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I'm looking for a house to finish out my college education in Oregon. I've heard of some apartment complexes banning firearms possession by tenants.

My understanding is that the laws on this vary from state to state. In the state of Oregon, can a landlord legally prohibit a tenant from owning guns? I've tried looking up the laws, but didn't find anything that specifically related to this.

Thanks!
 
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An apartment is not a secure environment.
The Apt Manager can enter and search your dwelling (master key).
Any previous tenant can re-enter the dwelling (a spare key).
If you want to store a firearm collection, rent a <broken link removed> .
If it's a pistol, use a fire safe. Doesn't say anything more than you have something of value.

(waiting for troll declaring above searches are ILLEGAL, DUH!):rolleyes:
 
My bad, I mistyped the OP. I'll fix it.

It's actually not an apartment, but a house. Not sure if that changes anything. I haven't read the lease agreement yet, I'm just curious at this point.

I'd be co-leasing it with two friends.
 
It doesn't, unless you change the locks and you keep the keys.
I have this little vault under my car seat. For when I need to secure my CC when away from home.

When I leased I would always change the locks and not give keys to the landlord.

WA state requires a 3 day notice for check ups or repairs and a 24 hour notice for emergency's.

I would always be home while they were in the house.

As long as you sign a lease it will give you a lot of rights legally.

Month to month is still a signed agreement and you would have similar rights for that month :)
 
It might be on the edge of legal, but if you sign a lease where you must agree to not possess firearms on the property, then the landlord has a leg to stand on if you try to fight an eviction in court if the landlord discovers you broke the terms of the lease.

After all, a landlord can prohibit pets, smoking, waterbeds, even plants. My father prohibited certain crops on the land he leased to farmers. Up until a decade or so ago, in WA state, landlords could prohibit children under a certain age and I think they can still say that some complexes can prohibit people under 55.

What you can't do is prohibit occupancy based on race, religion, disability, and so on.

That said, I doubt the landlord can search your personal belongings - they can walk through your apartment, look in your closet, but they can't force you to open boxes or look in a safe - stuff like that. They have to have a valid reason such as ensuring that you aren't damaging the property.

Also, be aware that they don't have to renew your lease, and once the lease is expired and if you go month to month, they don't have to let you keep renting, they can say they want you out by the end of the month.

I have not heard of anybody west of the Rockies prohibiting firearms ownership as a condition of renting - so I wouldn't worry about it too much until you run into it. If you do find a landlord who prohibits firearms, just look elsewhere.
 
How would ORS 90.245 apply to this, which states that a rental agreement can't sign away a tenant's rights?
I think that applies to this:

http://www.tenant.net/Other_Areas/Oregon/016.html

I.E., you can't sign away those rights enumerated in that article.

So basically, I think the answer is yes, with certain exceptions I already mentioned, a lease can *probably* have an enforceable clause which states you cannot store firearms on the property.

For an authoritative answer you would need to ask an attorney experienced in such matters.
 
@PainCakesx - ensure both your friends are not felons (even if from being a youth) and I would strongly suggest a safe that they don't know how to get into.
Student housing is high on the targeted list for theft. Related is that students often like to "show off" which tells a wider group of people what you have.

Who owns the housing? Are you subject to the schools housing & student rules?
This may be a questionable area, but many schools restrict the 1st amendment and the 2nd.
You don't want to find yourself on the street half a term from a degree.
 
As a landlord in Oregon I have the right to legally discriminate against anyone that is not federally protected. I can't refuse to rent to someone based on color, faith, sexual orientation, etc. but I can discriminate against pet owners, smokers, gun owners, etc. In my leases, I restrict pets, smoking and drugs but not firearms. With that said however, if you're my tenant and you have a negligent discharge and put a round through a wall or the ceiling or floor, you're gone under the sections of the lease that deal with safety of tenants.

My advice, just like a business with a no firearms sign, if the landlord doesn't want firearms, find someone else to patronize.
 
When I leased I would always change the locks and not give keys to the landlord.

WA state requires a 3 day notice for check ups or repairs and a 24 hour notice for emergency's.

I would always be home while they were in the house.

As long as you sign a lease it will give you a lot of rights legally.

Month to month is still a signed agreement and you would have similar rights for that month :)

I think Oregon is a two day notice for intent to inspect.

Just a couple of thoughts as a landlord to think about when changing the locks and not providing a key:
- As a landlord I have a right to protect the integrity of my property and a responsibility to protect the safety of other tenants in the building.
- If you're on vacation and the tenant next door calls to tell me they hear water running and their living room carpet is all wet and I can't get in to shut down the broken hot water heater in your unit becasue I don't have a key, expect that when you get home your front door will most likey be nailed shut from where I had to break in and also expect a bill for the repair. Then depending on the attitude that I get, you may also get an eviction notice.

That may sound a bit harsh but as a landlord I have responsibilities to my property and my tenants and will do whatever I need to in order to protect both. I do have some personal limits on how I interact with tenants and with their homes. I will never enter a tenant's unit without legal notice or without one of the residents being there. I never enter a tenant's unit without them unless asked to do so to repair something or in the event of an emergency and in the case of an emergency I attempt to contact them before entering (a really good reason to make sure your landlord has good contact information for you).

My take is if you can't trust the landlord you probably shouldn't be renting from that person. If you're worried about who might have access because of reused locksets, ask them to change the lockswith a new lockset; a good landlord shouldn't have a problem doing this.
 
The last house I leased (before I bought) the management co. changed the locks the day after the previous tenants moved out. I should probably change the locks on my current house, but the POs moved to Hawaii and I have too many other projects that are higher priority. If someone really wants in they can walk 20 feet to my driveway island, get a rock and smash a window.
 
For an authoritative answer you would need to ask an attorney experienced in such matters.

DING! DING! DING! We have a WEEENER!!!!

I'm yet too see anything but opinions and conjecture on this topic. Is there any ORS# for this? OP, Is this a issue at a house you want to rent or just something to talk about?

OP, I would take nothing here for the definitive, If there is a problem that needs legal advice, Seek proper professionals. If no problem exists, Well.....
 
The only thing that I ban when writing up the rental contract is, no pets or pet sitting, smoking on the property and burning wax candles.
 
How would ORS 90.245 apply to this, which states that a rental agreement can't sign away a tenant's rights?
ORS 90.245 states (among other things) that:
(1) A rental agreement may not provide that the tenant:
(a) Agrees to waive or forgo rights or remedies under this chapter;

The rights you cannot be forced to waive are those listed within the chapter, section 90 specifically. A rental agreement can require you to forgo the storage of lawfully obtained and posessed personal goods on the property. This is neither opinion nor conjecture.
For example it is legal to own a 5 gallon can of gasoline, but it is also legal for your landlord to prohibit the possesion and storage of gasoline on his property.

It is legal, if you don't wish to abide by those contractual terms then don't contract with that landlord.

DING! DING! DING! We have a WEEENER!!!!

I'm yet too see anything but opinions and conjecture on this topic. Is there any ORS# for this? OP, Is this a issue at a house you want to rent or just something to talk about?

OP, I would take nothing here for the definitive, If there is a problem that needs legal advice, Seek proper professionals. If no problem exists, Well.....

ORS section 90 and all subsequent subsections are available online and detail landlord/tenant relations.
There is no need to hire a lawyer, just read the law.
 

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