Housing Month was full of community and creative activities all over the state. More than 1,800  people participated in virtual workshops, community conversations via Zoom, Fair Housing Friday discussions, art projects, and other events. These activities went far beyond the basics of fair housing and included discussion on ways to make our towns and cities more welcoming, issues related to housing access and homelessness, and how to address community housing needs. 

Here’s an overview of the month’s activities and links to event recordings, and more information:

  • ART: A new partnership with Arts So Wonderful brought Fair Housing curriculum to its youth-lead Youth On Boards event, and invited artists to depict their visions of thriving inclusive communities through visual art, poetry, and music. You can check out their submissions here. And congratulations to Norzin Mentsang, Celeste Forcier and Brynn Barrett, the first, second and third prize winners for the art contest! 
  • The HeART & Home Community Art Project included home-based activities that communities and families participated in across the state.
    • 26 libraries and 14 housing and community sites distributed nearly 1,000 art kits containing watercolor paints and brushes, collage cut-outs, thoughtful prompts, and fair housing resources. 
    • The Bent Northrop Memorial Library partnered  with the Fairfield Center School and the Northwest Regional Planning Commission to distribute art kits and host an exhibit at art reception at the library. You can view some photos of the more than 50 pieces of art on display at the library here!
    • In partnership with the Vermont Garden Network, we provided HeART & Home art kits  to the community of South Meadow (an affordable housing site off of Pine Street in Burlington), where residents and volunteers were building a natural playscape. Families and children took  breaks from the project  to reflect on home and housing through art.
    • CVOEO’s Fair Housing Project displayed newly designed panels featuring updated protected class iconography, ways to become an advocate, and a brief history of Fair Housing at Burlington City Hall. You can see these panels (with original art by Corrine Yonce) here. 
  • LIBRARY EVENTS: We again partnered with the Vermont Department of Libraries to bring Fair Housing curriculum across the state. Libraries are essential centers of our communities, providing physical and virtual spaces for information, support, and connections. In addition to accessing art kits, children and adults from all over the state took part in StoryWalks and joined Fair Housing book groups, including Story Boat by Kyo Maclear, Evicted by Matthew Desmond, and Race for Profit by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. 
    • CVOEO also facilitated the continuation of the Vermont Department of Library housing discussion series, joined by the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition,  the Vermont Human Rights Commission, and Vermont Legal Aid to discuss housing justice, the how the state is addressing the current housing crisis, and how librarians can best connect people who are experiencing evictions to local and statewide resources and service. Watch the recording and access the resources here.
    • ONGOING: See the Fair Housing resources for libraries, including a reading list, here 
  • WORKSHOPS: An assortment of workshops offered deep dives into discrimination and equity with opportunities for the general public, landlords, and municipal officials to learn about fair housing rights and responsibilities and discuss issues related to harassment and hate crimes. 
  • FAIR HOUSING FRIDAYS: These sessions are discussions among affordable housing advocates, community leaders, policymakers, and service providers about housing inclusivity. The interactive conversations provide a space to reflect on what we are doing in our community that is working to further housing equity and what policies out there might we consider to do better as housing experts, legislators, advocates, and community members. This year’s topics were Is Building More the Cure?, The Opportunities and Challenges of Mobile Home Communities, and Why Aren’t We Building the Housing We Need? Watch the recording here.
  • VERMONT AFFORDABLE HOUSING COALITION EVENTS:
    • VAHC April Community Meeting Community Meeting: #Housed802 meetings are an opportunity for VAHC to facilitate a discussion with community members about legislative opportunities to advocate for affordable, inclusive housing. You can find the recording here.
    • In the House: In this episode of the monthly VAHC hosted conversation, VAHC Director David Martins has a conversation with Jess Hyman from CVOEO about Fair Housing Month: What is it? Where does it come from? What does it have to do with Vermonters in 2022? You can find the recording here. 

The Fair Housing Act, passed in April 1968, put into law critical protections against discrimination and harassment in housing and sought to repair and redress historical patterns of housing segregation. April was a time to celebrate these protections and highlight the positive and essential role that affordable, inclusive housing plays in our communities. However, it’s important to recognize that exclusion and discrimination still exist in Vermont and that we must continue the fight to ensure that everyone has access to safe, stable, and affordable homes, free from discrimination, exclusion, and harassment.

Where we live matters – it’s connected to how we get to work, access healthcare, where our children go to school, and our physical environment. Stable, safe, and affordable homes provide the foundation for vibrant and thriving communities and there is a strong correlation between housing opportunity and health disparities, especially for people of color and others who experience discrimination. This has been especially relevant during the pandemic and we will continue to see these inequities as pandemic-related housing supports are reduced. 

 What is Fair Housing?

Fair Housing is the right to equal opportunity in housing choice and the right to rent, buy, or live in a dwelling free from discrimination. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and family status. Vermont has additional protections based on age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, receipt of public assistance, being a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and denial of development permitting based on the income of prospective residents. For more information about fair housing in Vermont, visit www.cvoeo.org/FHP, call 802-660-3456 x 106, or email fhp@cvoeo.org.

Thank you to our Fair Housing Month Partners and Sponsors!

Fair Housing Month activities in Vermont are coordinated by the Fair Housing Project of CVOEO, in collaboration with Vermont Department of Libraries, Vermont Library Association, ONE Arts Center, Arts So Wonderful, Burlington City Arts, Vermont Legal Aid, Vermont Human Rights Commission,

Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition, Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development, CEDO, Vermont Garden Network, and other partners. 

These activities are made possible with the support of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Library activities are supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency, through the Library Service and Technology Act as administered by the Vermont Department of Libraries.

