TexasCHLforum.com

If you see a home you think you may really like, take a moment to see if the neighbors on either side know of any problems with the place or the area. You may get a tipoff that the landlord has been unpopular with previous tenants or other helpful info. I dodged a couple of bad apples that way before.

Also to see what crime in a given area is like; I recently downloaded an application for my phone that would help me know where a friend is who has a medical condition if we can't reach her. It tracks her phone. It's called Life360 in the android app store. I noticed the really nice thing is when you enlarge the map down to closer detail, it shows all of the crime reports for each area in the past year and all of the registered sex offenders. I was amazed to see the crime in what I thought was my uneventful area. It even showed the fraud report my husband made to the police several months ago when someone used his credit card. It might be worth downloading it just to check out particular addresses for immediate crime in the area. There will always be the garden variety, but regular violent crime or home burglaries would be good to know about.

The voice of experience: Take detailed pictures or video of every wall, every room, every floor, and all of the property when you leave. Otherwise, you may face expensive "clean up" fees. This guy sounds like the type who will want you to foot the bill for all new carpet, paint, etc., and claim it was excessive abuse on your part that made it necessary. Normal wear and tear is to be expected.

While this whole thing is unfair, it is not illegal and it is his property. If you have been renting for several years, this guy is also your only recent reference to give to your next perspective landlord. Don't count on renting anywhere very easily without a reference. Giving him a load of stuff in retaliation may feel satisfying, but would certainly also hand the guy concrete things to say against you to another landlord.
If you think he is going to be a problem that way, then see if you can get notarized statements from your next door neighbors as to your care of the place, lack of disturbances, etc. Compile proof (bank statements etc) that your rent was always on time, and even hand a perspective landlord a background check record you ran on yourself when you decide you want a property before he can have a chance to call the jerk. I know someone who did all this to overcome a bad reference from a former vindictive landlord and it worked. I do understand this will not sit well with the urge to strike back and I don't blame you one bit but the goal is be able to rent a place you really want elsewhere.

Sorry to hear you are having to move. He may be sorry he didn't appreciate you later. He's not realizing the kinds of renters out there are likely to give him a way bigger headache than your innocent guns. Not to stir the pot, but is it possible he simply came in while you were away and snooped around? He would not be the first landlord to do this. It's not legal, but that does not stop everyone.

When leasing a new place, maybe you should just not even bring guns up at all. Or how many knives you own, or golf clubs, hammers, or anything else that can be used in a lethal way. They are not illegal to have. Check out the lease wording to see if there is anything in it about guns. I'd think if a landlord was all that worried about it, then you would see something in the lease trying to turn a gun owner away. If you bring it up while looking at a place, the landlord is likely to be uncomfortable. The exception being if it was owned by a gun nut. Then he/she may want to see what you have for a whole nother reason