Weird Landlord

[Diamond Confused]

I saw my landlord hanging out in my (enclosed) front yard. It looked like he was napping or something. I really hate living at my place cause he always seems to be hanging out on the property. It''s a very private and enclosed property so when someone other than a tenant is in there, even in the common areas it''s really uncomfotable. We love the place but are witouth a doubt moving at the end of our lease for this very reason.

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 8/5/2008 5:53:57 PM
Author:Diamond Confused
I saw my landlord hanging out in my (enclosed) front yard. It looked like he was napping or something. I really hate living at my place cause he always seems to be hanging out on the property. It''s a very private and enclosed property so when someone other than a tenant is in there, even in the common areas it''s really uncomfotable. We love the place but are witouth a doubt moving at the end of our lease for this very reason.

Weird. Is it a single family home? Yikes. That is too strange. I can''t think of any way to approach this issue with him, either...what a bummer. I would warn anyone who takes a tour of your house in order to rent it before you leave!

 

[joflier]

In a word.....creepy.

 

[neatfreak]

Weird and creepy for sure. Unfortunately, it is perfectly legal in many states IF it is considered a common area. If it''s a single family home, then usually the entire premises is considered "yours" so then he has to give notice to be there.

Take this with a grain of salt, but I volunteer for a tenant organization in my state, so I''m familiar with a lot of the caselaw and rules...but it does vary by state. Worth checking in yours.

 

[Diamond Confused]

Date: 8/5/2008 9:04:14 PM
Author: neatfreak
Weird and creepy for sure. Unfortunately, it is perfectly legal in many states IF it is considered a common area. If it''s a single family home, then usually the entire premises is considered ''yours'' so then he has to give notice to be there.

Take this with a grain of salt, but I volunteer for a tenant organization in my state, so I''m familiar with a lot of the caselaw and rules...but it does vary by state. Worth checking in yours.

Yeah I looked it up and since it''s considered a common area he doesn''t have to give notice. There is a back yard and a front yard on the property. THe back is clearly a common area but the front is a grey area. The front yard is only shared between two units. THe other two units have their own front yard. But either way, I think there is something very wrong with him hanging out in our yard. He wasn''t gardening or mowing or doing anything of the sort. He was literally sitting on my lawn cahir napping.

 

[joflier]

Date: 8/6/2008 3:22:42 AM
Author: Diamond Confused

Yeah I looked it up and since it''s considered a common area he doesn''t have to give notice. There is a back yard and a front yard on the property. THe back is clearly a common area but the front is a grey area. The front yard is only shared between two units. THe other two units have their own front yard. But either way, I think there is something very wrong with him hanging out in our yard. He wasn''t gardening or mowing or doing anything of the sort. He was literally sitting on my lawn cahir napping.

Sitting in YOUR chair??? Oh my.....does he do that alot? I''d bring the chair inside.

 

[phoenixgirl]

Hmmm . . . it could be that he came over to do work but was groggy from illness/medicine and needed a catnap . . . or it could be that he is just plain weird. If possible, I''d bring the lawn chair inside, or at least fold it up/remove the cushion and put it right by your door when not in use.

 

[loverocks]

Hi DC - reading you post and it reminded me of a situation I was in when I was in college and I thougth I would share it with you. I was living with a girlfriend of mine in an off campus apartment. The property consisted of two large houses that were subdivided into 4 apartments each. Anyway, we had this landlord who was kinda wierd and older, but never really thought too much of him. Well, after a year of living there, he sold the properties to a new owner, but was kept on as a "handy man". He seemed to be coming around a lot more often, this went on for about 6 months or so He was always around the back of the house or in the common hallways "fixing" things.
One day, a neighbor noticed him on the floor in the hallway. At first he thought he was hurt, but then realized that he actually appeared to be trying to look under the door jam into the next door's apartment! He opened the door and startled him, and he said he was "fixing" the door molding. This neighbor alerted all of us of what had happened and we all kinda went on high alert. Needless to say, during the next two or three weeks, 6 out of the 8 apartments and caught him either looking into their doors or seen him snooping into neighbors doors or windows. It was then that we all got together and confronted the landlord. At first he did not believe us, but we all pressed it. At this time we were all young college girls so I suspect he thought we were just nuts.
In the meantime we were actually trying to figure out if he could *see* under a door jam. Guess what we found while tryign this out? There were little drill holes in the door temporarily covered so you couldn't see them at a cursory glance. So - the police came and did a whole walk through. It wound up that we ALL had little holes in our doors, around the jams, in the baseboard that ran along the common hallway that faced our apartments

So, me personally, I had this sicko that had two holes to look at me through. One looked into my bathroom and the other my bedroom. When you looked through them you could see CLEAR AS DAY. Uuuuggghhh

Grosss. And it makes me so angry that for 5-6 months this creep was looking at me in all of my glory doing god knows what

And - did I mention in this closet/room in the basement with his tools, he had tons of "girlie mags" with a strong "theme" of college girls/young girls. Ick.
Please beware. This is how it started with me. If you get a weird vibe, it is probably for a reason - please trust your gut. Please see if there is anything you can do to keep him away for you. And look for peep holes (I am not kidding).
Sorry for the threadjack, but your post really hit a nerve that I thought I had kinda put to rest.

