Our rental house - opinions wanted

[liberalMOmama]

So we've had the same renters for 10 years. We just drove by and they had a McCain/Palin sign, Todd Akin, and a couple other signs. I told my husband I wanted to call and ask that they remove them and we got into a huge fight. He doesn't want to piss them off and said they've been there forever so they can do what they want. I say it's bullshit, it's our property and I don't want those signs on anything I own.

Am I just being a freak? My husband thinks I owe him an apology and that I'm completly out of my mind and I think he's a big wimp. They have terrible credit, they've never owned a house, they bounce at least 2 rent checks a year. Oh, and the guy ran for local office on a platform of fiscal responsibility and told hubby he was a shoe-in because the other guy was black. He lost. HA!

[Oceansaway]

1. let it be, after Nov. 4th...it won't matter...n/t

[spartan61]

46. It looks like we DUers are 100% behind your husband.

As someone posted, it may be your house, but it is their home. As long as they are paying rent to you, you have no right to walk into their home whenever you choose. The same goes for the yard. It is their right to put up the repuke signs if they choose, as distasteful as it is to you. You have no legal say in the matter.

[knowbody0]

2. this is America

we are tolerant of opposing views. you have 10 years rental income from these "losers"...leave them be.

[soothsayer]

3. yipes, a censoring landlady? seems like they are renting your lawn

as well as your house, so...just relax.

[Kookaburra]

10. Let it go

No sense alienating decent renters just because of their political views. In a few weeks you won't have to worry about it.

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. If it's in the lease that they can't put up signs, then you are in the right.

Otherwise, if it's not in the lease, I would let it ride. Not worth getting into a giant hassle over it.

Besides, it'll make it even more delicious when you say to them on Nov. 5 - "President Obama - how's that sound?"

On the other hand, if they're bouncing two checks a year, why haven't you bounced them out already? I wouldn't put up with that shit.

[DainBramaged]

5. Do not look a gift horse in the mouth

good tenants are HARD to find.

[Lyric]

6. There are a lot of DU'ers that rent, and a lot of us have Repuke landlords.

Would you think it was fair for them to tell us that we can't have Obama signs?

Let it go.

[bbinacan]

7. You're wrong. They

have the right to put those signs up.

[Ikonoklast]

Up their rent.

Tell them it's to make up for all the money the Republicans lost for you in the last eight years.

[BREMPRO]

88. justice!

those who voted for Bush/Cheney should be hit with a special asshole/idiot tax.

[cobalt1999]

8. You are out of your mind.

I have a rental house too and I'd NEVER even think to impose my political views like that.

Your husband is 100% correct.

[Skittles]

9. I really hope you are kidding

your husband is correct: LET IT GO

[grantcart]

11. Its your house and their home - they have the right to express their opinions

nothing on the political side should impact anything else.

[WeDidIt]

12. Unless it's in the lease, AND you enforced it for the past ten years

you'd be in the wrong.

[myrna minx]

13. I wouldn't appreciate it if my landlord asked me to remove my Obama sign from my window.

Let them be..

[napi21]

14. Leave it alone. They are paying rent to use that property as they wish,

as long as they don't break any laws. You're on your own how you want to deal with your husband.

[blogslut]

15. I would not recommend you ask them to remove their signs

That would make you a landlord who is against freedom of expression. This election will pass. Relax.

[AlCzervik]

16. trying to censor your tenants is really not a liberal idea.

"I may not agree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." ~Voltaire.

[John Q. Citizen]

17. It's theirs while they rent it.

Don't be an asshole landlord. They can support the bad guys. It's a free country.

If they are late on rent you can evict most likely. But don't think that gives you the right to shove it down their throats. You aren't doing Obama any favors.

Better to call some of your neighbors through the Obama web site and make sure they vote as early as possible. Signs don't vote. If they did, Ron Paul would be president.

I'm a land lord.

[THUNDER HANDS]

18. you could be diplomatic and ask

if they'd put the signs in the window instead of on the lawn, make up some excuse like "I don't want signs messing up the grass" or something.

