faust

I just moved into a new place and while reading the lease, I noticed a peculiar phrase. I ended up just ignoring it b/c it's illegal, but then some other people moved into my building and they noticed it too. We both asked about it.

Here's what it said, "There shall be no illegal or immoral acts permitted on the property"

Illegal? sure, I understand that, even if it's a bit redundant; illegal acts aren't permitted by their very nature.
Immoral? HA! I asked the manager, "So who decides what's immoral?" his response, "I do."
He's catholic, but he went on to explain that it's "your place" he's not going to say what you can or can't do inside your own place. But damn?! I just ignored it because I know it's ultimately unenforceable. My neighbors did the same thing. I just wonder what moron decided that this was an ok term to put in a lease. This is not a dorm room, this is not a guardianship. I earn and pay for my own housing.

Anyway, the idiot manager keeps keying his way into my appt on the flimsiest of excuses (long story). So i've taken to leaving atheist advocacy books lying around prominently. That situation of him just walking in whenever he feels like it is going to change real soon though, with the introduction of him to my glock the next time he illegally enters my home.

Thoughts on the lease terms? Is that crazy or what?

Loren Pechtel

You've got trouble there. It's not the words themselves--as you say, unenforceable. However, keeping coming in like that.....

Bree

There could very well be a reason why your landlord has that in his lease agreement. Find out whether or not your city has what are sometimes referred to as "morality clauses" - these clauses spell out what is considered "immoral" in your city. My city lists sodomy as an immoral act; the "no immoral acts" bit refers back to the morality clause, and so I could be tossed out of my apartment if I was every caught in the act of "sodomy" (meaning non-heterosexual sex). Note that I emphasised caught in the act - the lawyer I spoke to on the issue said that the police (or my landlady) wuld probably have to walk in on Jek and I in a compromising situation in order for the clause to take effect.

I have a little sticker on my bedroom mirror that says "No one knows I'm a lesbian..." as a way to tempt Fate, so to speak .

pz

But we all know!

Here's something to worry about, though -- quotes from Rick Santorum (I am happy to say that I lived in Pennsylvania at just the right time to vote against that idiot, not that it helped):
See? You have no right to privacy, and the state has the right to limit your passions.

So stop that. Right now.

Melkor

Is there anything in the lease about re-keying the lock or adding a deadbolt or something?

There probably is, but I'd check. If they forgot to put anything about that in there, I'd take advantage of it.

Toto

I imagine that if you introduce your landlord to your glock, it would give him a good reason to evict you. (Take a deep breath. . .)

Your state might have some laws about landlord entry into an apartment. A tenants' rights group could help.

liquid

I'm totally unfamiliar with American tenancy rights, but in the UK a landlord must give 24hrs notice to enter a property. I'd be surprised if its not the same in the states. You can't get away with installing a new lock, but you can install an additional one if it doesn't permanently disfigure the doorway. It's ridiculous for him to come round all the time - I only get inspected once every 3 months, and I live in a house of male students! Many of my friends are lucky if they get an inspection annually...

You have a duty to protect those on your property (even burglars actually!), so things like landlord pit-traps are out of the question though!

As for immoral acts - tenancy contracts are different to many other commercial ones - you have protected status. So you can't usually be evicted if you complain about the grounds for eviction in the court. Also, the clause won't hold any water if its not recognised in the court. For instance, in the UK you often get odd clauses like having to repaint the wood yearly. Those aren't enforceable because property maintenance is the statutory responbility of the landlord.

But then it could all be different in the states - I know employees rights can be poor so tenants might suffer too.

Ronin

A Catholic you say?

Buy him a bottle of Jack and you'll be good for anything up to and including schtupping catahoula swamp hounds.

...trust me on this one.

faust

Bree:
Interesting point, I know "sodomy" is illegal here in Louisiana; sodomy being anything other than straight up missonary position basically. The manager even said, and I am quoting him directly, "Bruh, If you wanna go in there and sodomize some girl, that's your business dude, I ain't gonna step in with that." And some lame excuses about the clause being there for residents offending one another (his example was displaying confederate flags in windows and things.)
I'll have to go check and see if there are any "immorality" ordinances. Hell, we have Blue Laws, so it's not unlikely.

Others:
As for notice, Louisiana is one of 30 something states that does not explicitely state that the owner or his representative must give any notice at all, so apparantly he can do exactly what he is doing, -provided- he has a legal reason to enter.

Melkor:
I thought about that. I have to check the lease when I get home but I imagine he could use another part of the lease to change my locks back to whatever he'd like as under the "maintenance" clause.

Toto:
There is one good thing about Louisiana. We follow the Castle Doctrine of your home is your castle. Anyone who is attempting to illegally enter your home can be shot. They don't even have to make it inside, and you don't have to attempt to flee. That's why I said earlier about him entering for an illegal reason. That being said, I have a concealed weapons permit (not that i need it in my house) and he knows this. He knows that I am always armed. Maybe he has a death wish or something, I don't know. But if he keys his way in and wakes me up by knocking on my bathroom or bedroom door when I'm in either room, asleep or awake, without giving me some warning or message that he -needs- to enter the apartment, I will most certainly draw down on him and order him to leave the premses and call the police.
I'm sick of it. He's literally let himself in, walked to my bathroom or bedroom door, knocked and walked in, 4 times since i moved in, 20 days ago!
He has a history of this apparantly. But if i were a woman, i'd have already sued him for everything he doesn't have.
Then again, I think to myself, what if i weren't in bed alone when he pulled that kind of stunt. <sigh>

LLaurieG

(Laurie) Frankly I couldn't tolerate being "surveilled" and spied on like that. What an asshole! This is less about rental agreement language and what constitutes "morality" legally... it's much more about this asshole's blunt and repeated lack of discretion. And he has a key to your place??

I'd move. Scare him someday with your Glock though, and he'll invite you move out fast enough!