Vt. Human Rights Comm'n, HV19-0018, Investigative Report & Reasonable Grounds Determination

r35Interview with Mr. Deery, 611312019.
r36
Response, 61612019.
rtt 14.
r38
Robert G. Schwemm, Housing Discrimination Law and Litigation, $30:3, pp. 30-8.
r3e
Armen H. Merjian, Attempted Nullification: The Administrative Burden Defense in Source of Income
Discrimination Cases,22 Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy 21 1,211 (2015).
One of Mr. Deery's arguments for why his refusal to accept Section 8 from Ms. Weygant was
lawful is that Ms. Weygant needed a two bedroom apaftment, which Mr. Deery could not
provide.laO Mr. Deery suggested that Ms. Weygant was going to have to move anyway, stating,
"I was told by Section 8 that [Ms. Weygant] had to have a two-bedroom apartm.tr1."l4l A New
York case found that the landlord had discriminated against a tenant receiving Section 8, in
violation of a city code similar to Vermont's VFHPAA, by refusing to rent to someone because
the landlord was concerned that the apartment size being rented did not match the size on the
tenant's voucher.la2 The court stated that the housing authority, not the landlord, had the
authority to determine the applicability of a Section 8 voucher.la3 In this case, even if Mr.
Deery's refusal to rent was motivated by his view that Ms. Weygant required a different number
of bedrooms, the refusal would still be prohibited because it is the housing authority, not Mr.
Deery, who is authorized to determine the applicability of Ms. Weygant's voucher. Additionally,
Penny Taylor, the Section 8 program director for the Bennington Housing Authority, said she
talked to Mr. Deery about Ms. Weygant's voucher and she told Mr. Deery that it's Ms.
Weygant's choice whether she wanted to live in a one bedroom apartment.laa