If you had reason to believe that your landlord came into your home w/out your permission?

Question

While you were at work, how would you handle it?
One day this past week, I came home to find the garage door open. My husband says he knew it went down but he didn't stay behind to see if it actually touched the ground.
-I was pissed, but okay not a big deal.
Second thing that happened was today, I just walked right up to the front door and it was unlocked. He said he knows he locked the front door today and he is absolutely sure of it.
He said he took the trash out the back door and surely enough, the back door was locked. WTH???
How would you handle this?

-guys, my landlord and his wife are sweet people. Not to mention, would YOU just come right out and say, "uh yeah, I was just looking around."
Heres something that gets me; they mow the lawn, both the front and the back and today, my husband says that the son, (who does the mowing) came into the back yard looked around and walked out.

P.S
WE ARE THE FIRST TENANTS IN THIS HOUSE, AS IT WAS JUST BUILT TWO MONTHS AGO.

Answer 1

If you can prove that your landlord trespassed on your property (and it IS trespass, because as tenant, you have the exclusive right to possess the property, making it YOUR property as long as the lease lasts) then your obligation to pay rent is at an end. The landlord is not allowed to say it was a trivial intrusion: a landlord will not be heard to apportion his wrongdoing. This is a breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment, and in many states (including New York), you are entitled to recoup all the rent you paid from day one of the current lease.

Answer 2

You do not know for a fact that it is your landlord that is coming into your home without permission.

It could be a burglar.
It could be a former tenant.
It could be the cops, with a search warrant, or patriot act.
It could be some meter reader that got key from landlord

Depending on the state you live in, and the nature of your lease agreement, it may be permissable for workers for your landlord to enter your rented property without your knowlege or permission ... check the lease.

Specifically ask the landlord
(a) Have they been entering your property the last few days & do their people, that they issue keys to, know that places are supposed to get locked up when they done.

Maybe it is a break down in the rules followed by the landlord personnel.

(b) If the landlord disavows any knowlege of this, then ask if landlord has any objection to you changing the locks right now, and calling the police the next time it happens.

(c) You need to do some kind of checking to see if anything is missing, file a police report, insurance report if there is anything missing, or any sign of damage.

(d) ask your neighbors, other people with the same landlord, what their experience has been with this kind of thing.

(e) Look into pricing for burglar alarm system ... also ask landlord if they have any objection to you getting one installed.

Advantage of such a system ... let's suppose some employee of the landlord goes into your property while you not home ... they have to use a password that is issued to the landlord ... the alarm company now has the time they went in, the time they reset the alarm back on.

You, your husband, any family members ... different people have different passwords. The alarm system has a log of when the alarm was set on, set off, and what password was used to do it.

(f) I know darn well that this kind of thing happens ... it does not matter what the rules are, the landlord personnel think the rules not apply to them, so you have to give thought to proper security of your stuff inside your property ... is there stuff on your computer you not want people to see? Do you have jewelry that belongs in a safe?

(g) Once you have completed your investigation, send a letter to your property insurance company, informing them of the situation & what you found out ... for your future reference, in case there is some kind of an incident ... here is the identity of the landlord, so you can sue their insurance company if we ever get burglarized.

Send a copy to your landlord.

What will happen is your insurance company will give the land l;ord's insurance company the 3rd degreee, and the land lord's insurance rates will go up, until they clean up their act.

Answer 3

Rather than skirt around the issue and stew over the intrusion, confront your landlord about the issue. In most leases, there is a clause stating that the landlord will give prior notice before entering your residence, and he will try to make sure you are at home if and when he needs to enter. I would review the lease ahead of time for such a clause, just to have extra ammo when speaking with the landlord. Also, take close inventory of your possessions to make sure nothing is missing or out of place.

Other than that, I would suggest you initiate the confontation politely. If the landlord DID enter your home, perhaps there was a legitimate reason. If so, you can respectfully request that he notify you in advance from now on. You want to make every effort to keep the peace with your landlord, else he can really complicate your home life.

Answer 4

First off read your landlord tentant agreement. Find out the laws in your state and then document all these times. Write him a letter asking if he has entered the home and as of such and such date you'd wish for him to stop entering the property unless there was aleak, which you report before hand. You need to start with a paper trail if he walks in as he please call the cops and have him arrested for tresspassing . If you have a lease it legally binds the fact that he surrender the property to you as a tenant, your responsible and pretty much have all right considering the fact that all he owns are the four walls everything inside (furniture) belongs to you.
If you have an issue call a real estate lawyer. They can help you better.
Good luck

Answer 5

Why not just call your landlord and ask if he/she had been at your rental? They, in most states, have to give you 24 hours notice, prior to entry.

Your hubby may have accidentally forgotten to lock up or you may be feeling invaded by someone else. It may be a neighbor or an outsider who has been trying to gain entrance to your home. This happens.

Leave small things around that only you would know were disturbed. Don't reveal anything until you find those things amiss and then call the police.

Answer 6

I wouldn't go out and accuse the landlord, since you are paying him the rent. I would however, tell your landlord that someone has been in the property and to inform him to keep him abreast of any developments. If the landlord tells you they came by and went inside, now you can call HUD immediately, as well as file a police report if you want to take this really far. Really depends on your relationship with the landlord, but in most cases, if the landlord admits to it, let them know this is a violation of the law. If this continues, then report to HUD. If the landlord denies it, simply change out the locks, perhaps get a video at the window to monitor who comes by.

Answer 7

The landlord has to give you 24 hours notice that is the law.Also, obviously can only enter the apartment from 0800 to 2000.............First, confront him, be friendly, use tact, and ask if he had some work to do that he failed to notify you of.
If he denies, and the problem persists then it would probably be best to get proof of him breaking in and get the law involved

Answer 8

I'd call the landlord and ask. There might be a MUCH more serious problem - such as an attempted burglary, or someone else has been entering, etc.
The landlord does NOT have to have your permission to enter! Just ask the landlord, if he/she says they were there, to lock up when they leave.

Answer 9

Ask if he has noticed anyone around the property because you have found some things out of place and were worried that someone may have broken in and see what his reaction is.

Answer 10

if it was your landlord, chances are, there is some fine print in your lease (as is standard in most leases) that they retain the right to enter the property for inspection any time they see fit. supervised or not.....advanced warning or not.
it is still their house, and they have the right to make sure their property is not being damaged.