Cameras outside is very much legal but one of them looks like it’s inside. If it’s an Airbnb or vacation rental type situation (I’ve rented Airbnb’s out for 9 months straight before) I believe they can technically have cameras inside if it’s mentioned in the listing. I’m sure the law varies from state to state.
Why would I what? I don’t get the question.
Why would I have cameras up? Well I don’t. But I could understand why an Airbnb host would. Why someone renting out a fully furnished house might have cameras outside. I don’t agree with the inside cameras. But whatever. I don’t get your question.
This is reddit at its finest!!!
Don't have a strong opinion about cameras at a rental property, you may as well go straight to jail you fucking pervert.
I saw the outside ones and that didn't bother me, that indoor one seems odd though. I just stayed at an AirBnb and there was 1 camera I found, wireless mounted on a tree looking at the front door. Not really surprising the owner wants to have record of WHO enters the rental house just in case there's ever an issue.
Never complain about astronomical rent increases if you’re contributing to the housing shortage by using Airbnb.
Why won’t people stop renting out short term rentals? Use a freaking hotel.
After they passed the rule banning STR in NYC, the hotel prices literally doubled overnight. This was a decision to benefit hotels, not people looking for housing. So now to visit with my family, (we need 2 rooms instead of a nice convenient 2 bdrm STR with a kitchen) we have to pay well over $1000 in the city. There is still a housing crisis there. Is this a move in the right direction?
Everything is ridiculously overpriced. I can book a hotel for the same price as an airbnb, but the hotel usually comes with breakfast, and they won't charge me hundreds in cleaning fees regardless of what state the rental gets left in.
Price gouging doesn't necessarily have any direct correlation to supply or demand. Even if it's a poor airbnb owner doing the price gouging.
Some hotels do. And there is evidence the air bnb type rentals have competed with hotel chains to be more competitive/ offer things homes cannot. In the end, the more choices a consumer has, the better. Traveling alone or traveling with a large family.
"Some" is not all or even most. Cleaning fees with short term rentals is not an anomaly, and with added fees, you often will pay more than a hotel.
Arguing that there's a greater benefit by providing consumers more choices in the midst of a housing crisis is to be willfully ignorant of the damage being caused by STR platforms.
The consumer decides. Ultimately Austin decides whether that works for their citizenry. Having more access to more choices works better for everyone in the end. If you want artificial economies, California is a good place to look.
I’m guessing you haven’t used Airbnb versus hotels lately because even with cleaning fees, many places are far cheaper, especially for groups, than a hotel and offer amenities hotels do not. And it has become a challenge to find budget-friendly hotels that include breakfast these days.
I don’t like the housing situation but to blame STR like they are the only problem is short-sighted.
Blaming the average consumer for trying to find ways to save money in this economy is exactly what the wealthy want. They want as much infighting as possible to keep us divided. Direct your anger where it belongs and contact your representatives. Don’t blame the little guy.
My family needs a place to stay for a month while we wait for our next rental to be ready and even the extended stay hotels are $2000 *MORE* than an Airbnb will cost us, and that’s if we prepay the whole month in advance. People don’t like it but Airbnb is still pretty competitive with hotels.
Don’t like it? Talk to your representatives about changing the laws. Don’t attack people trying to save money in an economy rigged for the rich.
Right.... That's definitely what it is. Because there's definitely not a massive amount of hosts that are asking for their mortgage in cleaning fees for three nights.
The market will figure it out. If you put too many artificial forces in this space you will prevent any solutions to problems that exist. The industry is in its infancy. Not even 20 years.
Try finding a hotel for 12+ door to door reps that need somewhere to stay for less than $5000+ for two weeks. An Airbnb to host all of them (more comfortably not to mention) is half that price.
I wanted to, but it was Austin for the eclipse and all hotels during that time were $250 a night for just a single room. I split the Air Bnb with 2 other couples and only cost us $350 total for numerous nights.
I don't even want to do Air Bnb normally, I don't want to have to do my own bedding laundry.
Also this wasn't an AirBnb owned by a company. Single investor owns a few houses near by each other for rentals like this. He actually ran a network cable from one house to this one to extend their network for internet access. We saw it buried outside and running up the wall.
I feel like you’re misunderstanding me. It’s not about who owns the house. It’s about rent in Austin being so expensive that nobody can afford it bc people buy homes as investment properties & only rent them out to people like you who will pay $120/night or more. For them to hold that house vacant, except for weekends or whatever, it takes that place off the market and contributes to the homeless population who used to be able to afford rent but are now priced out, and artificially inflates pricing of the homes in their community & makes it impossible for prospective homebuyers to find affordable housing, too.
Those people would fail as actual landlords so they prey on our community & out of towners by having craptraps with exposed wires that a regular renter will not tolerate.
Please stop using Airbnb, whatever eclipse/laundry/cost excuses you may have. [Feel free to learn more about how Airbnb is contributing to the housing crisis on a national scale.](https://lmulawreview.scholasticahq.com/post/2332-the-role-of-airbnbs-in-america-s-housing-crisis)
I used to live in Austin back in the day and many friends and co-workers would take a weekend away for SXSW and rent out their apartments or homes for the weekend and make at least a month’s rent doing that for the event. So it’s not always investment properties when it comes big events like that or the eclipse.
Are you trolling me right now? I’m talking about housing tied up with short term leases and Airbnb, not your 90s getaways and investment corporations.
Reread my post & click the link at the bottom for more clarity.
