Investor/Landlord · Farmington Hills, MI · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
I have several rental properties, some I manage myself and some are managed by a property manager. The manager has started a new procedure where he sends an inspector to create a video for the annual inspection and then posts them to youtube. They are labelled with the property address (not the city or state, thankfully). This video showed a property in good condition but with 3 smoke detectors which the tenant removed in lieu of replacing the batteries. This is certainly common but is just as certainly a fire hazard.
I am going to instruct the manager to never use the property address in the title when posting these videos (lest something serious ends up being used in a court of law) but should I go further? Should I instruct him to not post the videos at all unless he does so on an internal (preferably secure) server? Would this be unreasonably cautious?
Rental Property Investor · Easton, PA · Member since 2013 · 357 posts · 92 votes
12y
I think you do need to use caution when posting videos. As Chris said , who is the intended audience and what is the purpose? If just the property owner, then there are ways on you tube to limit public views. He can share for a week to give you time to check it out, then take it down but keep the video as a record of the home inspection.
Investor · Thermopolis, WY · Member since 2012 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
12y
@Jeff Rabinowitz it is my understanding that you tube can have restrictions put on it to limit who can watch it. If the video is for you then only you can get into it and view it. It is good that you can see it but you don't want to advertize no one is in the house.
Involved In Real Estate · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2014 · 8 posts · 0 votes
12y
I think one of the questions that needs to be looked at is he getting permission from the tenants or doing some type of disclosure to put their private property on such a public platform? I agree that if this is going to be done it should be done on a private server with sending the link to owners only after getting a disclosure signed by tenant
@Matt R. , in the unfortunate event that a fire occurred, couldn't an insurance adjuster or lawyer find a way to access the videos even if access was limited? My understanding is nothing on the interwebs really ever goes away completely.
@Account Closed , that is an aspect I hadn't even considered. What if the tenant were robbed for the nice pictures of his plasma TV and I didn't have permission?
Investor · Willow Spring, NC · Member since 2009 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
12y
The first thing to do is to thank him for providing the information. It sounds like a good 'new procedure' that this PM introduced. But just make sure he sets it up to allow use only by the intended audience.
Sherman Oaks, CA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
12y
good question, you can also make the video private in which case only the poster can view or let an authorized viewer. These videos are hosted on google servers and it is very unlikely that anyone could break in or would have the resources,time, money or make it public that they did.
Property Manager · Big Bear Lake, CA · Member since 2013 · 585 posts · 330 votes
12y
I don't see a problem with it as long as the address is not listed. Maybe just give it a number, such as the number in the address, for example. But, not the street name of course.
Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes
12y
I believe the attachment size limit for most emails is realitively small. I think gmail is 5mb. I assume that's why he chose to upload it to YouTube as opposed to emailing it.
Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 136 posts · 32 votes
12y
If the videos are unlisted, than only those witha direct link can view it,s o not a problem.
If the videos are public, I couldn't imagine anything to gain from posting the videos with the street address. Who would watch it, and why even take that risk.
If you had to post them publicly, do not include the address as that is just unecessary risk once again.