Fair Housing Laws and Lease Modifications/Addendums

[daniel1113]

I'm in the process of leasing an apartment in Virginia. After receiving the lease agreement, I found a few sections that I thought were ambiguous and needed some clarification before signing. Eventually, I received an adequate response from the leasing agent, but since any information provided by the leasing agent is not legally binding, I requested that he provide an addendum to my lease agreement that clarified the provisions that I asked about.

To my surprise, the leasing agent responded that it would not be possible to provide me with a modified lease agreement or addendum due to Fair Housing laws as this would create a difference between my lease agreement and that of the other tenants.

While I don't have a lot of experience in terms of renting apartments (I will be moving into my third apartment and this is the first time I've disagreed with a portion of a lease), I don't see how this claim is true. I thought it was common practice to discuss the terms of a lease before renting and ask the landlord to make any necessary changes so that both parties are satisfied.

Anyway, I am currently reading through the VA Fair Housing laws, but am curious if anyone knows something that I may be missing that would validate my agent's response. Thanks.

Cliffs:
1. Looking to rent apartment.
2. Found problems with lease agreement.
3. Asked leasing agent to make changes.
4. Leasing agent refuses to make said changes due to Fair Housing laws.

 

[Vette73]

What changes? info?

 

[daniel1113]

Sorry for the ambiguity. Basically, the lease states that the following behavior is prohibited: "displaying or possessing a gun, knife, or other item which is intended to be used as a weapon in Resident(s) apartment, a common area or in a way that may alarm others."

My concern was that while the intention of this provision was simply to prohibit the use of a gun/knife/weapon to threaten or alarm others, the way it was written, it doesn't seem to even allow the legal possession of firearms, mainly due to the location of the "or" in each list. While the agent assured me that the possession of firearms would not be an issue, I wanted the clarification to be binding.

EDIT: Although I am not too concerned about the ambiguity noted above, as I understand where the agent is coming from, I am still curious about the Fair Housing law that he claimed to remove his ability to modify the lease agreement. Hence why I didn't initially bring up the specifics.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

God is great, beer is good, landlords/leasing agents/rental agreements are nucking futs. As long as you don't have more than one bumper sticker, you're good to go.

I know the East is, shall we say, a tad litigious but, the political climate regarding renting in your state is far more relevant than the letter of the law. In other words, judgements in similar cases carry far more weight than the law or, judges interpret the law any way they want.

The reason this is relevant is that there isn't a rental agent or corporation on the planet that will change it's SOP until forced by the courts. So, your options are to sign and keep the weapons on the QT or, don't sign and look elsewhere for an apartment.

 

[daniel1113]

Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
God is great, beer is good, landlords/leasing agents/rental agreements are nucking futs. As long as you don't have more than one bumper sticker, you're good to go.

I know the East is, shall we say, a tad litigious but, the political climate regarding renting in your state is far more relevant than the letter of the law. In other words, judgements in similar cases carry far more weight than the law or, judges interpret the law any way they want.

The reason this is relevant is that there isn't a rental agent or corporation on the planet that will change it's SOP until forced by the courts. So, your options are to sign and keep the weapons on the QT or, don't sign and look elsewhere for an apartment.

Thanks for the response.

Believe me, I'm not worried about the guns. I'm just curious if the rep's excuse for not adding a clarification/addendum to my lease due to Fair Housing legislation was in fact valid. While I have no doubt that certain changes are not permitted, I've never been in a situation where a leasing agent (or representative for the owner) could not tailor lease agreements based on the needs and concerns of each lessee.