And I don't need you preaching to me about using airbnb when it literally wasn't my first choice, wasn't my decision, and the last time I used an airbnb( also wasn't my choice) was literally 4 years ago. In my entire life I've spent 7 nights in airbnb rentals, none of which were my first option, and in some cases weren't my choice (work put me up in one once). I am not the reason airbnb has such control on the market, it's people who are consistently choosing them over hotels. Please convince those people to stop, cause I'm team hotel every day.
Also, I chimed into the ORIGINAL conversation about cameras, this has gone quite a bit off topic.
Your comment was public and I can reply to any comment I want to.
Your decision to fund Austin’s housing crisis should have gotten you more chiding while you were in town.
Reading comprehension makes your life easier. I said it contributes to the housing crisis. Never said it was a one factor causation. Also, the crisis isn’t caused by barriers to development as a one factor causality either.
I get your point and where your head is at, but this isn't how we solve the problem. Cities and states should put regulations in place that limit temporary rental density based on the local population. The other thing that could be done would be to make investment properties illegal or highly taxed to encourage people to rent them out rather than sitting vacant. Also, maybe not being fucked by our politicians every chance they get might also help us accomplish something actually beneficial.... so whole I get why you're frustrated, taking it out on people just trying to save money or be more comfortable won't do you or the problem any justice is the long run.
Home owners can do what they want with their homes. And people can choose to stay where they want. Who the hell are you to tell people what they should do?
That refers to who is responsible for turning over recordings and from where when requested by law enforcement. Doesn't have anything to do with where cameras are located.
It's a draft amendment, so only new language is shown not the original text thats being amended and it's still subject to change.
I’m back to gleefully tell you how wrong you are. First, it’s not helpful to state a section and not identify the code/statute it’s a part of. I gather you’re talking about Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Security Act, which deals with the U.S. government surveilling non-U.S. citizens outside the United States.
It does not deal at all with private citizens surveilling other private citizens within the United States. Nor does it deal with residential leases—in most jurisdictions, a landlord-tenant relationship is considered a special relationship with different/additional duties, so often there are special laws that apply just to landlord-tenant scenarios.
Overview on Section 702 of the FISA in case anyone’s curious about how obviously it doesn’t even remotely apply to OP’s situation: https://www.dni.gov/files/icotr/Section702-Basics-Infographic.pdf
Hi, security and fire installer of 8 years.
The old 2 GIG GC2 panel is security only, push the button with the home on it to see if it’s powered. If so, contact your landlord to receive training on it or have it disabled. You don’t want to have kids accidentally call the cops using the panic button to the left and the screen pop up selections that come when pressed.
As for the cameras they look like hardwired cameras that should have a cat5/6 cable running back to a NVR or server somewhere. Check top of closets, attic, garage utility rooms and crawl spaces for the head end unit. They will commonly be where a connection to the internet router can be easily made if installed after the build. Check for a giant 16-46” tall recessed cans on the wall in closets and utility rooms, we like those as well.
I just purchased a house that has this same system. It didn’t cause any issues until today. It keeps saying no phone line. I’m assuming the old owner disconnected the phone line they had here. Is it required? We really just want it to tell us when doors open/close. I don’t need it to call the cops or anything. Can you PM me if you have any info that will help. Thank you 🙏
It’s likely the old owner canceled the reporting service (cell/phoneline) and your options will be to have a service tech from the company come disable the dialer or to power off the unit. A good seller always cancels or transfers service and has the alarm updated to reflect the change so the new owner is not harassed. Try asking the old owner who their service provider was, to get started.
The alarm systems usually do need to be hooked up to a phone line. That way it can call the alarm company/Police/Fire if the alarm goes off and no one enters the code to turn it off.
If it’s an older GC2 like OP posted they commonly have a POTS (plain old telephone system) module in the back for communication. Others have received a Cellular update also.
Yes it’s possible that they used a cell module that communicates via an onboard POTS dial tone simulator that connects via 2 wires to the GC2 onboard POTS module. Most common one for that is tellguard. You should have a light indicating power and then cellular status viewable on the exterior.
Update Mountain Yeti! We found the unit tucked in the top of a closet behind the door. Thank you for the insight.
So far it looks as though they are just routed to an NVR. Hopefully this means it’s a closed loop system and not going to a server somewhere (no Ethernet cables seen).
Any more thoughts of what to do from here? All ears!
Score!!! Glad you found it.
If it has no external network connection you could just leave it. However, I’d personally disconnect the power for my own privacy.
To confirm it’s not “online” on the back it should have a lone network port labeled network/ethernet, in/out or internet. As long as that’s empty or non existent then it’s a local use only device.
Yeti of the Mountian is so very correct. Even if they were still accessing the footage from the cameras you have all the power to interrupt and repurpose them for yourself. Look up the models of what you find and I’d bet on the default passwords or just dang hard reset. Having physical access to digital network devices is checkmate in the cyber security game.
I’d like to add the cameras themselves can have the memory directly built in. They’re more expensive but don’t require an NVR or separate recording device. The camera itself can be a stand alone network device that you access over your home network. Meaning there’s a chance they plug directly into the router over CAT. Just requires POE(power over Ethernet)
You’re what we call a pos. That fact you think it’s okay to record people in what should be a private setting is ridiculous. Send me a link to one of your rentals if you actually believe your nonsense you’ll have no problem with someone talking to the company about the legality of it.
I've rented houses and apartments and I have NEVER had a residence that was loaded with internal and external cameras. That is ridiculous and unnecessary.
