My landlord entered my apartment without my permission and caused damage.?

Question

I pay 1500 a month in rent and that includes utilities, water, electric, internet ect. meaning that the more electricity that i use the less my landlord makes. Well I have been having overheating issues with my PC lately so i have been pointing a fan at it to help cool it down and it has worked for about a month. My landlord entered my apartment without my permission and turned off the fan, leaving a note on my door saying "pleas try to keep electric use to a minimum by turning off your lights and fans when not home".

well my 5 thousand dollar computer overheated and does not work anymore. I told him that he is paying for it as he entered my apartment illegally and caused the damage but he refused. Do i have any rights in this case? and if so what can i do?

Answer 1

Nothing.



Your landlord rents you the apartment, meaning it's his, so he doesn't need your permission to enter it.



He didn't know why you left the fan on, therefore the damage was accidental.



Paying $1,500 for rent is absolutely ridiculous!



Find a cheaper place and you'll have extra money to replace your PC.

Answer 2

I have news for someone.  LAWS VARY!!!!!!  Someone better brush up on rental laws.  There are in fact about 15 states that do not require notice.  Some states require more than 24 hours, some less, some just say reasonable notice.  In about 49 states, landlords do NOT need permission to enter.  Even in the state they do....if they give notice and no one is home to object, they can enter.



In the eyes of the law, a rental is the property of the owner.



In most states, the remedy for a tenant refusing landlord access (even in the state which requires permission) is to EVICT the tenant.  In most states, as long as the landlord has given notice when required, it is not trespass.



Overseeing 1 house rental in 1 state does not make a person an expert on the law.  Many landlords don't even know the laws of their own state.

Answer 3

For those of you saying "the landlord can enter the property without permission",  I have news for you, you better brush up on your rental laws!, a tenant has more legal rights than a landlord.   A landlord UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES can enter your property (except for emergencies) without your expressed permission and is required by law to give MINIMUM 24 hours notice if the need to access the property is necessary and must have a valid reason to do so. (unless stated otherwise in the rental agreement for unannounced inspections, and even then, it is restricted).  In the eyes of the law, as long as you are living there, it is YOUR property, because you are paying to live there.  If the landlord comes over with intentions of harassment and you ask him orher to leave,  he/she MUST leave or will subject to arrest for criminal tresspass.  How do I know all of this,  because I oversaw a house rental for my mom and had to learn the renter's rights and other laws involved.  I had a tenant that was causing problems and I had to reach out to the county Magistrate to find out what I was allowed to do and what I could and could not do, and in nearly all cases,  you must go through the court to obtain an eviction notice.  Now, in this particular case of this guy,  the landlord was in the wrong because he entered the property unauthorized and unlawfully,  he can now be brought up on criminal charges for unlawful entry to private property or even breech of lease.  Just because he or she has a key it does not give legal right to enter.  A landlord can face major legal consequences for unauthorized entry to any rental property under a current contracted lease.



*UPDATE TO ANONYMOUS*



It is clearly evident you have no clue what you are talking about.



1.  It is ILLEGAL in ALL 50 STATES to enter into a rented dwelling without permission, that is a crime!



2. The only time you can LEGALLY enter a rented dwelling without permission is only in the event of an EMERGENCY,  MINIMUM of 24 hours, in some areas it is  up to 2 days notice that is required,  minimum notice is law in ALL 50 STATES.



3,  When a person is paying money to someone to live in said dwelling,  it is considered by law the renter's "property" for the duration of the rental contract, ask a attorney or your county Magistrate.



4. It's not very smart to tell a LANDLORD they don't know the laws,  because in fact, I AM A LANDLORD and I got my facts from my attorney.  You may want to recheck your statements and I certainly hope you are not a landlord because if you are, you are a superiorly dumb one with an open door to the potential of facing criminal charges if you actually believe what you stated, and I hope you have a good attorney in your corner. 

Answer 4

He is in the wrong because usually landlords are not to enter your house without 24 hour notice.  He is in the wrong unless there was an emergency such as a running tap that is causing water to run.  Pipes break sometimes without notice, fire or smoke coming from your apartment.  Although he shut off your fan, I can't see how this caused your computer to overheat when you could just have unplugged your computer while not in use.  You can still try to sue him or contact your landlord's and tenants act office or any other rental regulatory office.  Talk to them see if you have a case.  Good luck

Answer 5

You may have a case to void your lease, but not to sue for the loss of your computer.  You are trying to blame the engineering defects of your computer on your landlord, and you won't be able to prove that is his fault.  Consider suing the computer manufacturers instead.

