24Nov
These days we give up a certain degree of privacy just so that we can perform basic duties, enjoy certain benefits, and generally live our lives. However, it's one thing to sacrifice a few inconveniences online, but it is entirely different to have essential privacy rights violated in the comfort and sanctity of your own living space. Your right to privacy is a fundamental renting right.
Prior to renting, potential tenants give the landlord financial and other private information. Landlords also gain personal information just from the landlord-tenant relationship. It might seem obvious, but they are legally obligated to keep this information confidential and to protect it from getting out to third parties.
Project management companies increasingly turn to social media to screen potential tenants. Although access to social media profiles can't be a requirement of the application process, landlords can still look at public content. Not an invasion of privacy per se, but it's something to be aware of and it can bring up other legal issues, such as housing discrimination.
When you sign a lease or rental property agreement, you have the right of exclusive possession of the property. This is considered the tenant's right to quiet enjoyment. Although the landlord/property management companies may own the property, every tenant has the right to enjoy the property they have rented without anyone else entering that property.
There are certain circumstances which are exceptions to this:
Absent 24-hour written notice for one of the exceptions or an emergency, the landlord isn't allowed to enter without your consent. This also applies to their agent. For example, if the property manager goes into your unit and rifles through your personal belongings, this would of course be a violation. Or if the landlord gives your apartment key to a painter who arrives at your place, unannounced and unsupervised when you're in the middle of eating your lunch.
If your landlord invades your space, then you can look into suing them (and whoever else enters with their permission) for breaching your quiet enjoyment. This can also be considered harassment, depending on the circumstances. However, in most instances a single occasion of an unlawful entry is likely not enough to justify bringing a lawsuit.
Privacy is increasingly becoming more of a rare commodity. But that doesn't mean that your privacy rights should be violated without any remedy. If you're dealing with a landlord that has entered your apartment or has allowed someone else to enter without your permission, then you may have grounds to sue them for breaching your quiet enjoyment. You should get in touch with the tenants' rights attorneys at Wolford Wayne to learn more about your rights. Contact us right away to get started.
Recovered on behalf of a group of 30 tenants living in an SRO in San Francisco who were living with horrendous conditions in their rent controlled apartments, including rodents, bedbugs, mold, water leaks and harassment.Read More
Recovered on behalf of three families living in a building in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood who were forced to live with substandard conditions for years as a result of their landlord’s negligence, including issues with lack of heat, lack of hot water and cockroach/rat infestations.Read More
Recovered on behalf of a couple living in a rent-controlled home in the outer Sunset neighborhood. Our clients were forced to vacate after the landlord served them with an Owner Move-In Eviction Notice. After the landlords failed to move into the property, our clients filed suit for wrongful eviction.Read More
Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco tenant in Russian Hill. Tenant was forced to vacate her illegal apartment in retaliation for reporting unlawful rent increases to the San Francisco Rent Board.Read More
Recovered for a single long-term tenant in San Francisco. Our client was forced to move out of his apartment as a result of extreme landlord harassment.Read More
Recovered on behalf of three long-term tenants in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood who were constructively evicted due to noise and nuisance conditions created by their downstairs neighbors, which the owner refused to address.Read More
Recovered on behalf of elderly, disabled tenant who was forced to move out of her rent-controlled San Francisco apartment of 50 years after landlord/owner failed to resolve numerous building code violations that remained outstanding for over a decade.Read More
Recovered on behalf of seven tenants living in a makeshift boarding house in East Palo Alto.Read More
Recovered on behalf of two former San Francisco tenants who were evicted via an Owner Move-In Eviction and owner failed to occupy the unit as her primary place of residence.Read More
Recovered on behalf of an elderly long-term tenant who was forced to vacate her long San Francisco apartment as a result of her landlord’s refusal to address longstanding defective conditions, including lack of heat, mold, rodent infestations, and defective plumbing. Read More
Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco tenant who was forced to vacate his home as a result of ongoing, disruptive construction and the owners’ refusal to provide him with alternative housing. Read More
Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco family that was constructively evicted from their home in the Richmond District as a result of unlawful rent increases, defective conditions and tenant harassment.Read More
Recovered on behalf of a tenant living in an illegal “in-law” unit. In this case, a new owner purchased the building and then demolished our client’s unit without permits while she was displaced for seismic retrofitting.Read More
Recovered on behalf of two long term San Francisco tenants who were fraudulently evicted from their home of over twenty years under the pretext of an owner move-in eviction.Read More
Recovered for tenant who was injured when their stairway railing collapsed at the tenant’s Mission District apartment building.Read More
Recovered in action for a group of tenants forced to vacate their San Francisco apartment house due to severe habitability defects including mold and water leaks.Read More
For more information or to discuss your legal situation, call us today at (415) 649-6203 for a phone consultation or submit an inquiry below. Please note our firm can only assist tenants residing in San Francisco, Oakland & Berkeley.