[abumbyanyothername]

19. I would not press this.

You may wish to get rid of the renters on other grounds, but I would not. Somewhere I read, "It costs over 6 times as much to get a customer as it does to keep one."

Even if these guys bounce the rent check a couple of times a year, you have collected 120 months of rent from them and they are well on their way to paying off your house entirely.

Plus, I would not make yard signs a marital issue under any circumstance (i.e., even in the house I live in). When it comes to marriage a lot of people think it needs to be 50-50, but actually it has to be 100-100.

In other words, you should say yes to your husband at every possible juncture. (He should do the same for you, but you cannot be the one to tell him this. You are here asking for opinions. He is not.)

Let it go.

Obama in a landslide!

[sandnsea]

20. My landlady was a pro-life Catholic right winger

who would never have told us what to do with our signs or this property. I have about a cazillion things I'd like to say to you, but I'd get booted.

:puke:

will have to do.

[NV Whino]

21. Sorry...

However much this disturbs you, unless you have something in the rental agreement, it is their right to put up political signs. The only exception would be if they violated some city/county/state code as far as placement, size, content.

[Kahuna]

22. I'm siding with your husband. I understand how you feel but those

renters have the right to put those signs up, IMO. I think you owe hubby an apology.

[jberryhill]

23. They live there and are entitled to express their opinions

No two ways around it.

[high density]

24. I'd leave them alone

I don't see the need to confront somebody over this. Enjoy taking their money.

[npincus]

25. You're so wrong.

Sorry, but not your business what the politics of your tenants are.

[stopbush]

26. You rented it to them, they get to do what they want.

Unless you stipulated in their lease that no political signage was permitted, give it up.

BTW - you are a freak. "It's our property" you say? Fine. Stipulate your restrictions in the lease. If you're not going to allow renters to do what they want, they should have the option of passing on becoming your tenants.

[Trajan]

33. Delete

ACK ! ... My mistake .... I should have read the whole post first ....

[WeDidIt]

37. Even if stipulated in the lease, if it was unenforced for 10 years

it's unenforcable now.

[itsrobert]

27. You're totally sick in the head.

Get real.

[cynatnite]

28. But you'd be okay if it was an Obama sign...right?

So yes, you're being a freak.

[lisa58]

29. It really is a free country - they pay rent - they are entitled to free speech...

...and it would probably bother me too.

[Joe the Revelator]

30. Free speech is free speech, they have a right to support who they support.

[Cha]

31. I know how you feel.. if it were

me I would react much the same. This is the passion that the last 8 years have wrought.

I live in an Apt House and know I better not put an Obama sign in my window because it might not set well with the landlady..I figured it was her building.

[nini]

32. What do you think Obama would do?

If you want to tout yourself as a liberal you better walk the walk that goes with it - which includes repsecting other's rights to put those signs up on property they are paying you for to live there.

You owe your husband a huge apology.

[Raine]

34. Leave it alone

you can't control something like that, There is a "little" thing in this country called freedom of speech, don't be like the repigs trying to squelch it.

[SurfinBetty]

35. They rent it, they can do it

If they rent your land, then they have a right to do legal things that aren't against the lease. What ever happened to treating people how you'd want to be treated, anyway?

[ben_meyers]

36. What you should do is hide in the bushes

then jump out and confront them when they come out the door, give them a chance to convert to the right way of thinking and then hand them an eviction notice if they don't.

The bad credit and racism were good for a few points, but over all a 2.5 out of 10. See You.



:bounce:

[juno jones]

38. My landlord has a MCPALIN sign up.

To make it worse, he lives in an apt adjacent to the house I'm renting. I'm not talking politics to him wahtsoever. I don't want to be out on the street because of my political leaning... and it would be unfair to have it work the other way, no matter how viscerally satisfying at the moment it would be to toss 'em out.

If they're paying the rent and taking care of the house, it's best to let them be.

PS: I wish I had a liberal landlord :)

[liberalMOmama]

39. okay thanks

I guess I needed a reality check. My emotions are high, I'm on edge.

