Tenant finds creepy camera in her Brisbane rental – and real estate agent doesn’t know how it got there or who installed it
- Mama finds security camera in her new rental
- Dealer doesn’t know how it got there
A woman who moved into a new rental home was shocked to discover a security camera in her kitchen that may have been monitoring her family’s every move.
The mother contacted her broker in Brisbane to complain and was told no one had any idea how the surveillance device got there or who installed it.
Finally, the agent assured her that the camera could only be accessed via the home’s Wi-Fi and that it could be turned off.
But these assurances failed to calm the renter’s nerves about the creepy camera.
A woman who moved into a new rental home was shocked to discover a security camera (pictured) in her kitchen that may have been monitoring her family’s every move
“We are a very private family so this is extremely frightening for us knowing we are being watched,” she shared Yahoo News.
“(The agent) assured me it’s not active and can only be activated by the person who connected their Wi-Fi to it.”
But the mother insisted that she does not like her family’s privacy being threatened.
“I actually feel extremely overwhelmed and unsafe,” the mother said.
An email from the agent continued to try to reassure the family that they were home safely, giving steps to take control of the device on Sunday.
“Here are the instructions to factory reset the security system so no one else can access it,” the email read.
She was also given instructions on how to remove the device, which the agent repeatedly claimed was not currently active.
The agent assured her that the camera could only be accessed through the home’s Wi-Fi and could be turned off, but that didn’t calm the renter’s nerves.
Property law expert Dr. Vanessa Johnston explained that even if the camera was not active or accessible to anyone else, it is still illegal for rental properties to install any kind of surveillance equipment.
“I’m not a privacy expert, but in terms of ownership, someone using a camera in that situation would call it an invasion of quiet enjoyment,” she said.
“So in any lease, including standard residential leases, the landlord has an obligation to provide quiet enjoyment.”
“Being under surveillance all the time isn’t an exclusive asset, it’s not actually what they got. It is therefore an infringement of quiet enjoyment.’