# Simple hypothetical (regarding renters privacy/food matters) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 22, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-hypothetical-regarding-renters-privacy-food-matters/732181 "2015-09-22T03:59:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-hypothetical-regarding-renters-privacy-food-matters/732181/21 "2015-09-24T21:24:23Z")
> [@Mnemnosyne](#): > > Seems like the sort of thing that would get established in a general sense. If the general standard is ‘nobody enters each others’ rooms’, then I’d stick to that, if we freely come and go from each others’ rooms and borrow stuff from each other including food, then go with that. > > If you’ve only been living together a short while and such behavior hasn’t been established, I’d go with not intruding but make it a point to ask that evening, ‘would you have minded if I did enter your room to get it?’ so as to establish how to proceed in the future. This. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-hypothetical-regarding-renters-privacy-food-matters/732181/22 "2015-09-30T08:02:06Z")
I just thought about it this way: if I leave food in my room, it’s there for a reason. This has been the case no matter the living space arrangements. Not even my parents would have thought it was okay to take it when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Tread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-hypothetical-regarding-renters-privacy-food-matters/732181/23 "2015-09-30T08:37:07Z")
> [@Mudshark](#): > > I would never enter a roommate’s bedroom without permission, and I would hope they wouldn’t enter mine without permission. Emergencies are the only exception. Emergency?? Did you miss the part about not having Sriracha ? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-hypothetical-regarding-renters-privacy-food-matters/732181/24 "2015-09-30T13:24:22Z")
If I rented from someone\* and found out they went into my private space for any reason, including closing the window, short of an emergency, I’d start looking to move out. \*I would consider it the End of Days, practically, if I had to rent a room in someone else’s house. I’ve been fortunate and never had to do that. I’d rather have the tiniest, crappiest apartment, but live on my own. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-hypothetical-regarding-renters-privacy-food-matters/732181/25 "2015-09-30T14:22:14Z")
Would the owner of the home be okay with the mortgage company coming by and opening their front door? Technically _they_ own the house, after all! I highly doubt he’d be cool with that. And with good reason, it’s a complete violation of his privacy. Whether they touch anything or not, isn’t the issue. Nor is how trivial the reason for doing so. It’s not right, and if he can’t see it, that’s because he chooses not to, I think. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-hypothetical-regarding-renters-privacy-food-matters/732181/26 "2015-09-30T14:59:45Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Not that it may change opinions much, but I just wish to point out (in slight defense of the person who was not me in this debate)…that I said “you’re renting TO” other people…not “with”. > > As in, it’s the person who is having the chicken’s house. They own the house (and therefore, technically, all the rooms). It’s not like all three people are sharing the house. The owner (the one having the chicken and who you’re all deciding whether or not should be able to go in and grab the sauce) is renting it to the two others. > > My answer/opinion doesn’t change much: It shouldn’t be okay; but I’m not sure if some missed that part or not. > [@elbows](#): > > Would the owner of the home be okay with the mortgage company coming by and opening their front door? Technically _they_ own the house, after all! > > I highly doubt he’d be cool with that. And with good reason, it’s a complete violation of his privacy. Whether they touch anything or not, isn’t the issue. Nor is how trivial the reason for doing so. > > It’s not right, and if he can’t see it, that’s because he chooses not to, I think. Both posts hit on an important point: If the hypothetical “you” cooking the hypothetical chicken is technically the landlord, the law in many jurisdictions restricts your access to the tenant’s space beyond the normal bounds of “don’t be an intrusive dick.” So, I stay out of the roomie’s space, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but it’s the law. (Maybe. IANAL, so what do I know? But it’s not worth the risk. People get snagged on technical violations of laws that don’t seem obviously applicable often enough that I don’t like the odds.) Fighting the hypothetical a little, I’d turn off the chicken and go to the store myself. Two bottles of Sriracha are better than one. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-hypothetical-regarding-renters-privacy-food-matters/732181/27 "2015-09-30T15:06:48Z")
1. Don’t have roommates. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-hypothetical-regarding-renters-privacy-food-matters/732181/28 "2015-09-30T16:13:25Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Technically _they_ own the house, after all! While that’s a popular meme, it’s not true. The mortgage company has a secured interest in the property and that’s definitely not the same as ownership. It does give them more rights than an unsecured creditor, but those rights basically amount to foreclosure options and preventing you from selling the house without paying them back first. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-hypothetical-regarding-renters-privacy-food-matters/732181/29 "2015-09-30T16:25:25Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > So you go to their room and knock and then open the door and… Nope. In fact, I wouldn’t even get to that point because I wouldn’t have even gotten as far as finding it. That is, this part above is already an invasion of privacy and I wouldn’t even open the door to someone’s room without his permission; he may have left something private out with the expectation that, it being in his room, would be left alone, or he simply left something out private accidentally. In my view, there are basically just two options. One can text/call the person and ask if they bought some because you’d like to try it and, upon learning its in his room, ask for permission to retrieve it. Or just simply wait and try it some other time. Personally, I’d just wait, not only because it avoids the whole issue, but because then there’s not even a risk of accidentally seeing anything private, even with permission to enter, and you get to have some advice from the roommates about how to prepare the dish with sriracha. Curiosity can wait; there will be plenty of other opportunities to try it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-hypothetical-regarding-renters-privacy-food-matters/732181.md?page=1)