[vox] [OT] renters question - "snooping" landlord

[Peter Jay Salzman]

rhonda and i rent a house.

a few months ago we came home and some stranger was walking down the
alley that runs along the side of our house, carrying a ladder.  i asked
who he was and he said he was the owner of the house.  apparently, the
price quotes he got to clear the roof of leaves was too expensive for
him, so he decided to clear the leaves himself.   i really didn't like
him in our backyard unannounced, but i didn't say anything.

on sunday (6 apr) we found the owner on top of our roof, cutting
branches off a tree that was getting too large.  he was throwing the cut
branches on the ground, and some of them inadvertently hit my car.  no
damage, though.  just a mess (which he cleaned up after i complained).

today (7 apr) i came home from school and he was here again, doing
something in my yard.

frankly, i don't exactly mind him doing work on the house, but i
absolutely HATE the fact that anybody is here without my knowledge.
it's unsettling.  i trust his intentions, but i feel like i deserve some
kind of phone call or asked if "it's ok" to have him work on the house.

i recall there's some kind of law that protects renters from snooping
real estate owners.  not that the guy is snooping.  i just really want
him to notify me when he'll be here.

is anyone familiar on what the law says about this?  is he allowed to go
into our backyard unannounced?   on our roof?   in our front yard?



i wouldn't make a big deal about it, but...

i believe he might have screwed up our phone while on the roof cutting
branches.  our phone has an incredible amount of intermittent static.
i'm reluctant to call the phone company.  on one hand, we never had this
problem before.  on the other hand, if the phone company doesn't find a
problem, they penalize you with a $50 fine if the problem exists between
the cable pair and your phone.   i'm not sure what to do.  i feel like i
shouldn't even have had to worry about this since he shouldn't have been
on our roof in the first place.  i can't afford the $50 right now.

pete

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