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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Bisson v. Ward, 628 A.2d 1256 (1993)

Citation
Bisson v. Ward, 628 A.2d 1256 (1993)
Parent Document
Bisson v. Ward, 628 A.2d 1256 (1993)
Jurisdiction
Vermont (state)
Effective Date
1993-06-11

Other Sections in This Document (64)

Full Text

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Important policy considerations also support our conclusion that tenants are entitled to attorney’s fees under the Vermont Residential Rental Agreements Act. We believe that the Legislature intended to provide attorney’s fees to prevailing tenants in order to encourage tenants, who are usually at a financial disadvantage, to pursue claims under the Act, thus promoting safe and clean rental housing in Vermont. Indeed, there would be little incentive to bring a claim for breach of the implied warranty of habitability in many cases because attorney’s fees are often likely to exceed the recovery. Here, tenant recovered damages of $1,700 with interest, but invested over $2,400 in attorney time before even beginning the appeal process. As in Gramatan,