Answer 6

That's what you get for being a bitcoin miner.  Your PC wouldn't overheat unless you were running programs that require a lot of energy in the first place.  Obviously, you shouldn't be letting your PC run when you aren't even home.  It's obvious you're just mining bitcoins & jacking up his power bill in the process. 

Answer 7

Your setup for 'curing' your overheating PC was pretty sketchy--I can't really say it was your best solution for the problem. I would have bought a cooling mat or a new fan instead--the money would have been well-spent. That said, your landlord should not have entered your apartment without you being there or giving plenty of notice, and he should not have turned off your electronics. What if it had been a fish tank that had an electronic filter?  Or something more vital?  It might have killed your pets or damaged something else. 





Do you have a case for a lawsuit?  Maybe--you'll have to consult an attorney. Even if you DON'T pay for electric as a separate utility, your landlord can't make MORE than $1500/month for his rent. He's not "making more money" by you using the electricity he provides. That money is not going to him anyway--it's going to the utility company. So he's not saving anything by turning off your electronic devices. 





I would call a lawyer and find out if you  have any case here. 

Answer 8

no , did you see him touch you computer , did he cause it to overheat no , seems your computer has broken down and you dont want to pay to fix it . get real . over heating is cause by a fan failing dummy not your landlord .

Answer 9

Your state laws determine what notice he has to give to enter your apartment.  That is separate, for the most part, of the damage he did but if relevant in the entire story for a court.  Him entering is a major issue though that should also be addressed.



The other answers questioning your use of a $5k computer like that don't answer the question.  Bottom line is that if your story is exactly packaged up like you state, then your landlord all but admitted to turning off the fan in which case he is responsible for the damage.  



This is all putting aside that the story reads much like a troll especially given you post as Anonymous.

Answer 10

He has a right to enter his own property under the terms of the lease. Take him to small claims court if you think you do.

Answer 11

First it is not illegal , landlords do not need permission

Secondly if your computer is overheating while you're  away just unplug it before you go out

Third, you have no case

Answer 12

He has done wrong.It is better to come to a compromise through some other person. You may consult a solicitor.

Answer 13

Let it go. things happen in life.

Answer 14

Yes, it does sound like the fan stopped the PC from overheating.  And no, he should not have turned it off.  But you didn't do yourself any favors when you told him it was illegal for him to enter his own property.  This was a stupid thing to say and it probably made him defensive and angry.  Also, when you told him he had to replace it, I sure hope you didn't imply you want a brand new $5000 PC.  Also, WHY did he go in?  If he was noticing a spike in electric bill (or, even worse, the units are metered separately and yours was the one spiking), it's hard to criticize what he did. 



I don't see any "rights" you have here, unless it's just the general right we all have to sue someone.

Answer 15

 a fan does NOT "cool" anything, all it does is circulate air thats already hot



THAT IS

 there is NO WAY it can cause your computer to overheat

(and THAT makes your "update" just stupid



("so if the fan turned off for some reason so would the computer"

 and THATS just bullsh//t.

 No wonder you are "anonymous")



(ps I have been in the computer business since before you were born, and worked for 3 different computer manufacturers One of them making them for the military))

Answer 16

You "can" sue anyone for anything. That just means you file a claim in court and pay the necessary fee.  It doesn't mean you have the necessary claim or evidence to win anything. You have the burden of proving the landlord violated your rights or damaged your property.  The fact that your entire story could be summed up in 25 words or less would seem to indicate it's a troll fail.



However, as an academic exercise:

1. a tenant generally owns the exclusive right to enter their  private home at any time. The landlord owns the building; not the right to enter.



In the USA and many other "common law countries:", the landlord cannot legally enter without tenant's consent, except in states that have passed laws allowing otherwise, including allowing a tenant to agree to allow it in the written lease.  Most states have laws granting a landlord a LIMITED privilege to enter your home by giving prior reasonable notice (typically 24 hours), except for emergencies.



2. A tenant could sue for trespass (damages to be determined), the LL would offer various defenses, such as having some "right to enter", if they can prove that. In some states you could automatically get a restraining order by telling the court your landlord entered without your consent.  In some states the tenant could have the landlord arrested for trespassing, if not also malicious destruction of the tenant's property.  Again, the landlord would have various possible defenses.



