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Can I be evicted from a rental for carrying?

Gray2Hairs

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Dec 21, 2006
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Airway Heights, Washington, USA
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Evidently someone at my apartment complex got in a verbal/threatening situation with the gardner. It seems the tenant though the gardner cut his cable and the tenant was yelling and threatening the gardner while carrying a gun.

Although I was not home at the time a neighbor told my wife that the landlord said he would find out who was carrying and they would be gone.

Obviously it was not me in the confrontation but my question is ... can I be evicted for carrying? I am not at all familiar with the rental laws in Washington.



Any assistance will be appreciated.
 

sandy

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May 16, 2006
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, Washington, USA
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It is myunderstanding that case law supports RKBA in your home and grounds, even when it is a rental property. I do not believe that the landlord can legally evict you for owning, carrying, or using a firearm legally.

However if the other tenant actually threatened someone with a firearm, then that is illegal, and he can be evicted for assaulting the gardener. Whether that happened or not is something even you probably don't know for sure. Regardless, you can carry on. Don't be mean to the gardener.

-- Sandy (WA)
 

Gray2Hairs

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Thanks for the reply. The gardner is a great guy so no problems there. Heck, if he did cut the cable it would just mean I would have some time to talk to my wife, LOL.

Opps, I forgot that I have aDVR so I could still watch my shows.
 

BobCav

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Merely open carrying a holstered firearm is not threatening at all. If you gesturedtoward it or mentioned it while confronting someone then yes, you used it in a threatening manner and that's illegal.
 

just_a_car

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Auburn, Washington, USA
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BobCav, not sure if you caught the point of the OP or if you were just dropping a blanket statement, but the OP was NOT the one arguing with the gardner.

The OP had heard that the landlord was going to evict anyone he knew had a gun/was carrying and he's worried he will be evicted, even though he didn't do anything in the wrong.

I don't know any laws relevent to this, other than you never broke any by carrying openly. If you do get evicted, your first call should be to a lawyer.
 

Citizen

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You could check Washington's statutes as a starting point. In Virginia we have something called "The Tenant-Landlord Act" or some such.
 

joeroket

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Dec 5, 2006
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We have that in Wa. too. Lanlords cannot evict because you own/carry a firearm. They can however not renew your lease or find a "legal" reason to evict you.
 

eBratt

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Jun 4, 2006
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Fort Collins Area, CO
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joeroket, do you happen to have a code or reference for your statement? I was familiar with the one in Utah and would love to know where to find the one for Washington.
 

joeroket

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eBratt wrote:
joeroket, do you happen to have a code or reference for your statement? I was familiar with the one in Utah and would love to know where to find the one for Washington.
I'll try and find it again.
 

joeroket

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eBratt wrote:
joeroket, do you happen to have a code or reference for your statement? I was familiar with the one in Utah and would love to know where to find the one for Washington.

OK here is what I was looking at before.

http://tinyurl.com/2dyvxb

In there is a note that says that you can be evicted for unlawful display of or threating another tenant or landlord witha firearm if you are arrested for that crime. The law does not give them the option to evict solely on the basis that youown or possess one.Ido have to revise my last statement on the issue however.

If it is not in your lease restricting firearms from the landlords property then he can only evict for an unlawful act commited by the tenant. The landlord can put a restriction to firearms in the lease by if he chooses. It is not an item that would be nullified by law if it is in the lease. Also the Landlord/Tenant act does not apply to certain situations.
 

eBratt

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Interesting. In Utah, IIRC, the law simply stated that landlords cannot restrict your firearms rights. Period. So I simply ignored the clause in my contact that prohibited even having a firearm and even OCed (office was right across the street from my duplex). Not a word was ever said.

Too bad that the landlord has the ability to quash your rights here. I doubt a clause allowing for them to evict you if they don't like your bumper stickers or involvement in political issues would be allowed to stand for long...
 

joeroket

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eBratt wrote:
Interesting. In Utah, IIRC, the law simply stated that landlords cannot restrict your firearms rights. Period. So I simply ignored the clause in my contact that prohibited even having a firearm and even OCed (office was right across the street from my duplex). Not a word was ever said.

Too bad that the landlord has the ability to quash your rights here. I doubt a clause allowing for them to evict you if they don't like your bumper stickers or involvement in political issues would be allowed to stand for long...
Yea the thing I do not like about the way the landlords restrictions are is "unlawful discrimination". If thier is no law about discriminating against it then it is legal if it is in the lease. In all the time I have been renting I do have to say that I have never once seen a lease that restricts firearms. Even when I rented an apartment who's owner was a religious entity.
 

gregma

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Mar 27, 2007
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Redmond, Washington, USA
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Gray2Hairs wrote:
Obviously it was not me in the confrontation but my question is ... can I be evicted for carrying? I am not at all familiar with the rental laws in Washington.
It all depends on what your lease says. If you violate a term of your lease, then you can be evicted. If your lease says no firearms, then no firearms. If your lease doesn't say that, then you are not violating the terms of the lease for carrying.
 

Jared

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Jul 8, 2006
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Location
Michigan, USA
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gregma wrote:
Gray2Hairs wrote:
Obviously it was not me in the confrontation but my question is ... can I be evicted for carrying? I am not at all familiar with the rental laws in Washington.
It all depends on what your lease says. If you violate a term of your lease, then you can be evicted. If your lease says no firearms, then no firearms. If your lease doesn't say that, then you are not violating the terms of the lease for carrying.

The lease does not matter if their is law or case law supporting the claim. A lease could say no black people are able to rent here, that would illegal.

A lease could also say something that may not be legal, just because it's in the lease that does not make it legal.

Many states do have laws/case law on this matter. In Minnesota and Arizona, you can not be evicted for lawfully using or lawfully carrying a firearm, the lease could say otherwise, it doesn't matter, it's irrelevant.

I looked up the laws in Arizona when I use to rent anapartment. Be sure to check your facts before just making a blanket statement.
 
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