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Gun club nearby - tenant wants to terminate lease
by Gun club issue (NY)
on April 21, 2016 @09:04
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We just signed a lease with a new tenant that moved in and was new to the area, and they did not realize that a gun club is located less than one mile away from the apartment. We did not disclose the presence or location of the gun club upon entering the lease with the tenant. The tenant only visited the apartment on the weekends when the club was closed to view the apartment and sign the lease. The club is open M thru F from 12pm to 10pm and they shoot every night and the sound is loud and audible in all rooms of the apartment. Some nights the gun shots are almost every couple seconds, non-stop until dark. They first asked about the gun shot noise the day they moved in which was on Friday, and initially thought it was another resident in the woods shooting but we informed them that it was the gun club down the road. They now wish to terminate the lease for noise disturbance and violation of quiet enjoyment. Can they?
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Re: Gun club nearby - tenant wants to terminate lease
by Garry (Iowa)
on April 21, 2016 @10:17
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This is in a grey area. Some questions I have for you, are: How many tenants are in your complex, how long have they been living there, hearing the same noise and living with it? How many other people are living closer to the range, and living with the noise----are there a hundred people living in various houses and apartments, and how many of them are owners of their homes and are choosing to live there and put up with the noise. Also, how loud is the noise----is it like a fire cracker going off 20 feet from you, or a person talking in a normal voice 20 feet from you. The times you put down for the gun range to be open, very likely coincides with some city ordinance allowing for noise to happen only during those dates and times, so the city itself has decided a person should be able to put up with that gun shot noise, and it would not be disturbing a persons "quiet enjoyment" no matter how close someone lived to the gun range. To answer your Q, if you want happy tenants , disclose the noise to all potential Ts, and only sign M2M leases with them. This T, you probably should let out of the lease, because they may not be very good Ts for you in the future if you don't.
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Re: Gun club nearby - tenant wants to terminate lease
by tenant advocate
on April 21, 2016 @10:22
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Regardless of the legality of it the decent thing to do would be to let the tenant out of the lease if all is as you describe. This is something you should have disclosed to the tenant.
Many landlords are heavily against increased regulations for landlords. That then implies that the industry will need to self regulate. If not, regulation becomes necessary. So do the right thing and be ethical. Run a legitimate business. If not don't be surprised if the tenant starts publishing negative reviews naming you by name all over the internet.
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Re: Gun club nearby - tenant wants to terminate lease
by P-Bone (NY and OH)
on April 21, 2016 @13:15
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I wouldn't necessarily agree with letting them out of the rental agreement, it is their responsibility to do appropriate research into the area with regard to any neighborhood issues. As stated, the gun club is likely abiding by the local ordinances by ceasing operations at 10pm. With that in mind, if they had a noisy neighbor enjoying the nice weather until 10pm at night, there would be nothing they could do about it. You have no control over the neighbor, just like you have no control over the gun club. If you lived next to a farm and had a rooster crow every morning, I wouldn't give the happy clause for that.
If I felt it was necessary to let them go, it would come at a high price. Simply doing the screening and then taking it off the market has to cause a rift in normal screening procedures, because those that may have been interested before, may not be interested anymore. So, in my mind, allowing them to leave would have to come with high fees.
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Why is everyone so easy to give the "happy clause"
by P-Bone (NY and OH)
on April 22, 2016 @06:55
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I understand there is a time and place to just smooth things out and move on to a tenant that is no longer worth keeping in certain situations, but I don't understand it here.
Rather than a gun club, if this property was close enough to a bar or restaurant that has an outdoor music venue on a regular basis during the nicer weather, would you let them out of the lease for that?
I don't understand the difference in any of these cases. Again, if the gun club is abiding by all noise ordinances by ceasing operations at 10pm, then no one has done anything improper.
There is nothing about this entire situation that is the landlord's fault and in no way can the landlord be claimed to have disturbed the tenant's quiet enjoyment. If anyone did, it would be an issue to take up with the gun club and town.
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Re: Gun club nearby - tenant wants to terminate lease
by Bill in Upstate (New York)
on April 24, 2016 @01:13
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Are they bothered by the noise, or by the fact that someone nearby is shooting a gun? Some people who aren't well informed about firearms/shooting sports may believe they're shooting up the neighborhood and that they may be in danger.
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