The VTLawHelp website has information about some reasons a tenant may oppose a Motion for Rent Into Court on their Court Process: Steps in an Eviction Case web page under What is “Rent Into Court?” / You can oppose the motion.
Rent Escrow Hearing
Both parties should attend the rent escrow hearing. The Going to Court web page provides information about getting ready for a hearing.
If the tenant doesn’t attend the hearing, the landlord can ask the court to move ahead with the hearing and issue the rent escrow order.
If the landlord doesn’t attend the hearing, the court could dismiss the landlord’s motion. This does not dismiss the entire eviction case – just the motion for rent escrow.
If the tenant received notice of the rent escrow hearing before their deadline to respond to (answer) the eviction complaint and they attend the rent escrow hearing, their new deadline to respond is 14 days after the rent escrow hearing. See the Responding to an eviction complaint section below for information about answering the complaint.
An order to pay rent into escrow will be for rent owed since:
the eviction case was started, or
since the tenant was served with the eviction complaint,
whichever happens first. The order will not include amounts the landlord claims the tenant owed before either of those events.
At the hearing, the judge will hear from both parties and make a decision about whether the tenant must pay rent to the court until the case is finished.