Lawmakers on the Senate Housing, Transportation and Telecommunications Committee discussed a bill Wednesday that would require landlords to give residential tenants 60 days’ notice before terminating their lease or increasing their rent.
Leadership from the V.I. Housing Authority testified in support of the measure, which was sponsored by Sen. Marvin Blyden.
“This provision is particularly crucial for our low-income residents, who are often the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of abrupt changes in their living arrangements,” VIHA Chief Operating Officer Lydia Pelle testified. “By allowing tenants the proper time to evaluate their options, secure alternative accommodations and manage their finances effectively, we are ensuring that their rights are protected and their security prioritized.”
Lawmakers generally supported the measure and its intent but debated the meaning of “fair notice” mentioned in the bill’s summary. Others lamented that there were no private landlords at Wednesday’s hearing to testify. Sen. Dwayne DeGraff noted that sections of the bill pertained to month-to-month leases, which the Housing Authority doesn’t even offer.
“Does this apply to you at all?” Sen. Marise James asked.
“It does not,” Pelle said.
Lawmakers also sought clarity from legal counsel Nandi Sekou on how the proposed changes to the V.I. Code would affect the eviction process.
“This bill is simply providing notice. Nothing happens here until a notice to quit is filed by a landlord,” she said, or until a tenant decides they’re not agreeable to a rent increase of five percent or more and decides to vacate. “Should the landlord want the tenant to vacate the premises after this 60-day requirement notice, then the landlord would have to file a notice to quit.”
That process is outlined in a different subchapter of the V.I. Code not slated for amendment, Sekou said.
Blyden later told his colleagues that the bill had nothing to do with the eviction process and appeared exasperated by some of their lines of questioning.
“This bill seeks to assist renters and help with homelessness and stability in the territory. Let’s vote it up or down and move on,” he said. “That’s my position right now, because I ain’t got no time for all of this stuff — every time I bring a bill, it’s something else. We find a billion things to talk about. The bill is plain and simple.”
Lawmakers voted 6-1 in favor of holding the bill in committee.
