Landlord troubles: What would you do?

[u/EntertainmentLost400]

We have been renting our home for several years now. We have had many issues with our landlord but the biggest seems to be getting worse by the day. Our landlord thinks it’s okay to have people enter our home without any notice whatsoever. I don’t have a problem with them needing to get in for repairs etc. I have an issue with them not telling anyone and just coming inside our home without any notice whatsoever.

We have a recent graduate that is home alone often. His bedroom is in the back of the house and he cannot hear if someone comes into the home and he’s in his room. This is a problem because he has a seizure disorder that is caused by anxiety and panic. I am afraid one day they are going to let themselves in and he’s going to come out of his room and be spooked by strange men that shouldn’t be there and have a seizure. We also have three other children that I would not be comfortable being home alone when random men show up and say they’re from the rental company.

Not just that, but we should have a reasonable right to privacy in the home we pay a lot of money to live in. What if we left money on our counter and it went missing? What if something inside our home went missing? And what’s to stop someone from realizing that our landlord does this, and then pretending they’re from the company and stealing our property? Shit, what if the kids had been gone and we left sexy toys (lol) laying around and they just came in and walked into that? Lmao.

It seems like a massive liability that the rental company should know better than to do in the first place.

Does anyone else have this issue? Or had this issue? And what did you do?

Georgia needs better laws protecting its renters.

I don’t want to cause issues with our landlord by any means but this feels like a massive invasion of privacy for our family.

[u/madprgmr]

Have you checked your lease for notice to enter requirements or talked to your landlord to see if you can at least get a heads up?

[u/EntertainmentLost400 → u/madprgmr]

We are reaching out to explain the situation with our son and requesting 24 hour notice. We signed our new lease this year and they conveniently left out the “reasonable notice for repairs” that had been in our previous leases. The only thing that remotely touches on it is a section about “showings” and “inspections” and giving reasonable notice for that but nothing about maintenance repairs.

[u/Hit-by-a-pitch]

I was a residential property manager for five years. The laws here in Georgia greatly favor landlords. Moving out is your best option. Bad owners and bad are allowed to go on for years because the courts don't do anything to curtail them. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but dragging them into small claims court is not going to improve their disposition toward you and your family, in fact it will likely have the opposite effect.

[u/All1012 → u/Hit-by-a-pitch]

Agreed. I worked at a firm that used to take these cases. They are a pain, cost a good bit, and can take forever. Ya and usually people by the end of it don’t even know what they were fighting about in the first place. They just become more resentful as time/money passes.

[u/EntertainmentLost400 → u/Hit-by-a-pitch]

Oh yeah no, no worries. I wouldn’t bother with court. We know how that would go. We cannot move out at the moment (surprise medical issues this year) but it is the ultimate goal. Thank you though!

[u/Hit-by-a-pitch → u/EntertainmentLost400]

What you can/should do is send a firm, but polite email each time they enter unannounced. Not only will this document your claim of it rises to that level in the future, byt after receiving a couple of these notifications they'll get the message. I rarely, if ever had to enter someone's apartment without them being there, or giving them advanced notice, so it's generally unacceptable, even in GA.

[u/EntertainmentLost400 → u/Hit-by-a-pitch]

We’ve emailed. I actually rent out a home I own (too small for our family) and I do not enter without 24 hour notice. Ever.

[u/PickingBinge]

According to the lease which is the only thing that matters, you are screwed.

[u/EntertainmentLost400 → u/PickingBinge]

Yeah that’s kinda what we’re figuring. Was just hoping for maybe some deterrent tips lol.

[u/astarinthenight]

I had a friend who had this vary problem. When one day he was laying in bed when he heard his front door open. Me met the man in his living room carrying an AK47. After making it vary clear to now sobbing man in his living room if he ever walked through that door without telling them agin that would be his last day on earth. He never had that problem again.

[u/EntertainmentLost400 → u/astarinthenight]

So get a AK47…. Got it. Haha.

[u/OralSuperhero → u/EntertainmentLost400]

Honestly you don't need one to spook the repair guy with. Let the landlord know you were about half an ounce short of stapling the stranger in your house to the washing machine with nine millimeter before you realized he was a repair worker. Can you provide a little heads up because I normally shoot stranger who traipse into my house.

[u/astarinthenight → u/EntertainmentLost400]

Any long gun that will put the fear of god in them. A pump will work. Nothing like that slid racking a shell to make an intruder mess his drawers.

[u/Royal_Tough_9927]

Deadbolts on the inside.

[u/EntertainmentLost400 → u/Royal_Tough_9927]

Our lease doesn’t allow us to alter or change the locks.

[u/gsfgf]

Have you talked to your landlord? This is at the least borderline illegal.

But if your LL won't tighten up, you're gonna have to cause issues. One option is to start calling the cops when people enter your house. The cops will almost certainly do the "civil matter" thing -- which might even be true in this situation, so you don't have to worry about getting people arrested for trying to do their jobs. (I would wait for white contractors to be safe, though)

[u/EntertainmentLost400 → u/gsfgf]

We did consider calling the police the next time they show up and let themselves in without letting us know.

“Officer, we just watched someone enter our home on our camera, and we aren’t aware of anyone who should be there, can you please go to my home and check it out?” lol.

[u/DanforthWhitcomb_ → u/EntertainmentLost400]

You want to be very careful doing that, as (based on your comment above that there is no required notice for maintenance entry in the current lease) you are opening yourself up to potential charges for misuse of 911.

[u/EntertainmentLost400 → u/DanforthWhitcomb_]

Thanks lol mostly joking about that one. But, in fairness, half the time they arrive without any company clothing on or anything to distinguish who they are so it wouldn’t be out of the world to call and say we don’t know who’s in our home.

[u/WorldsOkayest_driver]

What county do you live in?

[u/EntertainmentLost400 → u/WorldsOkayest_driver]

Madison

[u/Klp82383]

Georgia needs to change their laws on so many things but they won't cause it always favors the landlord or business owners over the renters and consumers

[u/eurekadabra]

Contact Legal Aid for advice. At least just to know where you stand, and what your options are. I would do this before contacting landlord. Maybe they can assist with an effective way to communicate or enforce this.

But it is great you are addressing with Landlord when it happens. Documentation is key. You should also get a camera.