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Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

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Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#21
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having someone's dog be on a porch for a few hours really doesn't seem like much of a violation. Wild animals do the same all the time.

What if the proprietor has a really bad allergy to animal dander?

They could state as much if it is a genuine safety concern. Or not risk renting their home to complete strangers.

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#22

there's a trick to find hidden cameras in airbnbs: join their wifi network and use nmap to scan for all network devices in your subnet. then cross reference the mac addresses/try to reach the webinterface of the devices. this should catch most webcams.

And if you're running the spycams, this is why you get a good wifi system with VLANS to separate your traffic.

Not saying you should run spycams, but always practice good network security.

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#23
post #17
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A visitor bringing a pet onto the porch, and not into the residence, hardly seems like a violation of the no pet policy.

If I say no pets on my property what suddenly allows a small violation to be acceptable? Go find another place.

If you can't handle small violations, do not rent your home to a series of random strangers on the internet.

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#25

Well this sounds very creepy, but imagine for a moment that the landlord might only be checking if there's child pornography going on at his house, then I guess it would be ok. Also he pinky sweared not to share those images with anyone else. Now imagine the landlord is not a person but instead a fluffy cloud...

Now imagine it's not a rental but a house you bought and the builder installed the surveillance and you have no ability to remove them.

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#26
post #7

“So we broke the rules a bit and had pets, so what?” I get that this is a bit dystopian, but not hard to see why the man has installed these cameras

Having someone's dog be on a porch for a few hours really doesn't seem like much of a violation. Wild animals do the same all the time.

I take your point, but that’s not really the authors prerogative to decide what does/does not comply.

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#27
If cell phone signal is good enough for decent internet coverage at your rental, just unplug the router so you don't have to worry about being watched all the time. One of the benefits of everything going cloud-based is that most of these stupid devices don't work without wifi/internet.

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#28

Well this sounds very creepy, but imagine for a moment that the landlord might only be checking if there's child pornography going on at his house, then I guess it would be ok. Also he pinky sweared not to share those images with anyone else. Now imagine the landlord is not a person but instead a fluffy cloud...

And then imagine that the landlord checks for other vague “things” in order to “keep you and the neighborhood safe”.

“Sorry, I have no control over it” he says, “it’s required by law”

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#29
post #19
post #4

Video cameras are continually getting better, cheaper, and smaller, and therefore will be installed everywhere.[a] In coming years, if you're in a building or house that is not yours , odds are there will be one or more cameras taking candid videos/photos of you as you go about your daily life. [a] Take a look at the size of the lens on the back of your mobile phone. That's how small high-quality cameras already are…

I propose everyone has a regular wank in every room. That'll scar the peepers more than the renters. Was it worth installing the CCTV?

> That'll scar the peepers

Or entertain them.

Re: Our vacation rental had surveillance cameras. The landlord used them a lot

#30
Ignoring this author for breaking the house rules and thinking he is in the right. The reality is Airbnb's are slowly being regulated away due to both the poor behavior of guests and bad hosts that have allowed guests to remain unchecked. All it takes is one bad stay for your reputation with your neighbors to be ruined. I am on good terms with mine, but realize that, if I hosted a stay that brought too many guests or had a party, I'd lose that good faith instantly.

It takes one bad guest for your neighbors to be against you.

I have exterior cameras (3, recording all exterior entry points) - and noise detection devices. I quickly check the cameras at check-in and then once or twice during each day of stay. Goal is to make sure the number of people matches the reserved guest count and no parties are occurring. I don't allow guests to bring any outside visitors. I have a very strict limit on 6 people max. My house rules can't be any more clear on this - and I've still encountered a few guests that have broken the rules. They risked their stay being terminated without refund.

I charge $725/night for 6 guests - I haven't had any complaints about the cameras. 60+ reviews, 5.0 stars, been doing this for a little over a year. I am super upfront about cameras in the house rules and house manual. If I did not have the cameras, and some of the rule violations I've had, I'm not sure I'd be able to keep hosting (my county requires a special exception). It's tough out there for Airbnb hosts to be good neighbors.

Also, fun fact, Airbnb does NOT protect you from damage causes by pets.

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