Rental Property Investor · NJ · Member since 2019 · 442 posts · 40 votes
hi,
a tenant called us that someone went in to their apartment while they were not home (might be her boy friend but he denies it) and she wants us to check the cameras, and send the picture /videos to her,
so i have 2 questions
1) is it 100% legal for me to send her any footage?
2) she is pressuring us to check it asap, and she gave us a 16 hour range that she was not home.. and we are very busy, just curious how do you go about it?
@Sami Gren we never review video based solely on a tenant request. But we are happy to do it at the request of law enforcement or an insurance company. We arrived at this point after MANY wasted hours reviewing video for something that didn’t even happen, or that happened elsewhere (vehicle damage, etc.). Making the tenant file a report with the police or their insurance company helps weed out some of the baseless claims.
Its your cameras and your recordings. My thoughts are you can share with whomever you like. I would personally review it and maybe tell her the findings but not give here the footage. You make the rules not her.
I would be inclined to share with the authorities instead of her if there is something there that might incite her to violence or there was an actual breaking and entering.
I would tell her you'll try and get to it this week and get to it when you can.
Agree with @John Underwood. Plus she's your tenant, why wouldn't you want to help her if someone broke in?
i sure want to help her, i just do not want to do something illegal,
and also i do not know if i literally need to put everything on hold on the moment
I wouldn't put everything on hold. When you do look at it you can determine if there is something there that needs to be turned over to the police. I wouldn't give it to her.
Agree with @John Underwood. Plus she's your tenant, why wouldn't you want to help her if someone broke in?
i sure want to help her, i just do not want to do something illegal,
and also i do not know if i literally need to put everything on hold on the moment
I wouldn't put everything on hold. When you do look at it you can determine if there is something there that needs to be turned over to the police. I wouldn't give it to her.
@Sami Gren we never review video based solely on a tenant request. But we are happy to do it at the request of law enforcement or an insurance company. We arrived at this point after MANY wasted hours reviewing video for something that didn’t even happen, or that happened elsewhere (vehicle damage, etc.). Making the tenant file a report with the police or their insurance company helps weed out some of the baseless claims.
Assume the worst possible scenario. A person whom she does not know entered her unit and you have it on video. No one knows this because you declined to take a small step to help protect her or maybe you're too busy to be bothered. That person returns in the middle of the night and brutally assaults and rapes her. Had she only known that someone actually entered her place, she could have taken precautions and called the police. When she sues you because you failed to take adequate action to protect her safety after she notified you that someone entered her unit, what dollar figure do you think the jury is going to award her? And, do you have enough insurance to cover it or will you need to start selling off your assets to cover the judgement? Not to mention whether win or lose, you're going to be branded the scumbag landlord.
That's worst case scenario. Most likely it is someone she knows or her imagination, but maybe not. Personally, I would rather spent 15 minutes going through the video to see if someone actually did enter her place and if not, calm her nerves, than risk a life altering judgement against me. It wouldn't be the first time a prior tenant with a key that still works or a deranged person entered a home without disturbing much.
@Sami Gren we never review video based solely on a tenant request. But we are happy to do it at the request of law enforcement or an insurance company. We arrived at this point after MANY wasted hours reviewing video for something that didn’t even happen, or that happened elsewhere (vehicle damage, etc.). Making the tenant file a report with the police or their insurance company helps weed out some of the baseless claims.
well said...
while talking with her, it sounded quite crystal clear that she knows is her boyfriend (that doesn't live there, but is always there).... and she is just suspecting that he brought in other people...
We will never view videos based solely on tenant requests. But we are happy to do so at the request of law enforcement or insurance companies. After many people wasted time reviewing videos and found something that didn't even happen, or something that happened elsewhere, we reached a consensus on this point.
I won't put everything on hold. When you see it, you can determine if there is anything that needs to be handed over to the police. I won't give it to her.