I'm not sure I appreciate being called sick in the head though. It's not like I *did anything but have an argument with my husband. I've never called or harrassed these people in any way or denied them freedom of speech. I guess I just figured if I rented something, I wouldn't put up political signs. I think I was just venting a little bit.

Thanks to everyone who didn't call me an asshole. I'm really not. I'm just a little high strung about this election.

Peace.

[ClarkUSA]

42. I sympathize completely. What I'd do is leave their sign alone BUT put up an Obama/Biden sign...

right next to it. And tell them you respect their POV (barf!) but you want to express your preference on your property as well. :)

[marions ghost]

82. I like that idea

calls them on it. They must know of their landlord's political leanings and don't care or think it's necessary to be concerned about offending. The OP's husband is a bit too Pollyanna-ish if he doesn't see this.

No, it's not wrong (legally & all that) of the renters but it IS insensitive, especially as it seems the owners have been lenient about the rental terms.

I detect a situation where the renters are forgetting they don't own the place. This happened in the house we now live in before we bought it. The renters were going hog wild at the beleagered owner's expense. They trashed the place and took every advantage. The owner was afraid to rock the boat. Ridiculous to put up with that as there are plenty of good renters around (I myself was formerly one for along time).

So I agree--put an Obama sign there and smile and laugh with them about it. If they can't handle it, look for other renters. Maybe their time has expired.

[ClarkUSA]

87. "If they can't handle it, look for other renters."

Your analysis sounds like a bull's-eye... although OP's hubby sounds like a Kumbaya type.

[marions ghost]

89. I'm a reformed kumbaya type

...we can be worse than reformed smokers and latte addicts ;-)

So right, I recognize the pitfalls of being "too nice." People will all too often take a mile if you give an inch. You have to weigh up these situations and not just have a knee-jerk reaction to protect the perceived underling.

Part of it is that we (the people) have been rendered so powerless that we often do not realize our own power when it IS appropriate. People who are downtrodden have a tendency to read everyone who has the (legal) power as an abuser. So on this board it's not surprising that this is seen as an invasion of privacy and loss of fundamental rights, when it's really just a matter of simple courtesy in a mundane give & take relationship.

The renters are being jerks IF they know the owner's politics. The fact that the owner has a problem with it indicates they are being callous and deliberately provocative. The owners have been dream landlords it appears on the surface.

I look for compromises in things like this--so that everyone clearly knows where the others' boundaries are and nobody has to feel bad <if possible>

You have to learn to protect your own turf sometimes (not turf in the literal property sense)--turf in terms of your emotional state. Many people are so afraid of conflict they shy away from it and don't even bother to seek compromises.

thanks for reply.

[ClarkUSA]

90. Excellent words to live by.

Thanks for the well-worn wisdom. :)

[npincus]

65. hey, some people here can be real JERKS

it's the anonymity of the whole thing... don't think they would say any of it to your face. Do not be discouraged from posting... at least you spoke honestly. Yesterday I was called a 'sell-out" by someone for supporting Powell's endorsement, a person who was simply talking out of his/her ass.... consequently I tore him/her a new one. It's never pleasant, but occasionally these things do happen.

I disagreed with you on your OP, but respect you for your honesty and don't give up on posting! :)

[LisaL]

40. It's your property but they are paying the rent to live there.

It isn't the situation where someone is smooching off you for free.
I don't think "it's my house and you should live by my rules" applies here.
Unless the signs are doing damage to your house, I fail to see why you should be asking them to remove the signs.
If they stuck it into the wall or something like that then you would have something to complain about.

[mwooldri]

41. Put an Obama sign up right next to it.

It's your property... you can do that...

That'll make them think a bit I guess...

But then if it were me I'd ignore it. Until lease renewal time that is.

Mark.

[liberalMOmama]

44. Btw, all

when hubby gets home, I will promptly apologize. Temper tantrum over. Properly chastised and all. Apologies to everyone who read this and got offended.

I'm just pissed off that someone stole all the yard signs in my neighborhood (including mine). I'm occasionally irrational and over-react.

