I want to keep my window open because it's my preference. My landlord wants to keep it closed because they remotely controls the house's A/C. They'll walk right up to my room and slam it shut whenever they visits on random days to harass us about the kitchen looking like people live here.

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[–] 48 points 3 months ago (4 children)

The answer hinges on law, which hinges on location, location, location, so you’re asking the wrong people.

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  • [–] 32 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    Location not specified; OP is presumed American until proven innocent.

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  • [–] 29 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Okay, then which state, county, and municipality should we presume?

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  • [–] 39 points 3 months ago*

    You need to check on tenancy laws in your location.

    It might not be considered trespassing, but it could be something else.

    Here in the UK tenants have a right to "quiet enjoyment" as it is phrased in law, which means your landlord is not allowed to bother you unannounced, and if they want to come to the property they must give reasonable advance notice (usually 24 hours)

    You may have something similar.

    Then again, the landlord having remote-control over your A/C sounds like absolutely psycho behaviour already, so good luck with that.

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  • [–] 20 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    Depends.

    Consult a locally-licensed attorney for legal advice.

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  • [–] [S] 9 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    What if I want to find out this month and/or not spend 300 dollars?

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    What's knowing going to do if you don't have the ability to do anything about it? If the landlord is breaking the law, I doubt they are going to turn into a whimpering puppy if you just tell them you believe they are breaking the law. Even if you are right, it's a threat with no teeth if you aren't going to get an attorney involved, and if it takes a minimum of a month before you can get an attorney involved, you could wind up kicked out before you even get the legal paperwork started.

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  • [–] 18 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    I would physically beat the shit out of a landlord doing that. I am paying to use this property, it's not yours to do ANYTHING with.

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  • [–] 17 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Put a stick in the window on the inside to hold it open, and a camera watching everything

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  • [–] 16 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    In Australia that issue would fall under 'quiet comfort'. I don't think they'd be allowed to do that.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    My location also has such a line but there's no such thing as a law when your landlord can respond within the law to punish you for enforcing your rights.

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  • [–] 12 points 3 months ago

    Probably not criminal trespassing, since they are the owner of the property. It may fall under tenant harassment, unauthorized entry, constructive eviction, or other laws that pertain specifically to landlord/tenant relations.

    Check to see if there are any local tenant's rights or advocacy groups in your area that offer free legal consultations. They'd be able to advise you on the local tenant's rights laws and whether they apply to your situation.

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  • [–] 12 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    If they remotely control the AC why wouldn't the landlord just turn off the AC when the window was open? Seems more logical, tbh. Maybe that's the escalation you mentioned youbwere worried about in another response.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 months ago

    Why do they remotely control your air conditioning?

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  • [–] 9 points 3 months ago (17 children)

    Why haven’t you put a piece of wood in the window track yet? If you physically block the window, he can’t do it from the outside

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  • [–] [S] 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (16 children)

    Because that would be an escalation they would without a doubt retaliate against, and it would be immediate rather than on my terms. I really do mean my landlord is a psycho. We have security cameras in the kitchen and written instructions on pieces of paper taped everywhere. When I first moved in they banged on my bedroom door to rant at me about other people having kitchen appliances they didn't approve and leaving a pan out. "You know what happens when I find something like this left out? It goes in the trash!"

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  • [–] 10 points 3 months ago (9 children)

    Idk where you live but if you are renting the entire unit it should be illegal to put a camera in the kitchen.

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  • [–] [S] 5 points 3 months ago (8 children)

    It's a house with multiple bedrooms, each of which have a letter taped to it as if the residential house were an apartment complex.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 months ago (6 children)

    I highly encourage you to get a new place.

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  • [–] [S] 6 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    it's a fucking wasteland if you need to keep rent under 900 dollars and don't want to put your cats in a pound

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    If you find some good comrades you can find a house to rent between 3-4 people and get under that for your share. At least I'm my area cause I've been looking

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    is a psycho. We have security cameras in the kitchen

    I'm pretty sure a landlord can not do that legally most places

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  • [–] [S] 10 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 child)

    Just went out after they wrapped up their visit and the fucking psycho threw out all the mail that was sitting in the common area. Including a letter to someone here from the DMV.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago

    You should definitely get a lawyer well versed in tenant rights. California has some of the most protective tenants rights in the US. From what you are describing I would not be surprised if a judge issues a temporary restraining order against the landlord to stay away from the property until things have been resolved.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago (6 children)

    It really depends on where you live and if the landlord lives in the same housebut: are there clearly written rules in the lease about the windows needing to stay closed? If not it is likely not justifiable for them to close them. Typically a landlord needs to provide 24-48 hours notice to enter the unit so if they are showing up on random days and entering that it likely illegal. Throwing away personal property is also illegal. The security cameras could also be illegal. The only way to know any of this would be to contact a local housing justice non profit (if it exists) or preferably a local tenant lawyer. You need to make sure you are documenting everything that seems like a violation, even just writing a note of when and what happened but photos and video could be preferable

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    Landlord-tenant laws should be online.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    yeah but the average person doesn't know how to decipher legalese, won't know how city vs county vs state laws interplay with each other nor would they know the established legal precedents or the way courts typically rule on certain types of cases. unfortunately the law might say one thing but in practice enforcing it might not ever happen in certain municipalities. having a free consultation with a legal expert is a much faster way to get the correct answer than scrolling through dozens of pages of legal texts to think you might have a cursory grasp on the subject matter

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (3 children)

    Not everywhere offers that either. That's the pitfalls of asking online. One may get hundreds of replies that aren't helpful, to get one or a few that are. A lot of times I got zero useful replies in and of themselves, but useful in that they gave me another actionable idea.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Generally speaking all tenant lawyers work on contingency fees, they will give a free consultation to see if the case if potentially worth enough money for them to take it and then if so take a 40% cut of whatever the case makes. Tenant lawyers would not exist otherwise because virtually no tenants can hire a lawyer up front. So unless there are literally no tenant lawyers in an area, there will be someone willing to give a free consultation since that is how the business model is designed.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago

    alexa give me a recipe for rat poison cookies

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago

    I mean, if they've got AC running and you have a window open you're killing the efficiency for everyone, it's sort of a dick move.

    But if they didn't have it running, they could just ask you nicely to close the window since they're turning the AC on.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago

    Lock it open?

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago

    I don't see anything about how the other people renting here feel, whether they would prefer windows or AC. The AC appears to be for the whole house, of which you only rent 1 room. Legally he might be in the wrong, but you're a terrible roommate.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    I would guess that it isn't trespassing in the normal sense since they own the house/building. Since the contract sounds like it allows them access inside and outside based on the kitchen stuff. Still would be good to see what legal protections you have for privacy as a renter in your area. If they are closing the window from the outside, it might not be legally trespassing (again in the normal sense of the law) as they could argue it is a facilities issue or something.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    It's a fire hazard. If you're running the ac the window should be closed, or cracked less than 2.5 cm

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