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View Full Version : Do you really know if someone comes into your APT when you are not home....Well I was home!


Sword_maker
09-16-2008, 08:25 AM
Get this..... LISTEN UP RENTERS! I live in a apt in Rothesay.

<O:p</O:p

I was home yesterday afternoon when someone knocked on my door...... I was unable to get to the door. When I checked the door a few min after no one was there. A few min later I heard some people outside my door. I looked out the peep-hole. Someone was going into the apt across from me. It wasn't the man who lives there. His dogs BARKED like crazy but the man entered. I thought it was odd however things around here are far from normal!

About 20 min later I got busy again BUT this time someone decided to OPEN my door using a KEY. I YELLED Get out and my dog started to bark, I slammed the door and looked out the peep-hole and a big guy with a red shirt was walking away. The shirt he had on was a work shirt for the owner of the building!
I called the rentals man and the woman I was talking to was such . She didn't want to did anything to help me. She told me to call the landlord and tell him not to allow anyone in my apt.

When I was on the phone my landland knocked on my door. I opened it and confronted him about one of his men opening my door using his key. He said that the buzzer was broken and they were fixing it. He also said that he allows his workers to enter his renters apt if they are not home if they need to do something. They do not give notice.
That made me feel SICK. Someone coming into my apt when ever they wanted. Even when I am not here doing whatever they want. Who knows what kind of people work for him!

When my boyfriend got home he also called the rentalsman and talked to someone better. They put in a complaint however.... if you want to really do anything to them you have to go to court and all of this other stuff.
If this ever happens again and I am home, I will have my BASEBALL BAT out and I will call the COPS!

I WANT TO LET EVERYONE KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON.

PLEASE TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS!
Thanks for reading.

bradorna
09-16-2008, 09:09 AM
So this means if you just happen to be in the shower and do not hear anyone at your door, then you could come walking out and come face to face with a stranger in YOUR home. Isn't that comforting to know!!! I could understand if there was a really serious issue as your apt. was flooding from a broken pipe or smoke was coming from it, but other than that it should never ever be allowed. Just because he works for the owner does not guarantee he is not a thief. So if he stole next months rent do you think the landlord will take your word or his? This does raise some serious issues. A broken buzzer does not warrant him to enter unannounced....jmo

Sword_maker
09-16-2008, 09:18 AM
Doesn't it make you feel sick! Knowing that someone you do not know can come in whenever they want too.
If there was an issue YES come into my apt

donteatrawpotatoes
09-16-2008, 09:32 AM
So this means if you just happen to be in the shower and do not hear anyone at your door, then you could come walking out and come face to face with a stranger in YOUR home. Isn't that comforting to know!!! I could understand if there was a really serious issue as your apt. was flooding from a broken pipe or smoke was coming from it, but other than that it should never ever be allowed. Just because he works for the owner does not guarantee he is not a thief. So if he stole next months rent do you think the landlord will take your word or his? This does raise some serious issues. A broken buzzer does not warrant him to enter unannounced....jmo
I've had much worse things happen than being in the shower and being unable to answer the door. Some people shouldn't be allowed to be landlords.

leeleemom
09-16-2008, 09:37 AM
I have been in this situation before. I can tell you with 100% certainty that a landlord is not allowed to enter your apt without your permission! The only way a landlord can come in without your permission is for an emergency....ie. a fire, major leak etc. They are required to give 24 hours notice for anything else. And as for the shower comment. This actually did happen to a friend of mine. At the time she was a teenager and in the shower and the landlord not only came into the apt but came right into the bathroom!!!

OTAY
09-16-2008, 10:25 AM
Reason number 254175 why owning your own house is a great idea....

Also any of you can get a door chain and install it yourself so at least when you are home you can have a semblance of privacy. Finally if you keep rent (in cash) in your house you are taking a huge and unnecessary risk. If someone steals cash it's untraceable. When paying rent use alternative means. You are begging for trouble if you keep piles of cash around when someone else has a key to your place. (You may as well keep it out front under a rock)

Bad bad idea. Ask anyone who has done it. Spouses, Kids, friends
Tv repair man anyone could be tempted..... Don't take the chance.
Learn now or learn the hard way.