 

[joflier]

Date: 8/6/2008 4:42:25 PM
Author: loverocks
Hi DC - reading you post and it reminded me of a situation I was in when I was in college and I thougth I would share it with you. I was living with a girlfriend of mine in an off campus apartment. The property consisted of two large houses that were subdivided into 4 apartments each. Anyway, we had this landlord who was kinda wierd and older, but never really thought too much of him. Well, after a year of living there, he sold the properties to a new owner, but was kept on as a 'handy man'. He seemed to be coming around a lot more often, this went on for about 6 months or so He was always around the back of the house or in the common hallways 'fixing' things.
One day, a neighbor noticed him on the floor in the hallway. At first he thought he was hurt, but then realized that he actually appeared to be trying to look under the door jam into the next door's apartment! He opened the door and startled him, and he said he was 'fixing' the door molding. This neighbor alerted all of us of what had happened and we all kinda went on high alert. Needless to say, during the next two or three weeks, 6 out of the 8 apartments and caught him either looking into their doors or seen him snooping into neighbors doors or windows. It was then that we all got together and confronted the landlord. At first he did not believe us, but we all pressed it. At this time we were all young college girls so I suspect he thought we were just nuts.
In the meantime we were actually trying to figure out if he could *see* under a door jam. Guess what we found while tryign this out? There were little drill holes in the door temporarily covered so you couldn't see them at a cursory glance. So - the police came and did a whole walk through. It wound up that we ALL had little holes in our doors, around the jams, in the baseboard that ran along the common hallway that faced our apartments

So, me personally, I had this sicko that had two holes to look at me through. One looked into my bathroom and the other my bedroom. When you looked through them you could see CLEAR AS DAY. Uuuuggghhh

Grosss. And it makes me so angry that for 5-6 months this creep was looking at me in all of my glory doing god knows what

And - did I mention in this closet/room in the basement with his tools, he had tons of 'girlie mags' with a strong 'theme' of college girls/young girls. Ick.
Please beware. This is how it started with me. If you get a weird vibe, it is probably for a reason - please trust your gut. Please see if there is anything you can do to keep him away for you. And look for peep holes (I am not kidding).
Sorry for the threadjack, but your post really hit a nerve that I thought I had kinda put to rest.

Oh loverocks, that's just awful!!!!

I'm so sorry dear! That just makes me so angry, esp that the landlord didn't give you guys much credibility!

 

[Diamond Confused]

OH MY GOD! that is so disturbing. I can't believe there are actually people like that. I once saw a made for TV movie about a women who found out the landlord had installed cameras. It was a true story. She was at the forefront of making it a felony.

Best case scenario is that he is just bored and has nothing to do but fix things around his property. Hopefully that is all it is. I am going to start being more aware of my surroundings. I can't wait till our loease is up.

 

[loverocks]

I know! Crazy right! I know it sounds weird, but I truly did feel violated. And I was paranoid for a few years after whenever I was changing or when I was a a store in the dressing room. Anyway, yes, please just be cautious. I am sure it is nothing but him being harmless, but I do really believe in trusting your instincts. Good luck!

 

[aprilcait]

Date: 8/7/2008 2:46:07 AM
Author: Diamond Confused
OH MY GOD! that is so disturbing. I can''t believe there are actually people like that. I once saw a made for TV movie about a women who found out the landlord had installed cameras. It was a true story. She was at the forefront of making it a felony.

Best case scenario is that he is just bored and has nothing to do but fix things around his property. Hopefully that is all it is. I am going to start being more aware of my surroundings. I can''t wait till our loease is up.

DC, I saw that too! **shudder** Ever since I saw that I''ve been a bit nutty with my concern about potential peepers via camera.

I remember when I was younger (maybe 10 or 11) and first noticed a sign in the dressing room that said: "this area is monitored by video surveillance". I was convinced that they had a little camera inside the actual dresssing room, and became all concerned about someone seeing me in my skivvies.