Hi Dopers . . I am told my landlord likes to snoop in the rented rooms in his house. I know of the taping the door to the door trim trick, the toothpick or bit of paper in the hinge side trick etc. . . and he does now because one the other renters told him of it! Of course I could set the laptop cam on or get nannycams to document this if it happens and yes I can move . . I plan on that ASAP $$$ . .but you creative and logical minds have any ideas? I thought about a specific amount of peanuts in the shell left just inside each door (there are 2) and even pre-spray painting them an odd color so if he steps on even one he would have to go buy raw peanuts and the correct spray paint to cover his tracks. I am really rarely gone more than an hour or two. I’m thinking cheep OK? Thanks you guys!
IANAL, but it’s my understanding that in basically every jurisdiction in the US, a landlord is required by law to give you advance notice before he can enter your dwelling.
So you could try suing him.
Thanks . . It has not happened I know of . . but he is getting nervous because some of the renters are leaving and some are questioning his integrity . . I feel desperation on his part will be his undoing. That aside, I’m looking for cheap detection methods, he is not “hi-tech”.
Set up web cam pointing at the door. Tape a sign under the camera that says:
"You are being recorded. The images are being sent live to a web server for safekeeping. Even if you attempt to disable/remove this camera, the evidence is in a location that you cannot access. You have two options right now:
[ol]
[li]Leave and never, ever enter my room again without my expressed permission. We need not speak of this intrusion ever again.[/li][li]Fail to follow the point above and the evidence will be turned over to my attorney.[/li][/ol]
“Your call. Think fast. You have ten seconds to decide your fate.”
Thats good! . . That even sounds like me . . my mouth sometimes is my worst enemy.
Where I live, in Texas, there are exceptions. If there is water pouring through the floor into the apartment beneath, they have a right to go in and do what is necessary to protect the property of themselves or their other tenants.
In any case, the rights are probably spelled out in the lease. Giving notice, I suppose, could be telling every tenant that there will be random spot inspections to check smoke detectors over the next 30 days, and that would constitute notice. If you sign a lease that says they can come in, then they can come in.
My present apartment complex does not enter without permission or notice, except in emergency. But the similar apartments where I lived 5 years ago, exercised a right to come in unannounced for periodic inspections, in which they just checked the smoke detectors and sniffed around a little for anything obvious
It’s not just the lease you want to look at. States, counties and cities may all have landlord-tenant laws. I’ve never been on the lawyer side of things, just the property manager side, but I understand that things like your 30-day random inspection idea would not be legal here in Washington regardless of what the lease says. We needed to either give 24 hours notice or have a life/property-threatening emergency.
Sometimes landlords count on tenants who don’t know the laws and don’t complain, but it’s also possible that your previous apartments were located in jurisdictions that allowed random inspections. (Though I’d be surprised if any law as recent as 5 years permitted that in the US.)
That’ll work assuming the OP has another apartment lined up and is all set to move.
Here’s a more passive-aggressive approach you might want to try. Before leaving in the morning remove the pins from the hinges on your door. Carefully exit so the door remains on the hinges. It’s likely anyone else entering the apartment won’t be so careful about opening the door.
Hilarity will ensue.
I would suggest the classic snakes-in-a-can gag. Mark it ‘piggy bank’ or something.
Why bother with the sign? Tape and sue.
Everybody loves peanut brittle, right?
When you’re leaving, get a glass of water. Go out your door and close it till you can just reach inside to put the glass of water right inside the door. Then close the door. If someone pushes it open, they’ll knock over the glass of water and you’ll come home to a wet carpet.
Obviously this won’t work if you don’t have carpet, or if he’s dedicated enough to go over the carpet with a hairdryer. Or if you forget about it and knock over the glass of water when you get home. But hey, you said ‘cheap’…
How about setting a bear trap and covering it with a throw rug?
You mean an inner door, right? (because removing the hinge pins from the outer lockable door - if even possible - is the same as leaving the door unlocked.
Yes . . And I should add the fact that he also lives here and has plenty of opportunity to see me and notify/schedule a look see for pests/spoiled food/check smoke detectors etc. as I am here 90% of the time. He does maintain an attitude that he is “above the law”. If your curious, see my last thread about him raising everyones deposit after they in some cases have been here over 2 years which he can ask for and you can say no and move out.
I think Ducksters basic idea is great. I dont see its violating any law and yes because no one here has a lease he thinks he can throw you out instantly with your belongings in the middle of the night. There apparently is a lawsuit against him for doing that about to come to court. Here the landlord has to file an eviction that gives you 30 days to vacate. He likes to pretend there are no laws protecting renters.
Taking the door off the hinges might be funny but I guarentee it wont help my position down the line, especially if he or a bystander get hurt by that action. Thanks!
Maybe . . or better yet leave a shoebox marked boldly “private” and with my name in the middle of the bed or desk with a spring-loaded rat trap set inside and covered by a paper towel. Ha!
Think that covers my a** better than letting a door fall off on him. Thanks!
Yes . . but I’m not financially ready to move out yet. Thanks!
Obviously, there are potential legal issues, but I figure I could give a a few simple tricks. All of these are free, whereas a camera would obviously be the best, but would cost money and may not be worth it if you’re not sure.
For a drawer, you can use a hair or dental floss, possibly with tape or a dab of glue across the side or bottom where he can’t see it. If it’s unstuck, someone was going through it.
For a closet, door, or possibly also for a drawer, use an object like a penny and close it so it holds the penny then pull the penny out. It’s unlikely that anyone who goes through it will close it to exactly the same gap, so if it’s too small or big to hold the penny, someone was probably going through it. Or similarly, you can leave a gap large enough to put your hand through and lean something against the inside, like a toothpick or straw, and if it’s knocked over, you know someone was in there.
For a swinging door, you can put something like a shirt or whatever behind it and squeeze through so pushed back to a minimum distance. Someone coming through probably won’t squeeze through and it will show that the door was opened wider when you see it again.
A little bit more difficult to pull off, but also impossible to detect by the snooper would be to deliberately leave some sort of snoop bait out, maybe pictures, bills/mail, money, etc., and have it arranged just so. Someone snooping will have a hard time resisting touching it and it would be impossible to put it back exactly as it was. A quick picture on your phone can help you be sure of exactly how it looked when you set it up.
Good idea! There is a large area rug but wood floors are directly in front of each door. If the water spills he will never know exactly how much was in each glass if I measure it out precisely using a measuring cup, so after he wipes the floor he would half to guess how much was in the glass. Bingo . . busted. Thanks!