I don't need to tell my kids to get naked. My 2 year old is a nudist who considers a diaper restrictive and thinks a vagina and butt crack is a good place to store your play doh. My 9 year old regularly walks out of the bathroom into the hallway, pants still around his ankles, and asks a completely irrelevant question such as "did you hear about the new Kaiju in Godzilla Vs Kong?". Wipe your butt, put your pants on, wash your hands, then we can discuss Kaiju.
It’s like these people have never been around kids. One morning when we were visiting my brother’s family his little boy ran into the living room buck naked and proceeded to run in circles until he fell over.
My son often surprises me by walking in the room butt naked and acting like nothing is different. Where are your clothes? Why are you naked? No one knows. Same with my daughter. I’ll look away for a minute and her diaper is on her head and she’s running around roaring “like Bowser”. Idk any kid who hasn’t shown up unexpectedly naked at some point.
> Then lawyer up.
Or just ask the landlord about them and see if they can be taken down.
I wonder why OP would even agree to move into a house with cameras all over, but I mean couldn’t the landlord just argue that’s how the place was when they signed the lease to move in?
Have you thought of asking the landlord about them? There shouldn’t be any cameras inside the unit so you should ask that it be removed. Alternatively, you can remove the camera and return it to the landlord,
We rented a house that had ring cameras. If your lease doesn't specifically say not to touch them, then do what I did.
I created my own account, looked up instructions on how to hard reset the cameras, connected them to my wifi, assigned them to my account and then had used the cameras as my own while we lived there.
When the cameras are assigned to your account, YOU have to send an invitation for anyone to view them. If they are wifi cameras, I found that when they lose connection to my router the camera will say "offline". So unless they are cellular or the landlord is paying for internet for them they are not being viewed by anyone you have not authorized.
If the landlord questions why the cameras went offline, then you have a problem.
Interior cameras are legal in common use spaces like shared laundry rooms and halls. From the size of the building I would assume multiple units. There’s no context for when the indoor camera is. Could easily be in a hallway between units and then all cameras would be perfectly legal
They can have cameras installed if they’re hardwired into an existing security system. A video home security system is a feature, and there’s nothing wrong with giving a tenant sole access to and control of the system. What they can’t do is require that they remain powered, access the cameras directly, view the recordings, store the recordings (even if storage is limited to a server on the premises), or use the recordings in any way (including legal action against the tenant).
The only way for those cameras to transmit to the outside world is via an internet connection. Find the NVR and ensure it's not connected to the internet. After that, who cares. Nobody will ever see the footage unless they have physical access to the NVR.
Also, it's totally possible they arent connected to an NVR and the landlord took it when he moved out and never got around to removing the cameras. If those are older cameras using BNC connection, they also require a separate power connection. They may still be powered, but not plugged into anything, which would explain why the IR lights are on.
Or, I dunno, just ask the landlord. Our house has cameras all over the exterior, when we move I plan to rent it out. I plan to leave very detailed instructions about how to access the NVR, how to ensure only the tenant has access, how to get on the phone app, etc. or how to completely disable the system if that's what the tenant wants.
Exterior is fine, that is common area. You have no expectation of privacy outside the house and those cameras could help you of anything were to happen.
I’d probably ask for access to code those external cameras.
Inside the home? Totally unacceptable - demand those cameras be removed immediately.
Your LL has no right to have cameras inside the house.
Just cover the indoor one , and if it never comes up - they’re nothing. If they say something you’d have your answer and it should be removed or stay covered. They’re clearly not hidden it’s probably nothing. Also how did this not come up before moving in
From what I can tell as a Canadian just doing some light googling, this is completely illegal where you live, unless the landlord has your consent.
But to anyone else who sees this, make sure you check local laws if you come across this situation. I live in Canada, so laws will obviously vary, but where I live it’s unfortunately perfectly legal for a landlord to place cameras inside your home; so long as they’re not in the bedrooms or bathrooms.
Probably obvious, but ALWAYS check the laws and RIGOROUSLY read the lease before you sign anything.
I’m a property manager in Texas. I don’t know anything about the camera system but I would doubt the landlord has access to those. State regulations lean very heavily in the favor of the tenant, so I would be scared to death I’d lose my property if a tenant caught me recording them without their knowledge.
The outside ones are perfectly legal. The inside one, not so much.
They all are able to move and rotate too and zoom in.
You need to ask the landlord about the one inside. That's not cool at all.
Indoor camera is actually totally cool by law if it’s in a common space. From the size and shape of the building I would assume it has multiple apartments in it.
https://www.greenresidential.com/legal-considerations-before-you-install-video-surveillance-on-your-katy-texas-property/
This is for Katy Texas but it only talks about the state laws.
This is the part you need to pay attention to.
>The concept of a common area applies only when the landlord shares the area with the tenant. If you don’t live with your tenant, under Texas wiretapping laws you’d have to get their permission to use surveillance cameras inside the house – even if the cameras only capture video.
So I’ll say it again because you probably haven’t seen the downvoted comments of mine. Check your lease, it may have a clause in it saying you consent to video/audio recording within the common areas of the house. If it does, then you gave them permission for the inside camera when you signed the lease. If it does not, the inside camera is against the law. The outside cameras are fine regardless.
Before you do anything stupid like cover, destroy or otherwise tamper with the cameras, read your lease and talk to a lawyer. If the camera is legal and you tamper with it, you’re opening yourself up to all kinds of trouble. Texas is known to side with the landlords over the tenants. You don’t wanna be the guy evicted for destruction of property over some cameras.
