v.
Bachand
Atkins v. Bachand, No. S0894-03 CnC (Norton, J., June 24, 2005)
[The text of this Vermont trial court opinion is unofficial. It has been reformatted from the original. The accuracy of the text and the accompanying data included in the Vermont trial court opinion database is not guaranteed.]
STATE OF VERMONT SUPERIOR COURT Chittenden County, ss.: Docket No. S0894-03 CnC
DAVID A. ATKINS and BETTY B. ATKINS, d/b/a WESTBURY PARK v. THERESA BACHAND and NICHOLE BACHAND ENTRY This matter concerns an eviction proceeding against Theresa and Nichole Bachand. Theresa Bachand rents a lot for her mobile home from the plaintiff, Westbury Park. Nichole Bachand resides in Theresa’s mobile home. The Bachands have filed a summary judgment motion, arguing that the lease provision that Westbury invokes to evict them is unenforceable because it is not uniformly applied to all tenants pursuant to the Vermont Mobile Home Parks Act, 10 V.S.A. § 6236(a). The Bachands reserved their right to raise other defenses that they mentioned in their answer.[1] Westbury has filed a cross-motion for summary judgment.
[*3]not believe that the Legislature intended the uniformity provision to pose an absurd and unreasonable burden on mobile home landlords to constantly ensure that no tenant is in violation of a lease. Accordingly, the Bachands have failed to demonstrate that Westbury has enforced its “no criminal prosecutions” lease provision in a non-uniform manner. Their summary judgment motion is denied. With respect to Westbury’s motion, Westbury requests summary judgment entirely in its favor. Westbury’s motion, however, responds only to the Bachands’ motion, which tests one of several defenses. The Bachands do not address in this motion the other allegations in their answer. These allegations include defenses that the “no criminal prosecution” provision unlawfully discriminates against Nichole and that the provision is not “reasonable and fair” under § 6236, among other defenses. The court therefore grants Westbury’s cross-motion for summary judgment only insofar as it relates to the defense that the “no criminal prosecutions” lease provision is non-uniform under § 6236. ORDER For the foregoing reasons, the Bachands’ summary judgment motion is DENIED and Westbury’s summary judgment motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
Dated at Burlington, Vermont, June 24, 2005.
________/s/________________ Judge
[*4]