A judge is ordering the Vermont Department of Public Safety to enforce state building codes for rental housing.
In the latest chapter in the long-running legal case, Franklin County Superior Court Judge Ben Joseph issued a summary judgment in favor of Vermont tenants, represented by Vermont Legal Aid, ordering the department to come up with a plan to enforce the building codes as intended by the Legislature.
Superior Court Judge Ben Joseph found that over a six-year period the state found 4,000 violations of state housing codes while collecting three fines from landlords.
Joseph found that in some cases when landlords failed to correct violations the tenants were evicted from the properties.