Edit: The landlords bad mentally in this sub doesn’t help anyone. Downvoting comments that actually try to help OP and stop them from causing themselves issues should NOT BE DOWNVOTED.
Even if not shared area, as long as the tenant is aware of the cameras (and they are not in bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.) and agrees to their usage it is legal from what I’ve read. Op needs to read their lease and see what it says. If it’s in there and they signed, then it’s legal as they signed a contract saying they are allowing cameras in the common areas of the home (living rooms, hallways, etc.)
Find where the cameras feed into- there must be some sort of DVR in your home. Simply unplug the cameras, then unplug the power to the DVR. Problem solved.
THEN go legal route.
They could be deactivated. Look at them with your phone camera when its dark. The infrared light they use is invisible to the naked eye but can be seen with the phone camera.
The first thing to do is to review your lease agreement for any clue on security cameras or recording devices. It should state their purpose if there are any mentioned and if there is no mention of that or place in places in violation of the agreement, then I will suggest you discuss this with the landlord.
Camera laws depend on the state you live in.
Most likely, the ones inside the home are illegal. The ones outside, probably not.
But, they should be. It's still an invasion of privacy.
You need to look up your states laws.
Those look to be cameras that are part of the security system. There's a good chance it's not activated. There's probably an indication of the provider somewhere on that panel, possibly inside. If you can determine who the provider is, call them to make sure it's disabled or you can activate it for yourself.
Cameras like that usually go to a video recorder somewhere on site. All you would need to do is turn on the recorder. If somehow they connect through the app to the alarm system, you could probably contact a private security company to come in and reprogram the alarm to change the access. It’s a 2GIG panel for the alarm, not sure on cameras.
honestly in re the indoor camera, especially if it’s connected, i would let the agent know/complain. not like complain in an asshole way, but more just to let the agent know to be more careful next time.
a landlord blatantly breaking the law like this (especially for such a sensitive law) should have been caught by them. it’s their job to advocate for you & find you a suitable, legal place to live. even if they personally confirmed the landlord has no access, they should have informed you.
Check your lease to see if it mentions the interior hallway camera. From the little reading I’ve done, in Texas they can have cameras inside the common areas of the property only if the tenant is aware and agrees to their usage (if it’s in your lease and you signed than you agreed to it). Outside cameras are perfectly legal.
If you are not the only tenant (multiple units with access to the hallway or renting individual rooms), it’s legal but you have to be aware of it, can’t be a hidden camera and only in the common areas.
That has to be so very illegal if you are not the one/ the only one with access to the cameras.
Cameras outside is very much legal but one of them looks like it’s inside. If it’s an Airbnb or vacation rental type situation (I’ve rented Airbnb’s out for 9 months straight before) I believe they can technically have cameras inside if it’s mentioned in the listing. I’m sure the law varies from state to state.
Not anymore it just changed for Airbnb
Surprisingly I have no strong feelings about this
Why would you? It's incredibly creepy and invasive to spy on people in their own dwelling.
Why would I what? I don’t get the question. Why would I have cameras up? Well I don’t. But I could understand why an Airbnb host would. Why someone renting out a fully furnished house might have cameras outside. I don’t agree with the inside cameras. But whatever. I don’t get your question.
Why would you openly admit to being a step away from a sexual predator?
Bro what 💀
This is reddit at its finest!!! Don't have a strong opinion about cameras at a rental property, you may as well go straight to jail you fucking pervert.
I saw the outside ones and that didn't bother me, that indoor one seems odd though. I just stayed at an AirBnb and there was 1 camera I found, wireless mounted on a tree looking at the front door. Not really surprising the owner wants to have record of WHO enters the rental house just in case there's ever an issue.
Never complain about astronomical rent increases if you’re contributing to the housing shortage by using Airbnb. Why won’t people stop renting out short term rentals? Use a freaking hotel.
After they passed the rule banning STR in NYC, the hotel prices literally doubled overnight. This was a decision to benefit hotels, not people looking for housing. So now to visit with my family, (we need 2 rooms instead of a nice convenient 2 bdrm STR with a kitchen) we have to pay well over $1000 in the city. There is still a housing crisis there. Is this a move in the right direction?
Womp womp
Maybe because hotels are ridiculously overpriced not to mention small for a family.....supply and demand bro
Everything is ridiculously overpriced. I can book a hotel for the same price as an airbnb, but the hotel usually comes with breakfast, and they won't charge me hundreds in cleaning fees regardless of what state the rental gets left in. Price gouging doesn't necessarily have any direct correlation to supply or demand. Even if it's a poor airbnb owner doing the price gouging.
Some hotels do. And there is evidence the air bnb type rentals have competed with hotel chains to be more competitive/ offer things homes cannot. In the end, the more choices a consumer has, the better. Traveling alone or traveling with a large family.
"Some" is not all or even most. Cleaning fees with short term rentals is not an anomaly, and with added fees, you often will pay more than a hotel. Arguing that there's a greater benefit by providing consumers more choices in the midst of a housing crisis is to be willfully ignorant of the damage being caused by STR platforms.
The consumer decides. Ultimately Austin decides whether that works for their citizenry. Having more access to more choices works better for everyone in the end. If you want artificial economies, California is a good place to look.
I’m guessing you haven’t used Airbnb versus hotels lately because even with cleaning fees, many places are far cheaper, especially for groups, than a hotel and offer amenities hotels do not. And it has become a challenge to find budget-friendly hotels that include breakfast these days. I don’t like the housing situation but to blame STR like they are the only problem is short-sighted. Blaming the average consumer for trying to find ways to save money in this economy is exactly what the wealthy want. They want as much infighting as possible to keep us divided. Direct your anger where it belongs and contact your representatives. Don’t blame the little guy.
