help parents! Male apartment wants to videotape the living room!!!

Parent Cafe
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<p>I now live with a single, paranoid male roomate who is crazy. He spent 40K on a entertainment system in our living room ( i live in a 2 bedroom) and he is going away for a few weeks to visit relatives (yea, he has no friends…)He is paranoid that i will break his 40k entertainment system despite the fact that i have never so much as laid a finger on it and he knows that. I even asked him. Nevertheless, his uncle who raised him is a lawyer and he said tha in california it is legal to put a camera in the living room/kitchen such that you can record anybody. Mind you, this is a private 2 bdrom apartment. This is a person that knows legal loopholes and he used them to harm people for his own advantage. I am not related to this person, i found him as a roomate on craigslist and I am female of course…i only roomed with him becuase i looked him up and he had legit employment in a high powered field and I look my bedroom a night. This is an apartment in a good neighorhood that is master planned and managed by some coporate apartment company. </p>

<p>Now, I dont want him to have photos of me lounging about, cooking, reading, etc. I don’t have any photos of him and it makes me nervous that he would try to record me. i am undergrad and he is 28…it was only due to an unfortunate siutation that i went to live with him…</p>

<p>I was writing a midterm paper once and my computer froze. i had not saved my work, and panicked. I hit my mouse against my thigh and few times and he is using this as an excuse that i am “volatile”…yea right!</p>

<p>I have a lease with the apartment people (two people on the same lease) as well as a lease with him individually…for which I pay 90% of the deposit (already gave the ■■■■■■■ the money :(…then two days later he asked me to sign the apartment lease with the apartment…that’s like two layers …and i have a feeling that maybe i cannot break the lease or else he would not try to get away with trying to record me. </p>

<p>He says if he doesn’t record me and he comes home to find his 40K apartment entertainment system broken, there is no legal action he can take to recoup losses… i have no interest in even touching his entertainment system.</p>

<p>So: my main question is…Is there any CA law that says that this illegal contrary to what he told me? i wil be honest when he is not home i will scratch my back…nose, and run in my undies from the bedroom to the bathroom (i locked it, only i can use it, he has to use his own master bedroom bathroom)… he knows i never have visitors and niether does he…also, it is freezing where we live in CA and my rent includes utilities (i pay that to him directly and then he pays the apartment complex per our individual lease aggreements). but he gets upset if i use the heater…that will show up on the surveliience camera also. I am thinking he might put it online and say bad things about me, in this day and age you never know what a vengeful or pscyhotic person will do with info online!</p>

<p>can anybody help me??
with my school schedule i cannot have time to move all my stuff out…i moved to this new city along for undergrad (transfer student) .and i cannot find another place in time. I am not looking for advice on moving the stuff out, but rather how to get him to not install the frickin thing or some law that prevents recording people in their private living rooms… </p>

<p>I also bartend late at night and dont want him knowing this either…he thinks i work late shifts as a secretary in a hospital floor
thanks!</p>

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<p>As soon as he’s gone, tape a piece of paper over the lens.</p>

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<p>I cannot imagine that it is legal to record someone without their consent. But beyond that, is there any way you can accidentally on purpose disrupt the camera?</p>

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<p>I can’t speak to the legalities about him placing it…but I suggest you just put an item such as a plant in front of it, or hang something in front of it (certainly not ON it–don’t touch it!). </p>

<p>I would avoid letting anybody touch his stuff. Does his “stuff” include a TV or anything you’d normally use? I’m sure it will be fine. I’d get a new room mate asap, you should contact your landlord about breaking the lease.</p>

<p>When you are NOT in the apartment you may as well let it record away, in case of a break-in or something.</p>

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<p>cnp, I’m no lawyer, but in googling around it looks like in many cases, people can be recorded in private homes without consent. Think nanny-cams.</p>

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<p>He should lock his fancy system in HIS room while he is gone.</p>

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<p>I don’t know what your legal rights are, but you could certainly place something in front of (but not on!) the lens as soon as he leaves. The problem might be that there is another lens somewhere that you wouldn’t find. Remember the nanny-cam inside the teddy bear? Maybe you should look around online and see what sort of systems are for sale and what they are usually camoflauged as, just in case.</p>

<p>In know in Maryland, it’s illegal to record someone’s voice without their knowledge and/or consent. Not the same for images. </p>

<p>You should check whatever jurisdiction you are in to see what the tenant’s rights are in general.</p>

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<p>This seems to be the CA wiretapping law although if you click on “video” you’ll see that this site also sells all sorts of hidden cameras.</p>

<p>[California</a> Eavesdrop and Wiretap Laws](<a href=“http://www.internationalspyshop.com/ca-wiretapping-law.aspx]California”>http://www.internationalspyshop.com/ca-wiretapping-law.aspx)</p>

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<p>Seriously?</p>

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<p>The legalities are irrelevant. It’s perfectly legal for him to paint the living room black, age meat in the bathroom and walk around in the nude all day, but you wouldn’t allow that, would you? This is your home. Tell him that it’s not acceptable to YOU to be videotaped in YOUR home, and you will not permit it–you’ll unplug it, block it, whatever you have to do. And if he’s worried about his entertainment system, he should move his stuff into a storage locker while he’s gone. As Dear Abby used to say, no one can treat you like a doormat if you don’t lie down first.</p>

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<p>Unplug the entire system</p>

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<p>I think the crazy roommate is the primary tenant and the OP answered his Craig’s list ad.</p>

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<p>I agree with Thumper1. Great advice!</p>

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<p>I agree with others if he’s going to play that little game stating ‘it’s legal’ then play back by ‘accidentally’ obscuring the camera’s view somehow with a plant etc.</p>

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<p>He sounds like a creep, and I wouldn’t want you to do anything to provoke him. I really think you should suggest that he move the system into his bedroom while he is away. Also, you may want to look for a new roommate.</p>

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<p>Calling ■■■■■ on this one. First post and implausibly stupid situation for a young woman to get into in 2013.</p>

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<p>^ I do think it’s an “odd” post but not because of that. We live with a 31 year old male. We assumed he was in his early 20s because A) he looked it and B) he was an undergrad. My roommate was originally going to room alone with him before we decided to stay in the apartment. </p>

<p>OP, just look for a new place to live ASAP. You should have looked before this even if it meant breaking the lease. Sounds like a nutcase if true.</p>

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<p>Exactamundo.</p>

<p>Also, you lied to him about your job? What?</p>

<p>I think you should be looking for a new place to live.</p>