[marions ghost]

84. Read post 42 and 82

for a creative alternative to discuss with your hubby. :)

Good luck. I'm sympathetic and thanks for posting.

[Blue-Jay]

43. This post smells like bullshit.

[liberalMOmama]

45. In what way?

I guess I'm just not used to the way everyone posts around here then. I'll go back to just reading. I'm sorry for disrupting the board.

Seriously. I truly didn't mean to piss so many people off. I'll go back to doing D/E for Obama.

[lisa58]

49. no one is pissed - just trying to talk you down - it's an emotional time

[lizzieforkerry]

59. I think everyone is on edge

We really are very lovely people. Welcome to DU :hi:. Go ahead and make up with hubby. If you are like me, he will be shocked as hell that you've admitted that in one small instance you weren't perfect. It will go a long way.
Only a few days left. Did you work hard for Kerry too? I think memories of four years ago is putting everyone OVER the edge, I know at least I am!

[QC]

63. I smell it too. n/t

[RichGirl]

47. What if you were the renter and were asked to take down your Obama sign.

[Motown_Johnny]

48. Freedom of speech issue to me, they are renting the property and should be able to put up signs

but maybe it is just me

[dansolo]

50. What does the lease say?

Is there any wording in the lease regarding any sort of exterior decorations/signs/etc.?

[graywarrior]

51. You can ask them to remove the signs if you have a clause in the lease

If not, let it be. (go up on their rent after Obama wins.....hahahahaha. I keed)

[rug]

52. How much did you charge them for their First Amendment Rights?

[mkultra]

53. you have lost your mind

its none of your business.

[Blondiegrrl]

54. Let it go. If you censor McCain signs, then you should censor Obama signs as well.

The renters sound like losers, though. I hope you find better tenants someday.

[rsmith6621]

55. liberalMOmama...Why do you want to violate their freedom of speech??

You are no better than BUSH.....next tenants if you don't want signs in the yard write it in the renters agreement if it bothers you.

[rsmith6621]

64. If It Is Your Property....Why Don't You.........

........Go over and plant an Obama/Biden sign in the yard......Do It.

[goodgd_yall]

56. Renters have rights to free speech too.

I don't know where you stand legally, but, on principle, they should be allowed to keep the signs up.

I can't tell if you're also asking if you can evict them---from what you said, I don't think you have a legal leg to stand on.

[Lerrad]

57. You are wrong, you husband is correct...

.. leave it be. You may own the property, but they have every write to show their freedom of speech by displaying their McCain sign.

How would you feel if you were renting a house, and your landlord asked you to remove your Obama sign?

[votetastic]

58. Everyone who's telling you that you oppose freedom of speech

is reaching a bit. It is your property.. You have every right to remove a sign from the yard, the same as you have every right to decide what color to paint your property. You would not be violating their freedom of speech by removing their signs in your yard.

At the same time, if you do remove their signs, they might get pissed.. just like I got pissed when my landlord put a Bush sign in the yard. If they are good tenants, you might as well let them have their little yard signs.

[mkultra]

72. actually, your wrong

Being a landlord doesn't make you a lord. You are bound by the law in many ways to respect their rights when they pay you rent. If the signs are theirs and are not presenting a hazard or detriment to anything or anyone, you cannot demand the removal.

If you remove the signs yourself, you have broken the law.

not to mention the fact thats its dickish.

[notalemming]

60. You aren't being a freak

you are being an obnoxious jerk.
Knock it off lest you be confused with some asshole rightwinger.

[Top Cat]

61. Let it be.

[democrattotheend]

62. As a tenant, I think I would be pretty upset if my landlord told me I couldn't display a sign

Especially if I felt that was based on their political views. I would feel like my freedom of speech was being curtailed. You may have the legal right to do it, but just speaking from the perspective of someone who is renting an apartment, I would feel kind of violated if my landlord demanded that I remove my Obama sign. Luckily, my landlord happens to support Obama, so it's a non-issue.

