There are several laws regarding the rental of property and other areas to protect people’s privacy. However, there are always those who ignore the law to do as they please, making those affected uncomfortable or putting them at risk. For example, a landlord in New York installed a camera that pointed at one of the tenants’ bedrooms and common areas, including the bathroom. That’s right; one of the tenants, in particular, is being targeted by the landlord.
Redditor Ancient_Delivery_673 shared this case on r/legal, which leaves them feeling uneasy. OP explains that they rent a three-bedroom property, where they have only one roommate and one of the bedrooms is currently empty. According to OP, they have had a complicated relationship with the landlord for some time. However, recently, OP heard that this New York landlord had installed a camera aimed at the common area, specifically the bathroom and their room.
In the post, the OP explains that the camera is located above the basement door. From that angle, curiously, the camera captures the areas that OP uses the most, because the other tenant’s room is on the other side. So the roommate can’t appear in the recordings, especially since he has his own bathroom. OP also explains that they heard the landlord tell the other tenant, ‘Don’t worry, I’m not facing the camera in the direction of your door, I’m facing it the opposite way.’ This confirms that the landlord is intentionally recording OP’s movements.
In addition to the camera, OP added that the landlord has shut off their power for no reason or goes to the empty room for hours to use a compressor to “fix the place.” Although in reality, Ancient_Delivery_673 believes it’s more of a way to harass them, for some reason. Some Redditors reacted with concern and gave advice such as, ‘I’d beware the possibility of hidden cameras, as well. If you Google, I think you’ll find ways to detect them (something like shining a light around the room making it easy to find the lenses of hidden cameras, but I’m not really up on that at all),‘ shared thenewfingerprint.
Fortunately, users convinced OP to do something, and in the comments, they stated that they would take legal action to address the issue with the camera. The only complication is that, according to the comments, it appears the landlord subleased to the OP and the other tenant.
