Landlord refuses to allow me privacy in my unit
This is illegal if you are protected by the Oakland Tenant Protection Ordinance.
Check to find out if you are protected under TPO.
As a tenant you are entitled to privacy in your unit. This means, your landlord is not allowed to monitor who is coming in and out of your unit, or come into your unit without your consent or without a 24 hour notice.
As of more recently, the Ordinance also prohibits your landlord from:
- Video or audio recording inside your unit without a lawful purpose
- Entering a unit or photographing parts of it beyond the scope of a lawful entry or inspection
- Unreasonably inquiring into a tenant’s relationship status, or unreasonably restricting or inquiring about overnight guests.
If you find yourself in a situation where you believe your privacy is being violated, you can document it. To begin documentation, in a notebook write the incidents that you feel portray the way your landlord interferes with your right to privacy. You can also use videos, photos, or testimony to prove landlord interference.
Once you have a few incidents documented, write a letter to the landlord citing the laws that protect you. Once you write the letter, send it through certified mail and give your landlord 15 days to rectify the situation. If they don’t stop what they’re doing, you have the option to pursue legal action.
