The Landlord Lens - Cameras in Your Rental Property

Episode Date: January 14, 2024

As a landlord, ensuring the safety and security of your tenants is of utmost importance. Security cameras can be an effective tool in achieving this, but it's crucial to understand how to use them responsibly and within the boundaries of tenant privacy rights. Join Krista and Jonathan in this episode of Be A Better Landlord as we discuss the appropriate application of cameras in your rental property, prioritizing your tenants' peace of mind.

I'm Krista, this is Jonathan, and we're here to help you be a better landlord. So Jonathan, cameras are easier to get than ever, and a lot of landlords have concerns about either installing them for their properties or having tenants install them. So I would love to get your take. Yeah, so I think a landlord should start with why do they want to install one of these cameras? Because there are some legitimate reasons. The most legitimate reason, obviously, is for security. But even with security, you have to weigh how. much is this going to infringe on your tenants privacy? There are some cases, you know, say a landlord has a multifamily property and they want a security

camera in the hallway or another common area or maybe an entryway or a mail room or even a parking garage. Those are all legitimate places that you couldn't put a camera. If you do choose to put one in one of those places, make sure it is known. You don't want to try to hide a camera, right? You're not going to put like a nanny cam with a little teddy bear. in the corner. You want it up. Everyone knows about it. It's there. And make sure that it's in the lease agreement as well. That makes a lot of sense. So what I'm hearing is a landlord can have

security cameras, but they want to make sure they're very visible and that they're well known by everyone also having some kind of documentation at lease. Absolutely. Something that I didn't hear you mention is putting security cameras inside of the rental. Tell me a little bit about that. Yeah. You probably shouldn't do it. So there are some cases, say a utility closet. Maybe it's a shared house, shared utility closet, and somebody keeps turning off the furnace. Maybe you want to put a camera in there to make sure that whoever's doing that stops and that you have proof of it happening. I guess that would be a case where it would make sense, but in pretty much any other circumstance, it does not make sense to put a camera inside. You know, putting one in a

kitchen even is kind of weird, and then definitely putting one in a bathroom or a bedroom. Don't do that. There's no legitimate reason. that a landlord would need a camera inside like that. All right. So interior cameras are a no-go. Exterior cameras, it sounds like, can be used as long as you're using them properly. Yeah. Could you give an example of when installing a security camera on an exterior view would be improper

or otherwise injure the landlord-tenant relationship? Sure. Yeah. If it's a single-family home and you insist on putting a camera in the backyard, for instance, why? What's the reason for that? or if you put a doorbell camera and you just tell your tenant, it's got to be there. Sorry.

That can also be a pretty weird infringement on their privacy. Because most of these cameras nowadays, if you get one like Ring or Nest or Arlo or some of these other popular brands, they record audio as well as video. So the video is one thing. But the audio, you know, that then people are going to think about your kind of eavesdropping on their conversations. if it's at the front door, you're going to hear everything as they're coming and going, and that starts to not feel so nice for the tenants. Yeah, I could see where that would infringe on their rights. Yes.

So something that we've seen pop up online quite a bit are stories of landlords reacting to lease violations by implementing a camera. Yeah. Can you talk a little bit about why that's a bad idea? Yeah. Well, it's pretty spiteful. You know, if I say, I'm pretty sure you have a pet, you're not telling me about, or your significant others coming over a lot more than you said they were,

I'm going to put a camera in and catch you in the act. That just doesn't set the stage for a very positive landlord-tenant relationship. And we're not about that. So I would say, like I mentioned before, any cameras you install, making them known, making them visible, and having the communication with your tenant about why it's being installed, what it's for, who has access, et cetera. If you're doing this in retaliation to what you think is,

a lease violation, that's not going to go well. Even if you catch them in the act and you were correct all along that they had that dog that they didn't tell you about, it's still not going to turn out well. It's better to just have the conversation with your tenant. And if you think things aren't going well, then, you know, approach it differently. Sticking a camera in their face is not going to make them suddenly get in line. Okay. So what if your tenant comes to you and says, hey, John, I really want you to install a camera? Yeah. How would you handle that kind of situation? Yeah. So again, start with the Y. So if, for instance, packages are going missing, they want to catch a porch pirate in the act, or maybe they just want to have eyes on the exterior. You know, if it is a

single family home, there's obviously a lot of legitimate reasons that the tenant would want a camera outside. Maybe it's just to be notified when a package does come, you know? If they come to you, then I think it's worth talking to them about how will this work? Do you want me, the landlord, to pay for it? Are you going to pay for it? After it's installed, who has access to the camera? Is it both of us? Do you want the landlord to have access? Who pays for any monthly subscription? Because a lot of them do have that. And then what happens upon move out? Who does the camera stay with the house? Do I the landlord get it? Do you take it with you and return the house to its original condition? So just outlining all of those kinds of things can help it go a lot smoother.

Is there a rule of thumb that landlords could keep in mind in terms of keeping the equipment versus letting it go with the tenant when they move out? Not really. I think it's a case-by-case thing. I would say in most cases, these cameras are not super expensive. They've come down a lot in price. A lot of times you can find great deals on these for like Black Friday or other sales events. So actually buying it isn't a huge financial burden for most people. And so in that case, I would say if the tenant wants to, to install it and they're coming to meet a landlord, I would say, let's make sure we have all these things outlined, but then go for it. It's your living space. If you want cameras on it, that's fine. I think just laying out what happens upon moveout is the most important part in that case. And to that end, if someone has an active lease agreement, how would you recommend that they add this language in? Yeah, so if they already have a lease in progress, I would say that's where at least addendum would be really helpful. So just make an addendum saying here are the rules around

the camera usage, here are the expectations, and here's what's going to happen upon moveout. Make sure that everything's in writing, and it should be pretty solid. Yeah. So what if a landlord is watching this episode and they decide that they want to buy a camera? Do you have any recommendation? I do. Yeah. So a lot of these kinds of home automation gadgets, a lot of them are made by really small companies that tend to disappear overnight. And you don't want to buy one of those. because then all of a sudden the app that you used with your camera,

which in a lot of cases is the only way you can operate it, is gone. And then you're out of luck. So I would recommend buying from one of the bigger companies. Ring is one that I've used before. They're owned by Amazon.

They're probably not going to close tomorrow. There's also Nest owned by Google. Arlo, which is owned by Netgear. These are all big established companies. The apps are going to work probably for years, so will the cameras. And then as far as what to look for, There's a lot of doorbell cameras.

Some of those work off batteries, just rechargeable batteries. Others can be hardwired. So if you already have a doorbell, you can just take out the existing doorbell, use that wiring. And it's a pretty easy install. Some of them now even have little solar panels that you can put the camera up and you can put a little solar panel right where you know it's going to get a lot of sunshine. And you never even have to worry about charging it. Wow, the future is now. The future is now.

Beautiful. Well, Jonathan, thank you so much for talking with me today. It's been really fun to learn all about security cameras, what to do, what not to do. If you out there have a security camera on your rental or you're interested in installing one and have some questions, please leave them below. And don't forget to subscribe. TurboTenant is the all-in-one platform for landlords to manage their rental properties. From vacancy to tenancy, we have you covered with industry-leading tools and expert advice. Landlord better from anywhere for free at turbotenant.com.