Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

I recently signed a rental agreement with an apartment in Washington state. Within the agreement I noticed something I have not seen within any other rental agreements. It has a no profanity policy which states that the use of profanity on the grounds of the complex by the tenants or their guests may result in a fine up to eviction. My question is, is it legal for a renter to fine or evict a tenant because they deem their language/behavior/etc to be offensive?


Asked on 2/18/14, 9:52 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Jonathan Baner Baner & Baner

Your question is phrased somewhat incorrectly in my view. You need to phrase it this way:

Is it legal for two private citizens to enter into an agreement whereby one party is prohibited from using certain words?

It's certainly seems incredibly strange, but what you describe doesn't sound illegal. It may be difficult to enforce depending on how the lease is written. Please contact me if you ever hear about this getting enforced I'd be very interested in it.

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Answered on 2/18/14, 10:22 pm


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