03-05-2025
Judge halts evictions from VT hotel motel program
BURLINGTON, Vt. (ABC22/FOX44) – A Vermont Superior Court judge placed a Temporary Restraining Order on the Vermont Department for Children and Families this week, blocking its ability to remove people from the state's General Assistance Emergency Housing Program, also known as the hotel-motel program, for the time being.
Judge Sam Hoar signed the order after Vermont Legal Aid brought a complaint about recent evictions to the court, saying they had heard from people who claimed to have been kicked out of their hotel and motel rooms without notice. The order mandates Vermont DCF can no longer evict anyone as long as it's active, must give people in the program advance notice before terminating their vouchers, and must give voucher holders a chance to challenge their eviction.
The ruling marks a big win for homelessness advocates in Vermont to start the month of May, as no one will be removed from their hotel or motel rooms for at least the next two weeks.
'The people in this program, they are elderly, they are disabled, they have children … They don't deserve to be treated like they don't matter,' said Leah Burdick, an attorney with Vermont Legal Aid who helped get the Temporary Restraining Order put in place. 'This is an important victory for the rule of law and the people of Vermont, because the judge said 'Yes, people in these motels have due process rights, and they must be notified before they can be told to leave.''
Burdick said Friday that ever since last year when the Vermont Legislature and Governor Phil Scott approved an 80 day cap on how long people are allowed to stay in the program, some people have complained about being kicked out before they believe their 80 days are up, and only being given hours to remove all of their belongings from their rooms.
'What we are really concerned about is these day-of, hours-before a checkout time, when they had every expectation that they were still eligible for another set of days, that they were told, 'Nope, get out,'' Burdick said. 'This order tells the department: That's not how this works.'
The order will now remain in place until there is a hearing, which has been set for Friday, May 16. At that hearing, Burdick said Vermont Legal Aid hopes to get a Preliminary Injunction, which would basically elongate the period of time Vermont DCF is prohibited form evicting anyone.
Chris Winters, Vermont DCF Commissioner, commented on the Temporary Restraining Order Friday afternoon, saying the department will comply with the order, but not indicating how they might respond to it in court.
'DCF is in receipt of the Court Order and is enacting changes to ensure compliance with this temporary order,' Winters wrote. 'Households are receiving notification of their rights to maintain housing and appeal any denial or termination.'
When asked how far in advance she thinks people should be notified of their upcoming evictions, Burdick didn't give an exact number of days, but said it should be long enough to where people can dispute it if they want.
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