Legal ?: Can an apartment ban firearms in the lease

[.cheese.]

I actually specifically chose my apartment because they don't ban pets or firearms.

The ban firearms that are illegal as per state or federal law, but that basically amounts to - don't break the law and you're fine.

 

[jferrell54]

A lease is a binding contract and if you violate it you can be evicted under the Virginia Landlord Tenant Act. That's why you should throughly read and understand any contract you sign.

 

[red headed stranger]

And what might the consequence be? Asked to move out? In this case I would think 'big deal'.

Evictions can be reported to credit bureaus. An eviction on your credit report can make it considerably harder to get decent housing in the future.

 

[answerguy]

Evictions can be reported to credit bureaus. An eviction on your credit report can make it considerably harder to get decent housing in the future.

I can only comment about Michigan and you would be right that an eviction on your record could create future problems. But that would only be if the tenant allowed it to go all the way through to an actual court case. In Michigan a landlord would present a tenant with a 30 day demand for possession and if the tenant moves within that 30 days nothing is ever filed with the courts.

The way things are in Michigan right now I can't imagine a landlord kicking out tenant who pays their rent on time for anything short of illegal activities.

 

[kurtmax]

I wouldn't worry about it. The firearms won't be pissing on your carpet. If you pay your rent on time and aren't excessively loud, etc, the landlord most likely isn't going to kick you out because you have guns.

Tenants that pay rent on time are hard enough to find...

 

[flying_gage]

Having rental property, I will throw my opinion in here.

It is hard to find "good" tenants. Not sorta hard, but actually really hard. I have never even thought about restricting someone's rights in that regard. But I am a member here so that is somewhat of a no brainer.

We use a "boiler plate" lease agreement for our tenants. It would not surprise me if this is a boiler plate. I would recommend your friend ask about this clause and see if they would waive it. If he is squared away and has a good background, I wouldn't think it an issue. Like I mentioned it is hard to find good tenants and we will bend over backwards if we find one!

Tell your friend that oftentimes, there is no insurance coverage for tenants belongings. We always recommend to our tenants a "renter's policy" for their personal belongings. For a gun(s) in the above situation, you might have to get a speciality company to write the policy?

Hope this helps.

 

[WardenWolf]

Flying gage is correct. You can sometimes get a landlord to cross out restrictive portions of the contract if you can convince them you're a good, responsible individual.

 

[divemedic]

Unenforceable, however, they will evict you quickly. You will have to sue for damages.

A landlord in many states has to take you to court to forcibly evict you. Your defense would be that the portion of the lease being used to evict you is not legally enforceable. Then you ask the court to grant you your legal expenses.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

"Is this legal?"

Of course, he AGREED to those terms. People can contract their rights for or against darned near anything.

"Why are firearms lumped with pets?"

My guess would be because the drafters of that lease are unmitigated morons.

Flying gage is correct. You can sometimes get a landlord to cross out restrictive portions of the contract if you can convince them you're a good, responsible individual.

Correct.

 

[Frank Ettin]

A landlord in many states has to take you to court to forcibly evict you. Your defense would be that the portion of the lease being used to evict you is not legally enforceable. Then you ask the court to grant you your legal expenses.

Why do you contend that it's unenforceable? As discussed thus far, it may be unenforceable in some states because there's an express legal prohibition. But that doens't mean that it's unenforeable in all states, or even in Virginia where the OP lives. (It does appear that in Virginia a prohibition of friearms in not permitted in connection with the rental of public housing, but we don't know that the apartment the OP wants to rent is in public housing.)

 

[divemedic]

I was not responding to the legality of the defense, I was responding to the statement that made it appear like the landlord's eviction process is somehow unconnected to the court process.

 

[DHJenkins]

Any violation of a lease agreement is grounds for eviction down here, however it's a 30 day process.

And to answer the question, it's their property - they can ban yellow hats if they like.