BILL OK'D ALLOWING LANDLORDS TO EVICT TENANTS WITH DRUGS

The Measure Would Permit Eviction Without Notice to the Tenant.

PROVIDENCE -- A landlord could seek to evict a tenant without notice
if there were drugs found in the rental unit, under a bill passed by
the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday.

The provision would apply whether the tenant knew of the drugs'
presence or not.

In cases where a landlord must give a tenant notice of a problem under
state law, the tenant has 20 days to fix the problem rather than face
eviction proceedings. In cases where no notice is required, the
landlord could go straight to court.

Current law says a tenant cannot use the property for the manufacture,
sale or delivery of drugs, possess drugs at the property for those
purposes, or turn the property into a "narcotics nuisance" -- defined
elsewhere as a place where drugs are sold or stored.

The proposal, sponsored by the committee chairman, Sen. Michael J.
McCaffrey, D-Warwick, changes the language to say a tenant or
"authorized occupant" may not "have, keep, or allow" illegal drugs at
the property. The law covers the presence of drugs "of any type or
quantity" . . . "whether or not with knowledge by the tenant."

It further says the arrest of a tenant "for criminal drug activity on
the premises or on property adjacent to the premises" also is grounds
for eviction without notice if the landlord proves by a "preponderance
of the evidence" that the tenant was in possession of drugs at the
time.

"Preponderance of the evidence" is a term used in civil court to mean
the circumstances are more likely to have happened than not happened;
it is a weaker standard than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" required
to prove a criminal case.

The bill, which the committee approved unanimously on a 5-to-0 vote,
is the fourth draft of the proposal, which was originally even broader
in scope and has drawn strong criticism from advocates for tenants.

It makes one other critical change to what constitutes grounds for
eviction without notice, adding in acts of vandalism while removing a
section that covers "crimes of violence," from murder to felony
assault. McCaffrey, however, said that appeared to be a drafting error
that could be remedied on the Senate floor; he said his intent was to
include violent crimes and omit vandalism.

Providence lawyer Paul Ragosta, one of a number of lawyers who
represent landlords in housing cases, helped draft the bill. Ragosta
said the state's 15-year-old housing act "really doesn't provide a
proper remedy and a timely remedy and a meaningful remedy when there
is drug activity in housing, particularly in low-income housing and
public housing."

Ragosta said he personally handled a case where there was evidence of
marijuana use at an apartment, but a judge refused to evict the tenant
because the judge interpreted the law to require more than one
instance of drug activity.

The lawyer called that "an absurd result," arguing a single drug
offense should be grounds for eviction. He said the proposed state law
mirrors existing federal law for public-housing complexes.

Ragosta acknowledged the law could allow for the eviction of a tenant
who was unaware a party guest brought over a single marijuana "joint."
But he said the law must have a "balancing of interests."

"The policy decision is that the drug problem is so severe that this
sort of powerful tool is necessary," Ragosta said. He said tenants
will just have to be vigilant about who is in their apartment.

On the other hand, Noreen Shawcross, director of the Rhode Island
Coalition for the Homeless, said the current law already allows people
to be evicted for serious drug problems or other major crimes. She
said the McCaffrey bill was too broad and could increase the number of
evictions.

"I'm very disappointed they've chosen to go forward on it," she said,
pledging to fight it on the floor.

Shawcross and Robert Sabel, a lawyer for Rhode Island Legal Services,
both argued the state's landlord/tenant act was crafted with all
interested parties coming together to seek a balancing of interests,
and should not be changed without a similar process.

Sabel chafed at the bill's language that would allow a person to be
evicted for "any drug activity, of any type, no matter how minor."

He said federal law directs that a no-tolerance drug policy should be
included in leases, but does not declare the tenant will have no
opportunity to remedy the problem, which is what the state Senate bill
proposes.

In other action, the Judiciary Committee also passed, as expected, a
proposal to include court magistrates -- a job that can carry a
lifetime appointment and six-digit salary -- in the merit-selection
system for judges. Right now, only magistrates and traffic court
judges are exempt from the Judicial Nominating Commission screening
process.

The bill, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Joseph Montalbano,
D-North Providence, would apply to any new magistrates or any existing
magistrates with limited appointments whose terms come up for renewal.

A similar bill passed the Senate last year but died in the House.
Larry Berman, a spokesman for new House Speaker William J. Murphy,
D-West Warwick, said yesterday that House leaders had not reviewed the
bill or taken a position on it yet.