Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: picture taking

Taking pictures of someome else's property is legal. I started doing it at age 7 when I took my first picture of the Empire State Building. Trespassing, however, is not legal.

Re: picture taking

You must remember that there is the criminal law in which the decision is made as to whether something is legal or not, and the civil law that private citizens use to try to be reimbursed for their losses caused by the negligence, breach of contract, etc, of someone else.

You can take a picture of someone home as long as you take it from public property, you have no intend to use the picture is some criminal scheme [telling someone that that is the house you own and are selling to him]. But if you take the picture at 3 a.m. so they are afraid you are some thief, or take a photo of a member of the household in the nude, then you may be guilty of eing a public nuisance, trespass, disturbing the peace, etc. As for the civil remedy, if they do not have a reasonable expectancy of privacy, then no tort has been committed. So, according to the United States Supreme Court you can look into and take things out of a person's garbage can, but you can not open the screen door to peek into the can while it is inside.

Homeowners rights are initially spelled out in the CC&R's of the HOA, none of which can be contrary to public law. But it can control the color of your house, whether cars are parked out front, what trees can be planted, etc.