Woofer
09-16-2008, 10:41 AM
same thing happened to us, we had to go out and my son was sleeping, we got home and a plumber was fixing our tub and it wasn't broke, he went into the wrong apt by mistake, then argued we was another apt number, lol till we pointed it out on the door.

bradorna
09-16-2008, 10:35 PM
I have been in this situation before. I can tell you with 100% certainty that a landlord is not allowed to enter your apt without your permission! The only way a landlord can come in without your permission is for an emergency....ie. a fire, major leak etc. They are required to give 24 hours notice for anything else. And as for the shower comment. This actually did happen to a friend of mine. At the time she was a teenager and in the shower and the landlord not only came into the apt but came right into the bathroom!!!

This is correct, the landlord/maintenance man /owner is not supposed to enter without giving you a 24 hr. notice unles it is a serious matter, fire, flooding etc. My worst experience was when my landlord came in to repair a plumbing problem I was having. He was in the bathroom at the top of the stairs, when he called my name i went to the foot of the stairs and what I saw was plumbing being fixed, but it was not mine, it was his own with his pants to his knees. I moved out asap.:mad:

Sword_maker
09-17-2008, 07:34 PM
That's unreal! Where was this at! I want to make sure I never rent from a slum lord again!
But it's so hard! they are all over the place!

newmommy
09-17-2008, 08:08 PM
Thay HAVE to give you 24 hrs notice before coming into your apt. we moved in june because our landlord was an idoit and decided he could walk into my aot after i closed the door on him. we called the cops on him and they explaned to him that even if he owns the place IM the one who is renting it and he HAS to give me 24 hours notice before comming into my apt!We had a hard time with him anyways!and from some people i know its not the first time he has walked into an apt on someone renting from him.

seashanty
09-18-2008, 09:10 AM
there certainly do seem to be a lot of bad landlords out there (and bad tenants as well). I have lived in my apt. for almost 4 years now and have seen may landlord only when he is mowing the lawn, he did drop by once when I was almost ten days late with the rent a couple of years ago, but I guess I lucked out getting one of the better ones. Of course I have never called him up looking for repairs as I tend to do them myself (mainly because I do not want anyone in my apartment as I am a very private individual). I would suggest anytime you look for an apartment, try to speak with others in the building. You get to know your potential neighbours and may get a good heads up as to what kind of landlord the owner will be if you move in. Good luck to all those searching for decent place to live.

John Vasiliou
11-04-2008, 08:05 PM
I think walking into somebody's apartment ,when they don't know who you are is a good way to get yourself killed.

BHLombardy
11-20-2008, 10:03 PM
I have had concerns and suspicions about people coming into my apartment when I was not at home. What I would do is tape a piece of thread to the inside of the door near the bottom on the inside, near the corner where on the hinge side. As you leave, you have to make sure the thread stays outside the door (you have to make an effort to do this).

Use a dark, thin thread because it will hardly be noticed unless you know it's there.

When you return home, check for the thread before you open your door. If the thread is still outside, then no one has opened your door. If it is inside, then it means they opened the door and let it shut without leading the thread back outside (and they wouldnt because they dont know it's there).

Of course, this only works if your door swings inside your apartment but 99.99% of the time, this is the case.

There's not much you can do after the fact, but at least you know and can confront your landlord about it.

Also, there exists self-contained alarms that yuo put inside the door. You set them much like you do more expensive alarms (ie: you have 20 seconds to open and shut the door to either arm and disarm it) They need either a key or a code to turn arm/disarm them... or a swift firm kick with a heavy boot... And they only squeal and make a lot of racket, but it will draw attention to the other tennants if it goes off. And you will certainly know about it when you get home.

mizunderstood
11-22-2008, 10:38 AM
Excellent idea BHlombardy!
I know my landlords come and go in my apartment all the time, but never had proof... that would do it! LOL

inuit
11-22-2008, 02:24 PM
Buy a cheap camera and set it up pointed at the door well hidden. Nanny cam.

domarloc
11-22-2008, 05:37 PM
I used to live in apartment biulding out east and I was informed when we rented in the case of an emergency or a neccessary repair they could enter wether we were there or not. We had complained about our kitchen tap leaking and they sent someone to fix it while I was out. When I arrived back home I noticed the TV channel had been changed and I had a box of Timbits on the counter that were half eaten. So I would have to say that the repairman watched our TV while having a nice little snack at my expense. I contacted the landlord and he didn't believe it. We moved the next month!

Freudian
12-22-2008, 05:22 PM
Geeze, what if you and your girl are 'busy' and someone came in for repairs w/o notice. Even thinking about that while trying to ... would kinda make it difficult to uhm... anyhow... pretty rough deal.