2. A landlord (or anyone else) can be held liable for intentional or negligent damage to a tenant's private property, regardless of where or when it occurs. The tenant has to prove that the damage was "caused" by the landlord, and would not have otherwise occurred, among other things.  The landlord would have various defenses.



3. You can sue for refund of your rent, when the landlord has violated the law or the terms of your lease. As mentioned above, you can sue for a restraining order.  If you can prove the landlord was intentionally wrong, you may also request punitive damages ("a million dollars") to make a dramatic example for others (not to mention making it more appealing to attorneys to give you counsel).



4. People spouting pseudo-law from Nolo tenant-rights sources would do us all a favor by admitting they have no idea what they're talking about, or at least citing the source for those who don't recognize the recurring misunderstanding of the law.



Your local laws and lease depend upon circumstances we can't begin to guess, so it's up to you to find someone locally licensed to practice law and to give you actual legal advice for your situation.

Answer 17

Landlord doesn't need your permission to enter their property, all they need to do is give you notice they will be entering UNLESS it is an emergency......... and leaving switched on a computer that you KNOW is overheating is a fire hazard and so an emergency................

Answer 18

Yeah, so when the computer overheated and broke, it shorted out the fan. 

The first question you will be asked is "If you know that your computer overheats, why did you leave it on when it was unattended.

Answer 19

You shouldn't leave an electronic device that needs constant cooling to run unattended for several hours. It's a fire hazard. 

Answer 20

You have a $5,000 computer, the fan wasn't working, and you didn't bother to get it fixed the minute this happened?



I guess you should have turned off the computer when it wasn't in use so the computer fan wasn't an issue.



Or maybe spend the few pennies to get the fan fixed when it broke for a $5000 asset.

Answer 21

He does not need your permission to enter.  He does need to give notice, if required by your state.  You will have to sue him.

Answer 22

Talk to legal aid, they are in the phone book and are free.



However one thing you will be asked is why wasn't the computer turned off when not in use?



Who pays $5,000 for computers? You don't include any software in the price.

Answer 23

They do not need your permision in most states. All that is required is notice. Once notice has been served you do not have to agree to it or be there in most states.  It is impossible for them to have known WHY the fan was on.  It is not illegal to turn off a fan. They are NOT liable for your computer.

Answer 24

1. Your landlord does not need your permission to enter the property. He owns the property, not you. That said, he does need to give proper notice to enter based on your state laws, or have had an emergency that required immediate entry.

2. You knew your computer was having problems with overheating and chose to leave it plugged in and running when not in use. This is pretty negligent on your part, even with a fan running.

3. Your computer is not worth $5,000. You may have paid that for it when you bought it new (do you have proof of that?), but it sounds like you probably have had it for a while if it’s now overheating with regular use. So that means it’s value is the depreciated value of the computer, including the issue causing it to overheat. 

4. If you wanted to take your landlord to court over this, you could certainly try. If you were successful (and that’s a big if), you would only be awarded the depreciated value of the computer, not the replacement cost. At best you *might* get a couple hundred dollars (as used PCs that overheat aren’t worth much). You can decide if it’s worth it to you or not, but I think you will end up with an unsuccessful lawsuit and be out the filing fee for small claims court.

Answer 25

legal aid is only for very low income people, not people who can afford a 5k computer....and they wouldn't take a case like this even if you were poor.



AGAIN, as I have previously proven with a reliable source, about 1/3rd of states do not require notice......even if the landlord was found partially liable....you are partially at fault for being irresponsible going out for hours with the computer on.



really?  if you can't understand, you should not be owning a 5K computer...you can get a nice refurb for about 300.  just because you managed in the past, does not mean the problem would not get worse and it would eventually ruin the computer with or without the fan.



a fan could break and turn off while the computer still had power.



why was your 5K computer running while you weren't home? 



why did he enter?  if he had cause, it was not illegal.  some states don't require notice.



if I had a 5K computer, I would have a cooling pad, not rely on a fan.

Answer 26

"Well I have been having overheating issues with my PC lately"



You already know that there was an issue that you should have addressed. You didn't, eventually it was going to go, it did.

Answer 27

Your problem is obtaining proof. If your story is true, which I doubt, why would you leave an expensive computer running in your absence? Especially as it was prone to overheating. Your landlord is required to give 24 hours notice prior to a visit unless in an emergency. Any damage to your PC is due to your own negligence.