Invasion Of A Tenant’s Privacy

As a landlord, you must realise, although are the owner of the rental property, you cannot invade a tenant’s privacy by walking in and out of his / her rental unit, at will. Of course, you need to check and repair any reported deficiencies or damages, even to show the unit to new prospective tenants, in the event the present one is vacating the unit. However, if you do not inform your tenant and get prior permission for entering the rental unit, you can be held liable for violating and invading his / her privacy. This may well be the right time to explain what is the legal meaning of the term ‘invasion of privacy’.

It was only in the 20th century the term ‘invasion of privacy’ was invented as a legal concept. Inquisitiveness and nosing into other people’s business has been around since time immemorial, however, it took a judge’s wife to help create a new theory out of sheer nosiness and inquisitiveness. Upset with a journalist for snooping around for a major news scoop at a private party, the judge’s wife complained to her husband to do something about the journalist’s nosiness, only to be informed there was nothing in the legal lexicon to hold a person liable for sheer inquisitiveness. Ruminating on the issue, the judge later on wrote an article on the ‘right to privacy’ and from then on a series of rules relating to the subject were developed.

The right to privacy means a person has the inalienable right to be left alone. There are various ways a person’s right to privacy is invaded. The most common invasion of privacy situations law recognizes are as follows:

1. False Light i.e. falsely portraying an individual in a highly offensive manner. For example, posting the photograph of a law abiding man, a man who has never committed a crime on the ‘America’s Most Wanted’ website.
2. Disclosure of Private Facts i.e. revealing private or embarrassing facts about an individual, even though there is no established relation to a legitimate public concern. For example, a thief who has served time for a robbery 20 years ago, but now has rehabilitated himself, and is working as a pastor, it would be considered an invasion of his privacy if one were to publish facts of the 20-year old robbery today, unless a related public interest can be proven i.e. if the pastor is again arrested for a crime.
3. Intrusion is a legal offence as one cannot intrude upon a person’s reasonable expectation of privacy. For example, spying on the person at home, secretly eavesdropping on conversations, or opening their mail.

Similarly, entering a tenant’s apartment, without prior notice and without obtaining his / her consent, is tantamount to invasion of his / her privacy. While, every state has its own set of rules, determine whether a specific act constitutes an invasion of privacy in your state. Most states require a landlord to issue a 24-hour or 48-hour notice to the tenant, informing him / her of his / her intention to enter the rental unit for conducting repairs or showing it to prospective tenants. If, a landlord does enter a tenant’s rental unit without issuing a notice or getting prior permission, the tenant can sue him / her for invading his / her privacy.