Charles and Eileen Houle v. Kevin Quenneville and Louisa Lewis

Kevin Quenneville and Louisa Lewis, appeal the
order granting landlords Charles and Eileen Houle possession at the
expiration of the rental term. Tenants contend: (1) landlords' notice of
nonrenewal of their lease was insufficient because landlords did not
provide the Vermont State Housing Authority (VSHA) with a contemporaneous
copy of the notice; (2) the court failed to properly allocate the burden
of proof on tenants' retaliatory eviction defense; and (3) the court erred
in finding that the evidence was insufficient to support a retaliatory
eviction. Because the requirements for notice to the VSHA do not apply to
a notice of nonrenewal of a lease and the court properly found that
tenants had failed to sustain their burden of proving their affirmative retaliatory eviction defense, we affirm.

On November 3, 1998, landlords and tenants executed a written rental
agreement regarding the rental of an apartment in Barre, Vermont. The
tenancy was subsidized by Section Eight housing assistance administered by
the VSHA, and the parties also executed a VSHA owner-occupant lease. The
term written in the lease was from November 3, 1998, to October 31, 1998.
The court found that the intended expiration date of the lease was October
31, 1999. A provision of the VSHA lease provided that after the initial
term "this Lease will renew on a month-to-month basis, unless the Owner
[landlord] gives notice to the Tenant of Owner's intent not to renew the
Lease."

Tenants took possession of the apartment on or about November 3, 1998.
Shortly after taking occupancy, tenants discovered some problems,
including an inadequate supply of hot water, a running toilet, leaking
shower hose, falling window glazing, and a roll of carpet matting and other
debris on the back porch. Tenants notified landlords of the problems.
Landlords did not immediately correct the problems, and on March 28, 1999,
tenants mailed a letter to landlords detailing the infirmities and
informing landlords that tenants would withhold their rent if landlords
did not contact tenants within twenty-four hours to make arrangements to
resolve the problems. Upon receiving the note, landlords confronted
tenants and threatened to bring an action against them for violating the
lease by disturbing other tenants. Landlords stated that they would only
repair the toilet and asked tenants to voluntarily terminate the lease.
Subsequently, landlords served tenants with a notice to vacate the
premises by April 30, 1999, asserting tenants had harassed other tenants in
violation of the lease. Upon delivering the notice, the sheriff changed
the vacate date to May 8, 1999. Tenants then contacted the
Building/Electrical Inspector for the City of Barre complaining about the
problems with the apartment. After inspecting the premises, the inspector
notified
landlords that the debris on the porch landing constituted a fire hazard
and must be removed.

Tenants did not quit the premises on April 30, or May 8, 2000, and
landlords commenced an eviction action alleging tenants had violated the
terms of the VSHA lease by disturbing other tenants. Tenants answered
landlords' eviction complaint by denying that they had breached the terms
of the rental agreement and raising the affirmative defenses that: (1)
pursuant to 9 V.S.A. § 4467(b), notice to terminate tenancy for breach of
the rental agreement must be served on the tenant at least thirty days
before the termination date specified in the notice; and (2) the attempted
eviction was in retaliation for tenants' actions in reporting health and
safety code violations and other lawful activity by tenants to enforce
landlords' obligation to maintain premises in a safe and sanitary
condition.

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Regarding the September 24, 1999 notice of nonrenewal letter, tenants
argue that it was invalid because Paragraph 13(b) of the VSHA
owner-occupant lease unambiguously requires a landlord to serve tenant and
VSHA with notice whenever a landlord seeks to terminate a tenancy for any
reason. Paragraph 13 provides, in pertinent part:

13. Owner Termination Notice:
A. Notice of grounds. The Owner [landlord] must give the Tenant a
notice that specifies the grounds for termination of tenancy. The
notice of grounds must be given at or before commencement of the
eviction action. The notice of grounds may be included in or may
be combined with any Owner eviction notice to the Tenant.
B. State or local eviction notice. Owner eviction notice means
notice to vacate, or a complaint or other initial pleading used
under State or local law to commence an eviction action. The
Owner must give the [VS]HA a copy of any Owner eviction notice to
the Tenant at the same time the Owner gives notice to the Tenant.

VSHA Owner-Occupant Lease, Paragraph 13 (emphasis added). The plain
meaning of the lease
provision demonstrates its applicability only to eviction actions or
actions to remove the tenant and terminate the tenancy on sufficient
grounds during the lease term. In re West, 165 Vt. 445, 450, 685 A.2d
1099, 1103 (1996) ("When an agreement is clear and unambiguous, the plain
meaning of the agreement governs its interpretation."). Indeed, the VSHA
lease distinguishes between termination of the tenancy during the lease
term and termination at the expiration of the lease term. During the term
of the lease, the owner may terminate the tenancy only for (1) serious and
repeated violations of the conditions of the lease; (2) violations of
state, federal or local laws regarding the obligations of the tenant; (3)
criminal activity or (4) other good cause. VSHA Owner-Occupant Lease,
Paragraph 12(A). The VSHA lease specifically excludes termination for
nonrenewal from the requirements attending termination for good cause
grounds.

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Click the case caption above for the full text
of the Court's opinion.

Affirmed.

Unknown

Unknown

Reported by Kent Morlan