Landlord is Recording Our Conversations

[Karin06]

My partner and I have seen our landlord and his wife outside of our apartment with a tape recorder taping our private conversations. We confronted them and they tried to explain that it wasn't a recorder that we were mistaken. We have been to Housing Court in the past and it has not been much help. They were told to stop invading our privacy etc. but to no avail. They are also taping our phone conversations because our neighbors and the LL's wife have slipped by telling us things that only we could know. What recourse do we have on them recording private conversations and illegally tapping our phone lines? Help! Is this not a criminal activity or a civil rights violation?

<small>[ January 05, 2003, 07:49 PM: Message edited by: Karin06 ]</small>

[Cranky Tenant]

Just for starters you might want to avoid using cordless phones or unscrambled cell phones. If you think the LL is tapping into your actual line I'd have the phone company check it out.

[Phil Cohen]

Tapping your phone conversation is definitely a criminal violation of the law. You should contact the phone company and/or the DA's office.

Also their invasion of your privacy could be a violation of your warrantee of habitability. But you would have to be pretty sure you can prove it first.

[Karin06]

Thanks for the replies. I wanted to ask another question....how can the LL tap into our cordless phone? Does that happen where all our phone lines converge? In our case the phone lines are in a storage room that is under lock and key. Is there a way for the phone company to check into this without getting into the storage room?

[HAJ77]

Tapping into a cordless telephone is just slightly more complicated than turning on the radio. Since the cordless phone transmits the signal from the handset to the base (or more accurately to anything within the range of the transmitter)the signal is available for anyone to grab just like tuning into a radio station.

Basically, anyone with either a little knowledge or an Internet connection (search Google yourself), could probably listen into cordless phone conversations with less than an hours work and a trip to Radio Shack. Older cordless phones provide awful protection, while the newer models are nearly impossible for an untrained person to capture.

Consider iinvesting in a new model cordless phone, one that encrypts the signal would be best, or start using a corded telephone, of course if they tapped the junction box that won't help. Plus, don't you think the LL has a key to every lock in the building, so having it under lock & key is only as safe as who has keys. Also, consider buying a device that can detect if the line is tapped, but above all else contact Verizon and have them verify your suspicion. It's a Federal crime to illegally record phone conversations, and an invasion of your privacy.

<small>[ January 06, 2003, 04:41 PM: Message edited by: HJ ]</small>

[Cranky Tenant]

Agreed. If the LL has a similar cordless phone, or a scanner, listing in on your conversations is as easy as hitting the scan or frequency button, as long as he's in range which can be as far as a city block.

Since the conversation travels beyond your apartment, and uses the public airways, it really isn't an invasion of privacy.

Personally I'd only discuss personal issues on a "land line" Then if the LL still seems to be aware of your coversations, you can have Verizon investigate.