Landlord to Tenants: Take Down Your BLM Signs or Face Eviction

[TexasTowelie]

As Seattle continues to see daily and even hourly protests in the streets against police brutality, last week a property manager for Cornell & Associates again threatened to issue a 10-day comply or vacate notice to two tenants who displayed Black Lives Matter signs in their windows.

Though the lease for the Glen Ellyn Apartments in Ballard bars any signage "whatsoever in windows or balconies," Anna and Nicholas Brown, who live together in the building, put up two BLM signs in the middle of July. One of the signs read, "Black Lives Always Matter," and the other read, "Say Their Names: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Charleena Lyles."

A few weeks later, Nicholas said, property manager Cameron Baldwin asked the tenants in an email to remove the signs, citing the lease violation. "The face of the building belongs to everyone, so we need to keep it looking clean and neutral," he wrote. The Browns complied, but they put up the signs again a couple weeks later.

Last week, Baldwin sent another email wherein he reiterated the requirement to keep a "clean and neutral" face on the building.

Read more: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2020/09/10/44448333/landlord-to-tenants-take-down-your-blm-signs-or-face-eviction

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Since it was already in the lease about no signs,

I hope they have the good sense to remove them.

[PBC_Democrat]

2. If it's in the lease ...

They agreed to the restriction.

As long as it's being applied consistently, I side with the landlord.

Our HOA bans any political signs. No BLM, MAGA, or any other social issue. Don't think anyone's tried but I suspect even a "Pass the ERA" flag/sign/banner would be a problem.

[sanatanadharma]

3. Put up BLM curtains as home decor

They could redo their window treatment with new curtains displaying "BLM".

Unless all units have the same drapes and curtains, who can complain about interior decor?

[TexasTowelie]

4. At the last apartment complex where I lived

the leasing agreement stated that the windows had to have the standard issue blinds. The blinds could be open, but in that case the curtains had to be open also so a message could not be displayed. If the blinds had any bent slats or were not in good shape then the renter had to replace them. If the renter didn't replace the blinds within 24 hours then the apartment maintenance crew changed them at $60 per blind even though the same blinds could be found at Walmart for $8.

BTW, if a renter owed the $60 then the management office only accepted money orders (no checks or cash). I suspect that the landlord (a crooked retired cardiologist) set those conditions so that he could get revenue that he didn't have to declare on his income taxes.