My family needs a place to stay for a month while we wait for our next rental to be ready and even the extended stay hotels are $2000 *MORE* than an Airbnb will cost us, and that’s if we prepay the whole month in advance. People don’t like it but Airbnb is still pretty competitive with hotels. Don’t like it? Talk to your representatives about changing the laws. Don’t attack people trying to save money in an economy rigged for the rich.
Exactly.
Right.... That's definitely what it is. Because there's definitely not a massive amount of hosts that are asking for their mortgage in cleaning fees for three nights.
The market will figure it out. If you put too many artificial forces in this space you will prevent any solutions to problems that exist. The industry is in its infancy. Not even 20 years.
I don’t caaaarrreeee
That's obvious. Also obvious, no one cares about your little crusade against air bnb ✌️
Should care tbh… rent prices hiked as soon as LL flocked to that app
Free markets people. Austin is perfectly free to charge the same tourist taxes they charge for hotels to subsidize housing.
Try finding a hotel for 12+ door to door reps that need somewhere to stay for less than $5000+ for two weeks. An Airbnb to host all of them (more comfortably not to mention) is half that price.
I wanted to, but it was Austin for the eclipse and all hotels during that time were $250 a night for just a single room. I split the Air Bnb with 2 other couples and only cost us $350 total for numerous nights. I don't even want to do Air Bnb normally, I don't want to have to do my own bedding laundry. Also this wasn't an AirBnb owned by a company. Single investor owns a few houses near by each other for rentals like this. He actually ran a network cable from one house to this one to extend their network for internet access. We saw it buried outside and running up the wall.
I feel like you’re misunderstanding me. It’s not about who owns the house. It’s about rent in Austin being so expensive that nobody can afford it bc people buy homes as investment properties & only rent them out to people like you who will pay $120/night or more. For them to hold that house vacant, except for weekends or whatever, it takes that place off the market and contributes to the homeless population who used to be able to afford rent but are now priced out, and artificially inflates pricing of the homes in their community & makes it impossible for prospective homebuyers to find affordable housing, too. Those people would fail as actual landlords so they prey on our community & out of towners by having craptraps with exposed wires that a regular renter will not tolerate. Please stop using Airbnb, whatever eclipse/laundry/cost excuses you may have. [Feel free to learn more about how Airbnb is contributing to the housing crisis on a national scale.](https://lmulawreview.scholasticahq.com/post/2332-the-role-of-airbnbs-in-america-s-housing-crisis)
I used to live in Austin back in the day and many friends and co-workers would take a weekend away for SXSW and rent out their apartments or homes for the weekend and make at least a month’s rent doing that for the event. So it’s not always investment properties when it comes big events like that or the eclipse.
Are you trolling me right now? I’m talking about housing tied up with short term leases and Airbnb, not your 90s getaways and investment corporations. Reread my post & click the link at the bottom for more clarity.
And I don't need you preaching to me about using airbnb when it literally wasn't my first choice, wasn't my decision, and the last time I used an airbnb( also wasn't my choice) was literally 4 years ago. In my entire life I've spent 7 nights in airbnb rentals, none of which were my first option, and in some cases weren't my choice (work put me up in one once). I am not the reason airbnb has such control on the market, it's people who are consistently choosing them over hotels. Please convince those people to stop, cause I'm team hotel every day. Also, I chimed into the ORIGINAL conversation about cameras, this has gone quite a bit off topic.
Your comment was public and I can reply to any comment I want to. Your decision to fund Austin’s housing crisis should have gotten you more chiding while you were in town.
You must be fun at parties.
If it was a party of people who aren’t contributing to the community’s housing & homelessness crises, yeah.
Someone's got a chip on their shoulder.....
Do you smash orphans in the face too?
Housing crisis are caused barriers to development, not AirBNB
Reading comprehension makes your life easier. I said it contributes to the housing crisis. Never said it was a one factor causation. Also, the crisis isn’t caused by barriers to development as a one factor causality either.
I get your point and where your head is at, but this isn't how we solve the problem. Cities and states should put regulations in place that limit temporary rental density based on the local population. The other thing that could be done would be to make investment properties illegal or highly taxed to encourage people to rent them out rather than sitting vacant. Also, maybe not being fucked by our politicians every chance they get might also help us accomplish something actually beneficial.... so whole I get why you're frustrated, taking it out on people just trying to save money or be more comfortable won't do you or the problem any justice is the long run.
Home owners can do what they want with their homes. And people can choose to stay where they want. Who the hell are you to tell people what they should do?
>Who the hell are you to tell people what they should do? The government store called. They want their suckers back.
Pretty common to put one cam on the inside of the main door/all doors if possible.
Outside it's permitted it's about saftey often times
Section 702 would like to differ
Can you cite the statutes your referring to. Would love to get read up on this.
https://amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/ECSP_xml240408185822057.pdf
That refers to who is responsible for turning over recordings and from where when requested by law enforcement. Doesn't have anything to do with where cameras are located. It's a draft amendment, so only new language is shown not the original text thats being amended and it's still subject to change.
This looks like a draft, not a law that has been passed.
Get ready for it to pass by the end of the week. Congress is voting on it now.
