He wrote: “Since it’s clear that Leyla wants to keep her firearms, it would be best for all parties if she finds another place to live.”
Had he told her under no certain circumstances could she remain in the apartment, she might have had a case to sue them all. Not a lawyer so I really don't know. But I would think some kind of charge could be brought against the roommates for rummaging through her belongings, but not sure about that either.
There are 2 issues involved: 1. the tenants have obligations under the lease and 2. there has been a civil tort committed against the gun owner. These 2 issues are pretty much unrelated.
Without reading the lease, it’s pure speculation but in all likelihood all tenants signed the lease. That means each tenant is personally responsible for the payment of the total rent each month. The landlord doesn’t care who pays it as long as someone does. If no one pays, the landlord can try to collect against all of them or against any one or more of them. It’s his call.
The tenants probably have only an oral agreement among themselves as to how they will share the rent. This oral agreement among tenants is of no real interest to the landlord. He wants the rent each month and doesn’t care who pays it.
So if the snowflakes move out and gun owner remains, the landlord will be looking to her for payment of ALL the rent. If she doesn’t pay, he can sue her for payment and institute an eviction action. In that action, the gun owner would then bring in as third party defendants the snowflakes who bolted leaving her holding the bag for the monthly rent.
Months of litigation ensues and legal fees rise through the roof.
But also, as part of this lawsuit, gun owner can include in her complaint against the snowflakes, their invasion of her privacy. How this claim would shake out is anybody’s guess.
My advice to gun owner would be: you’ve done nothing wrong. They have. You stay your ground and if they move out causing you damage under the lease, we’ll sue their asses off and let the chips fall where they may. The only problem with this approach though, the same problem with so much of our “justice” system, is gun owner is gonna need about $50,000 cash to make her play.
The landlord is stuck with her till the end of her lease and beyond. He has no legal right to evict her or deny her residence simply because of her legal ownership of firearms...........There are Landlord/Lease laws that protect her......
If there was a door to her room, she had a reasonable expectation of privacy. Sue their asses off.