State v. Hemingway, 196 Vt. 441 (2014)

Citation: State v. Hemingway, 196 Vt. 441 (2014)
Parent Document: State v. Hemingway, 196 Vt. 441 (2014)
Jurisdiction: Vermont (state)
Effective Date: 2014-05-09
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2673207/state-v-hemingway/ ↗

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¶ 36. The majority’s reliance on In re Soon Kwon, 2011 VT 26, 189 Vt. 598, 19 A.3d 139 (mem.), is misplaced. In that case, this Court considered a statute directing that a landlord “shall” provide notice of a security deposit statement to former tenants “ ‘by hand-delivering or mailing the statement ... to the last known address of the tenant.’ ” Id. ¶ 10 (quoting 9 V.S.A. § 4461(d)). The statute also explained that if a landlord failed to return the security deposit with a statement within fourteen days, “‘the landlord forfeits the right to withhold any portion of the security deposit.’ ” Id. ¶ 17 (quoting 9 V.S.A. § 4461(e)). This Court held that the statute created a bright-line rule and that even if a tenant had actual notice, failure to comply with the notice provision resulted in forfeiture of the deposit. In so holding, this Court considered several factors. First, the statute had a consumer-protection purpose, and the focus was on prompt return of a deposit. Id. ¶¶ 15, 19. Second, the use of the word “shall” was *456mandatory language that obligated compliance by the landlord. Id. ¶ 16. Third, in contrast to this case, the statute contained a consequence for failure to comply. Id. ¶ 17. Finally, also unlike this situation, the interpretation was consistent with the rest of the statutory scheme. Id. ¶ 18.

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