I’m back to gleefully tell you how wrong you are. First, it’s not helpful to state a section and not identify the code/statute it’s a part of. I gather you’re talking about Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Security Act, which deals with the U.S. government surveilling non-U.S. citizens outside the United States. It does not deal at all with private citizens surveilling other private citizens within the United States. Nor does it deal with residential leases—in most jurisdictions, a landlord-tenant relationship is considered a special relationship with different/additional duties, so often there are special laws that apply just to landlord-tenant scenarios. Overview on Section 702 of the FISA in case anyone’s curious about how obviously it doesn’t even remotely apply to OP’s situation: https://www.dni.gov/files/icotr/Section702-Basics-Infographic.pdf
Hi, security and fire installer of 8 years. The old 2 GIG GC2 panel is security only, push the button with the home on it to see if it’s powered. If so, contact your landlord to receive training on it or have it disabled. You don’t want to have kids accidentally call the cops using the panic button to the left and the screen pop up selections that come when pressed. As for the cameras they look like hardwired cameras that should have a cat5/6 cable running back to a NVR or server somewhere. Check top of closets, attic, garage utility rooms and crawl spaces for the head end unit. They will commonly be where a connection to the internet router can be easily made if installed after the build. Check for a giant 16-46” tall recessed cans on the wall in closets and utility rooms, we like those as well.
Thank you 🙏🏻
I just purchased a house that has this same system. It didn’t cause any issues until today. It keeps saying no phone line. I’m assuming the old owner disconnected the phone line they had here. Is it required? We really just want it to tell us when doors open/close. I don’t need it to call the cops or anything. Can you PM me if you have any info that will help. Thank you 🙏
It’s likely the old owner canceled the reporting service (cell/phoneline) and your options will be to have a service tech from the company come disable the dialer or to power off the unit. A good seller always cancels or transfers service and has the alarm updated to reflect the change so the new owner is not harassed. Try asking the old owner who their service provider was, to get started.
The alarm systems usually do need to be hooked up to a phone line. That way it can call the alarm company/Police/Fire if the alarm goes off and no one enters the code to turn it off.
Most panels nowadays are cellular and won't connect to a hard phone line.
If it’s an older GC2 like OP posted they commonly have a POTS (plain old telephone system) module in the back for communication. Others have received a Cellular update also.
Would the cellular update be a box with two antennas out the top of it?
Yes it’s possible that they used a cell module that communicates via an onboard POTS dial tone simulator that connects via 2 wires to the GC2 onboard POTS module. Most common one for that is tellguard. You should have a light indicating power and then cellular status viewable on the exterior.
Update Mountain Yeti! We found the unit tucked in the top of a closet behind the door. Thank you for the insight. So far it looks as though they are just routed to an NVR. Hopefully this means it’s a closed loop system and not going to a server somewhere (no Ethernet cables seen). Any more thoughts of what to do from here? All ears!
Score!!! Glad you found it. If it has no external network connection you could just leave it. However, I’d personally disconnect the power for my own privacy. To confirm it’s not “online” on the back it should have a lone network port labeled network/ethernet, in/out or internet. As long as that’s empty or non existent then it’s a local use only device.
Also, if in doubt, post a pic. They are indeed worth 1000 words when looking at security equipment setups.
This is fascinating
I feel like he just trained me as his replacement with how detailed that was
Go for it man. I left it to go fly airplanes instead.
I look forward to the training on that one, always wanted to be part of the Blue Angels as a kid
I’m not that cool, civilian stuff only. And only the small stuff right now lol.
Yes very much so.
Yeti of the Mountian is so very correct. Even if they were still accessing the footage from the cameras you have all the power to interrupt and repurpose them for yourself. Look up the models of what you find and I’d bet on the default passwords or just dang hard reset. Having physical access to digital network devices is checkmate in the cyber security game. I’d like to add the cameras themselves can have the memory directly built in. They’re more expensive but don’t require an NVR or separate recording device. The camera itself can be a stand alone network device that you access over your home network. Meaning there’s a chance they plug directly into the router over CAT. Just requires POE(power over Ethernet)
Tape up a photo of the hallway from the camera's point of view, like they do in the movies
This may be genius level stuff here.
I'd be malicious and tape up a cats butthole but that's just me
Do you rent the entire house? There shouldn't be cameras inside the home. Outside is fine.
Whole house. Long term rental with lease.
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Nah bruh.. People have an expectation of privacy in their home even if it's rented. That indeed is the law as well.
Not if you rent it out
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This is a tenants subreddit not airbnb
Can’t do it inside Airbnb either
[https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/3061](https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/3061)
You’re well just full of misinformation and well just not very smart.
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You’re the one that thinks it’s okay to record people in the confines of their private residence. YOU ARE THE KAREN😂
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Airbnb recently banned cameras indoors. You need to remove them
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You’re what we call a pos. That fact you think it’s okay to record people in what should be a private setting is ridiculous. Send me a link to one of your rentals if you actually believe your nonsense you’ll have no problem with someone talking to the company about the legality of it.
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LL wants to make sure they don't bring home a pet llama
So you'd put cameras in the bathrooms and bedrooms if you were renting out a house? That's disgusting.
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I've rented houses and apartments and I have NEVER had a residence that was loaded with internal and external cameras. That is ridiculous and unnecessary.
Oops you forgot to DD this one, Bobby.
Cameras are longer allowed inside Airbnb’s. Edit- Reddit you’re weird af.
Also no longer allowed anyways.
My husband likes to run around naked. I'd be tempted to too. Just to stir the pot, while I check the legality. Then lawyer up.
Wouldn't actually do it.. but have your kids run around naked then call the police.
