# Detecting Landlord Snooping In My Room! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 6, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detecting-landlord-snooping-in-my-room/694976 "2014-08-06T20:13:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BlueValley45](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@BlueValley45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueValley45)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detecting-landlord-snooping-in-my-room/694976/41 "2014-08-08T12:20:52Z")
> [@saje](#): > > Replace the door knob/latchset with a locking one that looks like the current knob, and don’t tell him. Keep the original so that when you leave you can replace it. > > If you get bitched at, you know he tried to go in your room. > > (Is it really just a bedroom in the house, or is it an apartment?) Thats probably illegal because thats a reverse of a tenant lockout. Thanks! Yes, its the former dining room of a farmhouse, now a single room. 2 entrances/exits, one to the kitchen and one to the porch outside. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detecting-landlord-snooping-in-my-room/694976/42 "2014-08-08T12:25:59Z")
> [@BlueValley45](#): > > Right! Cash only . . no receipts. I thought about sending him next months rent via insured certified mail (cash) so he would have to sign for it. Theres my receipt! I’ll see what a lawyer says. Maybe I can get the Ill. Dept. of Revenue to send me some forms or anything irrelevant etc. to myself to spook him also! He spooks easily. Thanks! Phone call to the IRS reporting line. That one is EASY. And you may be eligible for a reward if he is evading taxes. (It helps if you know his social security number, but a first name/last name and address will do it along with “my landlord insists everyone pay him in cash - only cash, and suspect he does it to cheat on his taxes.”). ---
**Author:** ![BlueValley45](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@BlueValley45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueValley45)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detecting-landlord-snooping-in-my-room/694976/43 "2014-08-08T12:26:10Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Start leaving an array of really off-the-wall bondage gear and sex toys out in the open, e.g. pony-play equipment, or maybe gigantic insertables. Lay out a few relevant DVDs nearby just to make it explicitly clear what it’s all about. Hidden camera would be nice just to record his reaction when he sees all this stuff. Wouldn’t really help with any legal case, but shoot, might as well enjoy making him uncomfortable. Thats good! . . sure . . coat things with KY or something. I dont know about doing that but its funny! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detecting-landlord-snooping-in-my-room/694976/44 "2014-08-08T12:27:45Z")
I don’t know if this is practical or affordable for you. The is an app called [Presence](http://peoplepowerco.com/products/) that will allow you to use an old iPhone as a security camera that will text you a video if it detects motion. You can even watch live streaming video from the phone. It records up to 5 minutes of video per motion event. It requires wifi in your apartment and two iPhones. ---
**Author:** ![BlueValley45](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@BlueValley45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueValley45)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detecting-landlord-snooping-in-my-room/694976/45 "2014-08-08T12:30:16Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Phone call to the IRS reporting line. That one is EASY. And you may be eligible for a reward if he is evading taxes. (It helps if you know his social security number, but a first name/last name and address will do it along with “my landlord insists everyone pay him in cash - only cash, and suspect he does it to cheat on his taxes.”). Bingo! It may well be already under way initiated by someone else but that definitely is a possibility! Another idea to run by a lawyer. My next move is to make an appt. with one and start a list of questions for that meeting. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![BlueValley45](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@BlueValley45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueValley45)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detecting-landlord-snooping-in-my-room/694976/46 "2014-08-08T12:32:52Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I don’t know if this is practical or affordable for you. The is an app called [Presence](http://peoplepowerco.com/products/) that will allow you to use an old iPhone as a security camera that will text you a video if it detects motion. You can even watch live streaming video from the phone. It records up to 5 minutes of video per motion event. It requires wifi in your apartment and two iPhones. Yes it sounds cost-prohibitive. I do have wireless internet here. I will check it out though. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detecting-landlord-snooping-in-my-room/694976/47 "2014-08-08T12:42:37Z")
> [@BlueValley45](#): > > Yes it sounds cost-prohibitive. I do have wireless internet here. I will check it out though. Thanks! It’s a no-cost thing for me because I have an old iPhone 4 that no one was using. It sits on the kitchen counter, plugged in, and I can activate/deactivate it from anywhere using my iPhone 5. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detecting-landlord-snooping-in-my-room/694976/48 "2014-08-08T14:34:00Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Mantraps are generally not legal. You’re life is not in immediate danger from a casual intrusion - you aren’t justified in using deadly force, especially not with an automated system that has no intelligence. I’m pretty sure that suggestion was a joke. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detecting-landlord-snooping-in-my-room/694976/49 "2014-08-08T14:52:19Z")
If you have a laptop and a webcam, use that. There are many free programs which can do motion-sensitive recording of a webcam. Without actual video of him coming in your room, you won’t be able to do much. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detecting-landlord-snooping-in-my-room/694976/51 "2025-02-20T02:45:58Z")
Hmm… where did this thread come from? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detecting-landlord-snooping-in-my-room/694976/52 "2025-02-20T03:12:15Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Hmm… where did this thread come from? - Most likely a scammer/spammer was removed. Or troll. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/detecting-landlord-snooping-in-my-room/694976.md?page=2)