Tenant Rights

This page tells you what can happen if you abandon your rental unit and possessions. It also tells you what happens when a landlord thinks you have abandoned your unit or apartment.

If a landlord wants you to move out, the landlord must give you advance notice. The termination notice is just the first step in the eviction process. You can decide to move out. Or you can stay in your unit until the landlord files an eviction case in court.

When you have a rental agreement, you have the right to have guests. You have a right to keep uninvited people, or trespassers, out. You and a roommate can agree with a landlord to rent a unit. You may be able to rent all or part of your unit to a “subtenant” (a roommate). This page includes the Notice Against Trespass.

This section is about you deciding to move out of your rental unit, or deciding to agree with your landlord’s notice to end the tenancy. It explains the process of moving out and ending your tenancy.

Vermont law prohibits a landlord from physically carrying you or your belongings out, or changing the locks so you can’t get in. The landlord cannot cause the electric, water or heat to be shut off. Learn more about lockouts and utility shutoffs on this page.

Tenants and landlords have certain duties that are expected of them. This page tells you more about paying rent, inforrmation about wear and tear and causing damage, keeping your utilities on, and your duty to not disturb your neighbors.

In Vermont, all agreements between landlords and tenants about renting are called “rental agreements.” All of the agreements made by you and the landlord or implied by the RRAA are called the “terms” of the tenancy. Any part of a rental agreement that tries to get around the RRAA isn’t legal. Calling a residential rental agreement a “lease” does not have any special legal meaning in Vermont.

This section tells you about the Residential Rental Agreements Act (RRAA), the law that sets the rules for renting in Vermont. This information was written with tenants in mind. Although it is written for tenants, it may be useful for landlords, too.