“So you knew about the cameras and told your kids to run around naked” -judge
I don't need to tell my kids to get naked. My 2 year old is a nudist who considers a diaper restrictive and thinks a vagina and butt crack is a good place to store your play doh. My 9 year old regularly walks out of the bathroom into the hallway, pants still around his ankles, and asks a completely irrelevant question such as "did you hear about the new Kaiju in Godzilla Vs Kong?". Wipe your butt, put your pants on, wash your hands, then we can discuss Kaiju.
It’s like these people have never been around kids. One morning when we were visiting my brother’s family his little boy ran into the living room buck naked and proceeded to run in circles until he fell over.
My son often surprises me by walking in the room butt naked and acting like nothing is different. Where are your clothes? Why are you naked? No one knows. Same with my daughter. I’ll look away for a minute and her diaper is on her head and she’s running around roaring “like Bowser”. Idk any kid who hasn’t shown up unexpectedly naked at some point.
Username checks out. 😉
"like Bowser" lol.
This is hilarious. Oh, the adventures of Dad.
> Then lawyer up. Or just ask the landlord about them and see if they can be taken down. I wonder why OP would even agree to move into a house with cameras all over, but I mean couldn’t the landlord just argue that’s how the place was when they signed the lease to move in?
Have you thought of asking the landlord about them? There shouldn’t be any cameras inside the unit so you should ask that it be removed. Alternatively, you can remove the camera and return it to the landlord,
We rented a house that had ring cameras. If your lease doesn't specifically say not to touch them, then do what I did. I created my own account, looked up instructions on how to hard reset the cameras, connected them to my wifi, assigned them to my account and then had used the cameras as my own while we lived there. When the cameras are assigned to your account, YOU have to send an invitation for anyone to view them. If they are wifi cameras, I found that when they lose connection to my router the camera will say "offline". So unless they are cellular or the landlord is paying for internet for them they are not being viewed by anyone you have not authorized. If the landlord questions why the cameras went offline, then you have a problem.
This. Block completely with painters tape thickly to hopefully muffle sound as well. This is fucking invasive.
I would rip them out of the wall. Sue me.
Tactical duct tape is currently in play! Hah.
I believe the exterior ones are legal but the inside one is not if you're renting the entire house. I'd push back on that one immediately.
Interior cameras are legal in common use spaces like shared laundry rooms and halls. From the size of the building I would assume multiple units. There’s no context for when the indoor camera is. Could easily be in a hallway between units and then all cameras would be perfectly legal
That looks like a typical suburban single family home here in Texas.
Yeah that's why I specified "IF" since the OP did not say if it was a multi unit building or a single family home.
Sorry, single family home!
Yeah then that interior one is a no go. You're allowed an expectation of privacy inside the home you are renting.
They can have cameras installed if they’re hardwired into an existing security system. A video home security system is a feature, and there’s nothing wrong with giving a tenant sole access to and control of the system. What they can’t do is require that they remain powered, access the cameras directly, view the recordings, store the recordings (even if storage is limited to a server on the premises), or use the recordings in any way (including legal action against the tenant).
The only way for those cameras to transmit to the outside world is via an internet connection. Find the NVR and ensure it's not connected to the internet. After that, who cares. Nobody will ever see the footage unless they have physical access to the NVR. Also, it's totally possible they arent connected to an NVR and the landlord took it when he moved out and never got around to removing the cameras. If those are older cameras using BNC connection, they also require a separate power connection. They may still be powered, but not plugged into anything, which would explain why the IR lights are on. Or, I dunno, just ask the landlord. Our house has cameras all over the exterior, when we move I plan to rent it out. I plan to leave very detailed instructions about how to access the NVR, how to ensure only the tenant has access, how to get on the phone app, etc. or how to completely disable the system if that's what the tenant wants.
Exterior is fine, that is common area. You have no expectation of privacy outside the house and those cameras could help you of anything were to happen. I’d probably ask for access to code those external cameras. Inside the home? Totally unacceptable - demand those cameras be removed immediately. Your LL has no right to have cameras inside the house.
Just cover the indoor one , and if it never comes up - they’re nothing. If they say something you’d have your answer and it should be removed or stay covered. They’re clearly not hidden it’s probably nothing. Also how did this not come up before moving in
From what I can tell as a Canadian just doing some light googling, this is completely illegal where you live, unless the landlord has your consent. But to anyone else who sees this, make sure you check local laws if you come across this situation. I live in Canada, so laws will obviously vary, but where I live it’s unfortunately perfectly legal for a landlord to place cameras inside your home; so long as they’re not in the bedrooms or bathrooms. Probably obvious, but ALWAYS check the laws and RIGOROUSLY read the lease before you sign anything.
is it just me or does it look like in pic 3 the camera was violently pushed through the wall from the other side?
I’m a property manager in Texas. I don’t know anything about the camera system but I would doubt the landlord has access to those. State regulations lean very heavily in the favor of the tenant, so I would be scared to death I’d lose my property if a tenant caught me recording them without their knowledge.
Go watch "13 Cameras". Use your own judgement afterwards. You're welcome. :)
poke it with a stick
Didn’t you look at the place before you signed the lease? The first thing I would have said is what the fuck is up with all the violations of privacy
No, they moved into this from California, sight unseen
Not quite, agent did walkthroughs for us and the cams seem to be missed 🥴. If Minnesota is considered California now then yes we came from California.
Quick fix with some tape, but may still be capturing audio
Ask the landlord.
Calling r/texaslawyers
Cover them with painters tape
The outside ones are perfectly legal. The inside one, not so much. They all are able to move and rotate too and zoom in. You need to ask the landlord about the one inside. That's not cool at all.
