Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Security Cameras and Tenant's Privacy Rights
I own and rent out a duplex. I have been living in one of the units for over a year now. The amount of petty theft and larceny I have been victum to since returning, is unbearable. I suspect that the tenant has something to do with this, but I have been unable to get any proof beyond repeated circumstantial evidence. The way the property divided, the only access I have to the driveway, which is where most of the theft takes place, is to go through a narrow common area past the tenants apartment. I would like to set up a camera to moniter the driveway and common area. If I do, am I obligated to inform the tenant? Can I set up a camera monitering these areas if it is unavoidable that part of the tenants apartment be in the shot? Would the footage be legaly admissable evidence?
Thank You for your time, F.J.Nunn
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Security Cameras and Tenant's Privacy Rights
So long as you own the property you would be able to set up a camera without informing your tenant, provided that doing so does not unreasonably interfere with the tenant's reasonable expectation of privacy, nor interfere with his right to quiet enjoyment of the property.
Whether the images captured by the camera would be "legally admissible evidence," is a difficult question to answer. It would depend upon what the images were being used for, what type of "hearig" it was being introduced at, and whether your could properly "authenticate" the images (i.e., be able to show that it is what it purports to be), among other things.
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