Q: Can we tell a tenant they can’t keep weapons in a property? Our lease doesn’t address this at all.
A: The general rule in Arizona is that you can prohibit almost anything you want in your property (provided it doesn’t violate the law), but it must be set forth in the written lease agreement. Therefore, when crafting your lease, you really need to think about what behaviors you don’t want in your property. If you fail to specify in your lease that guns are prohibited, the default is that guns are allowed. What is not clear in the question, is whether you are dealing with a single family or multifamily property. What we see is that many multifamily properties prohibit guns in the common areas. However, it is unusual for a landlord to prohibit guns in the unit themselves (whether single family or multifamily).
by Mark B. Zinman, Williams, Zinman & Parham P.C.
Information contained in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. You should always contact an attorney for legal advice and not rely on information published here.