[Marrah_G]

66. I think you are trying to have fun at our expense.

Or you are just completely out of your mind.

You should go apologize to your husband for behaving like a dumbass.

[Midlodemocrat]

78. .

:applause:

[Ganja Ninja]

67. It isn't right to try and impose your views on them.

As long as they're good tenants then count yourself lucky and leave them alone.

[JVS]

68. Just raise their rent next time you have an opportunity.

[RoadRage]

69. Put yourself in their position..

Did you ever rent a house or an apartment when you were younger?

Imagine if you had, and you put an Obama sign up - and that landlord told you to take it down. What would you do? How would you feel?

You would be furuios. You would probably call the local news to talk about your landlord of 10 years who was trying to censor your speech or kick you out of your home.

You are absolutely on the losing side of this argument.. you push this, and nothing but bad news is going to come your way.

Politics is a really stupid reason to lose a 10 year, good tenant over. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.. just because you don't agree with them on thier choice for political leader is not a good enough (or probably leagal) reason to ask them to take down the sign. And, if you were in their position you'd feel the same way.

:)

[asdjrocky]

70. Freedom of speech, it's a bitch.

But what ya gonna do? Bush hasn't made that one against the law...yet.

[LibraLiz1973]

71. Let it be

They have a right to support whoever they want.
Does it HURT you to let them have their sign?

We're going to win anyway, so it hardly matter.

If you ask them to take it down you would be opening a huge can of worms that is best left closed.

[EstimatedProphet]

73. You should also approve all their inside wall art.

And check their bookshelves to make sure that you agree with their choices of books. Go through their closets and make sure they don't have clothes you don't like.

[TexasObserver]

74. Your husband is right. You have no legal right to tell them to take the signs down.

They have a tenancy, and with that tenancy is the right to freely enjoy the premises.

[SmokingJacket]

75. Who mows the lawn?

That person gets to put up the signs.

[Anthony Wayne]

76. Maybe that can work in your favor

Maybe that can work in your favor. Small-minded people like them will believe anything they hear or read.

[LiberalAndProud]

77. Political opinions

should be limited to landowners only. Renters are not entitled to have one.

:sarcasm:

[blue-kite]

79. Throw them out for being bad tenants if you must otherwise let them alone.

They have a right to do what they want on the property they are paying you for.
I'm sure you'd expect the same from them.
Cheers
BK

[riqster]

80. How very republican of you

There is nothing 'liberal' about censorship.

[JTFrog]

81. The OP prolly didn't get the results expected from this little DU hypocrisy test.

:eyes:

[Barack_America]

83. Don't mix business and politics. nt

[Barack_America]

85. And, terrible credit? Bouncing checks? Broke? + A McCain/Palin sign? Joke's on them.

Not you.

[randr]

86. Talk to them

Tell them you honor and respect their right to express their opinions.
Then tell them you want to install Obama signs along their signs on your property.
This should lead to an interesting discussion. If you are open enough you may win over some votes.

[Lady-Damai]

91. I would kick them out because......I'm wicked like that......lmao....n/t

[tledford]

92. It's tough, but I think your husband is right.

If we start down that road, we're no better than the Republics.

[Warren DeMontague]

93. If you were renting a house, wouldn't you consider it your right to have a political sign?

If it was an Obama sign, you'd be okay with it?

Sorry, I'm going to side with the renters on this one. All that matters is whether they pay the rent on time; it's not your business to tell them who to support or who not to support.

[TheKentuckian]

94. Please don't get all Republican on them

I don't think its right to use a superior position to force people to your way of thinking or being.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

95. Your husband is right.

[SeattleGirl]

96. Leave them be, MOmma.

If there is nothing in your renter's lease that prohobits signage of any type (or of the Republican type :) ), then you really don't have a leg to stand on.

Besides, if you didn't prohibit it from the get-go, they are only going against your better sensibilities, not a signed lease. To demand they remove their signs would be, I believe, a violation of their 1st Amendment rights.

I doubt that allowing those signs to remain will cause a huge sea-change away from Obama.