We are grateful to these “Champions of Affordable, Inclusive Housing” event sponsors: Farrell Properties, Vermont State Housing Authority, Redstone, Main Street Landing, Vermont Housing Finance Agency, Evernorth, Cathedral Square, Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, and Pomerleau Real Estate. 

In (or Out of) “The Zone”

Chittenden County, Chittenden County VT, fair housing, housing crisis, housing discrimination, Housing Inequality, inclusionary zoning, Inclusive Communities, zoning,

This guest blog post features Mark Demers, Landlord Liaison at the Champlain Valley of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO). Mark helps build relationships with landlords across Chittenden County so that we at CVOEO can strengthen our practices of assisting people with their housing needs. Mark reflects on the way zoning laws can be restrictive to inclusive housing, and the impact that might have on the overall community.  Zoning laws have been used to restrict affordable housing and perpetuate the racial wealth gap. Historically, this has been intentional, with the “protection” that he refers to in his letter being for white people. If you are interested in digging deeper into the topic of zoning and equity, this webinar hosted by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University is a good place to start.

In (or Out of) “The Zone”

I walked into the bedroom and saw my three-year-old sitting on the floor with his back up against his bed, his knees pulled up tight to his chest. His ten-year-old brother with whom he shared the room, was seated at a desk working on a model airplane.

“Why don’t you play with your toys?” I asked the little one.

“I can’t play with my toys,” he said.

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t go past the line to get them.”

I learned that a policy had recently been put in force in the bedroom. The three-year-old was allowed to be in the room as long as he stayed on his “side”, which consisted of the real estate bordered by the wall his bed rested against and a line that ran parallel, about two feet away from the edge of the bed where he currently was sitting. The line was invisible; but it was rigorously enforced by the older brother. The youngest had access to about 15% of the space in the room. He was granted a right-of-way from the door of the bedroom to his “side”.

My youngest was experiencing the inequity of an unjust zoning ordinance – a policy over which he had little control and less say.

In her book “Fixer Upper”, Jenny Schuetz lays significant blame for the current housing crunch across the nation on zoning laws that are as restrictive as they are complicated. Communities are diverse in both their demography and their geography, thus the plethora of zoning not just from one town to another, but from one neighborhood to the next. Burlington is no exception.

Who can be expected to remember the difference between the NMU and the NAC; or the NAC-RC and the NAC-CR? We have RH’s, RM’s, RM-Ws, RL’s and RL-W’s. Each of these designate specific sections of the city and are accompanied by regulations for what can or cannot be built within their boundaries.

Zoning laws are designed to protect something – like wetlands or waterfronts or fabulous views or recreation areas. They protect the character of neighborhoods, keeping them “low density” (“RL”) or “historic” in appearance. Unfortunately, as my youngest son experienced, these laws can do more than protect resources or appearances. They become barriers – as impermeable as they are invisible – that prevent the construction of needed housing or prohibit certain people from living there.

We don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We don’t have to look far to see what happens when polluting activities are allowed to go unrestrained on fragile lands. The clean-up takes years and costs millions. We also have to ask ourselves the question: Do we want our children to be able to afford to live here? Burlington doesn’t have room to “build out” and if I read our current zoning laws right, there are not many places where we can “build up”. Something is going to have to give.

I don’t envy those in power faced with the task of mitigating the current housing crisis. My three-year-old son had the benefit of a dad whose authority was enough to adjust oppressive lines that had been arbitrarily set by the bedroom zoning ordinance. The lines drawn in and between our neighborhoods present more of a challenge. They have the power of decades of inertia behind them. But if we are going to have housing that is affordable, sustainable, and environmentally responsible, some of those lines are going to have to move. That’s not just a job for civic leaders; it’s a project that will demand careful thought, compromise – and dare I say it – sacrifice from us all.

 

If you are a landlord or property manager or want to comment on this article, please feel free to give me a call – 863-6248  x 755 or send me an email – mdemers@cvoeo.org.

New video highlights issues Vermonters face accessing safe, quality, accessible & affordable housing

affordable housing, fair housing, housing crisis, housing development, rental housing market

It’s not a secret — Vermont is experiencing a housing crisis. There’s so much going on (high rents, escalating home prices, motel vouchers, eviction moratoriums, mobile home park affordability, housing discrimination) it can be hard to know what’s happening and what we can do about it. 

Four housing advocates join the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition (VAHC) in this video series to highlight some of issues Vermont residents face accessing safe, quality, accessible and affordable housing—and how we must keep these multiple issues in mind as we increase investment in housing.

The video covers mobile home infrastructure with CVOEO’s former Mobile Home Program Resident Organizer Laura Mistretta; evictions in the aftermath of COVID19 with CVOEO’s Vermont Tenants Advocate Madeline Roberts; fair housing and discrimination with CVOEO Fair Housing Project Education and Outreach Coordinator Corrine Yonce, and broadband access with Evernorth Director of Asset Management Rewa Worthington.

In the words of CVOEO’s Corrine Yonce, “The creation of housing that starts happening this fall and will continue for a couple years because of this [federal] funding influx is going to impact the housing landscape and the overall community landscape of Vermont for decades to come. … We need to make sure that our new housing being created actually enables housing choice.”

Housing Equity & Preservation of Open Space

affordable housing, Burlington, Chittenden County, Chittenden County VT, density, economic growth, Economic Inequality, housing, housing committee, housing crisis, housing development, housing inequality, Housing Inequality, Inclusive Communities, NIMBYism, Place matters, public opinion, zoning, ,
updated, 12/29/20

At the Fair Housing Project, we generally applaud community members who organize to get their needs better met. But this featured article in the Other Paper as part of the Vermont Community News Network begs a counter response.  Continue reading Housing Equity & Preservation of Open Space →