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Act 188 Rental Housing Advisory Board

The Rental Housing Advisory Board was created in 2018 by Act 188 – An act relating to improving rental housing safety. The 11-member Board includes representation from Landlords, Tenants, Municipalities, and members of the public and receives staffing support from the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The Board is to act as an advisory group to the Governor, General Assembly, the Vermont Housing Council, and appropriate State agencies on issues related to rental housing statutes, policies, and regulations.

In addition to this ongoing advisory role, on January 15, 2019, the Board submitted to the General Assembly a report containing recommended changes to better support decent, safe, and sanitary rental housing. You can find a copy of that report linked below.

January 2019 Recommendations

As per the charge laid out in Act 188 of 2018, the Rental Housing Advisory Board met many times. The Board produced and submitted to the General Assembly a report of findings and recommendations to move towards an improved system ensuring the safety of Vermont's rental housing units. You can read the report here: January 2019 Recommendations

Act 48 of 2019

In the spring of 2019, Governor Scott signed into law Act 48. Many recommendations from the Rental Housing Advisory Board's January 2019 report were incorporated into Section 5 of Act 48 (pg. 11-17). This included directing the Department of Health and Division of Fire Safety to collaborate with the Rental Housing Advisory Board to present to the legislature in 2020 several options for creating and funding a professionalized, statewide system of inspection and enforcement of existing rental housing health codes. The Advisory Board continued to work with stakeholders over the summer and fall of 2019 in pursuit of this goal and produced a report in 2020. You can read the 2020 report here.

Legislative Proposals 2020

Since the passage of Act 48 in 2019, the Rental Housing Advisory Board has collaborated with staff from the Department of Health and the Division of Fire Safety to submit proposals to the General Assembly to implement a professionalized code enforcement system.

These proposals can be found in House Bill H.739

Background Materials

The following materials were provided to Advisory Board members to inform the January 2019 recommendations. Additional materials are included in the Rental Housing Advisory Board Final Report 1-15-2020.