Burlington Code of Ordinances ch. 18 (Housing), Art. II (Administration and Enforcement) § 18-29 — 18-29 Retaliatory eviction.
18-29 Retaliatory eviction.(a) No owner shall evict any tenant, regardless of the rental period, because of a complaint lodged by or on behalf of such tenant with an inspector concerning a possible violation by the owner of the standards outlined in this chapter, when upon inspection pursuant to Sections
18-22 or 18-24 a violation is found to exist. Any filing of notice to vacate or service of an action for eviction or ejectment on a tenant or any other attempted eviction within ninety (90) days from the date such violation is certified by the inspector to be corrected or at any time if such violation is not so certified as corrected shall be presumed to be in violation of this section, and the burden of proof shall be on the owner to establish that the filing of such complaint was not the reason for the attempted eviction.(b) No owner shall evict any tenant, regardless of the rental period, because of any public statement or written testimony concerning landlord/tenant problems or other aspects of such legal relationship represented by or on the direct behalf of any such tenant to any governmental body, board, commission or committee which is considering any aspect of landlord/tenant relationships. Any filing of notice to vacate or service of an action for eviction or ejectment within ninety (90) days from the date of such public statement or written testimony shall be presumed to be in violation of this section, and the burden of proof shall be on the owner to establish that such public statement or written testimony was not the reason for the attempted eviction.
(Ord. of 4-12-93)