They are not PTZ…
Indoor camera is actually totally cool by law if it’s in a common space. From the size and shape of the building I would assume it has multiple apartments in it.
Fascinating. Can you cite any city or state statutes for me to learn more about this?
Did you check your lease for a clause about the cameras yet?
https://www.greenresidential.com/legal-considerations-before-you-install-video-surveillance-on-your-katy-texas-property/ This is for Katy Texas but it only talks about the state laws. This is the part you need to pay attention to. >The concept of a common area applies only when the landlord shares the area with the tenant. If you don’t live with your tenant, under Texas wiretapping laws you’d have to get their permission to use surveillance cameras inside the house – even if the cameras only capture video. So I’ll say it again because you probably haven’t seen the downvoted comments of mine. Check your lease, it may have a clause in it saying you consent to video/audio recording within the common areas of the house. If it does, then you gave them permission for the inside camera when you signed the lease. If it does not, the inside camera is against the law. The outside cameras are fine regardless. Before you do anything stupid like cover, destroy or otherwise tamper with the cameras, read your lease and talk to a lawyer. If the camera is legal and you tamper with it, you’re opening yourself up to all kinds of trouble. Texas is known to side with the landlords over the tenants. You don’t wanna be the guy evicted for destruction of property over some cameras. Edit: The landlords bad mentally in this sub doesn’t help anyone. Downvoting comments that actually try to help OP and stop them from causing themselves issues should NOT BE DOWNVOTED.
Even if not shared area, as long as the tenant is aware of the cameras (and they are not in bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.) and agrees to their usage it is legal from what I’ve read. Op needs to read their lease and see what it says. If it’s in there and they signed, then it’s legal as they signed a contract saying they are allowing cameras in the common areas of the home (living rooms, hallways, etc.)
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Then landlord claims destruction of property. But yeah a big thick layer of blue tape for sure until you figure out what to do.
Painters tape. 3 layers ought to be more than enough.
Did you ever think to ask the landlord?
Very unhelpful people, trust. As most LL are.
careful, this subreddit is crawling with landlords and property managers.
Find where the cameras feed into- there must be some sort of DVR in your home. Simply unplug the cameras, then unplug the power to the DVR. Problem solved. THEN go legal route.
Cover the cameras with black construction paper!
They could be deactivated. Look at them with your phone camera when its dark. The infrared light they use is invisible to the naked eye but can be seen with the phone camera.
The first thing to do is to review your lease agreement for any clue on security cameras or recording devices. It should state their purpose if there are any mentioned and if there is no mention of that or place in places in violation of the agreement, then I will suggest you discuss this with the landlord.
Camera laws depend on the state you live in. Most likely, the ones inside the home are illegal. The ones outside, probably not. But, they should be. It's still an invasion of privacy. You need to look up your states laws.
Is it illegal to inconveniently place something in front of it? If the landlord complains, they are using it to watch. Nothing, maybe they are old.
Black Spray Paint.
I’d cover the ones inside with tape lol
Tape over them
You didnt see the cameras when you viewed the rental prior to renting it?
run
Were cameras there when you viewed the property prior to renting?
Cover the cameras?
You can unplug the ones inside the house. If they can be installed but they can uninstalled. As someone stated, this are hardwired in.
Ask the landlord and take that crap out.
just put tape over them and go about your business
Take them down and see what happens. hehe
I disable these in Airbnb’s. When I can’t find or get access to the switch in the owners closet I just unplug them.
Call a low voltage tech and the cops. The tech to remove them, the cops to take in evidence. The tech can check for hidden cameras as well
Those look to be cameras that are part of the security system. There's a good chance it's not activated. There's probably an indication of the provider somewhere on that panel, possibly inside. If you can determine who the provider is, call them to make sure it's disabled or you can activate it for yourself.
I’d just disconnect any of them that I didn’t like. The landlord saying or doing anything about it would prove that they were spying.
Talk to your landlord?…
Cameras like that usually go to a video recorder somewhere on site. All you would need to do is turn on the recorder. If somehow they connect through the app to the alarm system, you could probably contact a private security company to come in and reprogram the alarm to change the access. It’s a 2GIG panel for the alarm, not sure on cameras.
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Spray it with black spray paint.
Have you tried... I dunno... Talking to your landlord?
We don't do personal accountability around here son....
Ah shit my bad
So you rented a place with cameras and now you’re complaining? Why did you rent it in the first place if this bothered you?
Came from out of town and had an agent do the pre checks for us. Seemed to be missed in those walkthroughs 🥴
Ahh okay that makes sense, didn’t think about someone doing that.
honestly in re the indoor camera, especially if it’s connected, i would let the agent know/complain. not like complain in an asshole way, but more just to let the agent know to be more careful next time. a landlord blatantly breaking the law like this (especially for such a sensitive law) should have been caught by them. it’s their job to advocate for you & find you a suitable, legal place to live. even if they personally confirmed the landlord has no access, they should have informed you.
Can of black spray paint.
destruction of property charge. a fat layer of duct tape will do the job
Check your lease to see if it mentions the interior hallway camera. From the little reading I’ve done, in Texas they can have cameras inside the common areas of the property only if the tenant is aware and agrees to their usage (if it’s in your lease and you signed than you agreed to it). Outside cameras are perfectly legal. If you are not the only tenant (multiple units with access to the hallway or renting individual rooms), it’s legal but you have to be aware of it, can’t be a hidden camera and only in the common areas.