The first sign was my bedroom window.
I always locked it before work.
One evening, it was open.
Then a kitchen chair moved. A desk drawer was not fully closed. The landlord said maintenance had checked the smoke detector.
There was no notice.
The detector was in the hallway.
I installed a small camera facing the entrance and another in my office.
Two days later, my phone sent an alert.
My landlord entered without knocking.
He walked past the smoke detector.
He opened my desk drawer, photographed several documents and searched a folder containing lease records.
Then he removed an envelope.
Inside was a copy of the formal complaint I planned to file about mold in the bathroom.
I downloaded the footage immediately.
That evening, he emailed saying he needed to enter again for “urgent maintenance.”
I replied with one still image from the video and copied a tenant-rights attorney.
He did not enter.
Within a week, the mold was professionally treated. The locks were changed at his expense, and I received written confirmation that no one would access the unit without proper notice except during a genuine emergency.
He never explained why he took the complaint.
He did not need to.
People rarely search drawers because they are eager to repair a smoke detector.
I moved when the lease ended.
The camera moved with me.
Trust is useful.
Evidence is more useful when someone else controls the key.
