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I have a post on here about this situation, but this is a new wrinkle.
My LL asked me to take pictures of the inside of the house for the real estate listing (they are selling). I told them that I was not comfortable with pictures of my stuff all over the internet and felt it was a violation of my privacy. She said, OK, no problem. She wanted to know if she could give some interior pics to the realtor to have at his office for prospective buyers thus keeping them off of the internet. SOunded OK to me.
Guess what? My house, with my belongings, with pictures of my family are all over the internet.
I am not pleased. This is my home. I pay rent on it. And now my entire life is out there for the world to see.
What do I do?
I am calling Legal Aid on Monday, sent an email to the LL just in case her agent misunderstood and put the pics up anyway. If they are not down by early next week, I will send a C&D letter.
(There have been a ton of break ins at houses listed for sale. A lot of them have pics of the cars in the driveway and pics of the stuff in the house. The suspects look for the cars to be gone and break in, knowing exactly what they are breaking in for. Sign of the times I guess. THIS is why I do not want interior pictures up.)
Honestly just calling your landlord is the right thing to do. Often times assistants enter listings for real estate agents, and the fact that those pictures weren't supposed to go on there may not have made it that far.
I would try to solve this amicably -- if you feel there was a mistake perhaps the LL can ask for the pictures to be removed. Personally I would not have supplied any pictures if I felt that the pictures would put the unit I am renting at increased risk of break-in / theft.
On lower priced / more iffy neighborhoods most real estate agent will go out of their way to NOT show pricey home entertainment items or decorative stuff that could be easily carried off.
I only supplied the pictures so that the agent could have them to show people who came into his office. Generally, people who go through the trouble to book an appointment with an agent are not going to rob you. Generally. And my LL gave me her word (twice) that they would not be put up. I am hoping it was a mistake or oversight.
Our neighborhood/town/village (pop. 435 Ha!) has a non-existent crime rate. However, areas to the north and south do.
I did learn a big lesson through all of this - never think you are doing the right thing by giving your landlords 7months notice that you will be moving when your lease is up. *sigh*
I also tend to like to know all of my options in all scenarios up front, typically, none of them are needed but I at least feel prepared.
Oh boy, one of the worst times I had ever was when I rented a house for sale. I didn't have the photo issue thankfully, just the keep it ready to show pain in the rear.
Relax. Slow down. Insist that the photos be deleted (suggestion to realtor: use an exterior shot or two for heaven's sake). Then if they do not remove the photos, call your Legal Aid. I seriously doubt that will be necessary. This realtor does need a little advice in my opinion. It is a bit of an invasion to post photos of tenant's belongings in a listing. Tacky.
I also think it was a horrible idea to let them know 7 months in advance you are leaving. No incentive at all for them to make sure you're a happy camper knowing that you have no intention of renewing your lease.
GRC - do as others have suggested, take down your personal belongings and retake photos (of the rooms themselves) that don't show your personal property/expensive items. It's your landlords right to sell the house and most likely in your lease contract - plus, not trying to be rude or mean, but giving them 7 months notice? No offense intended, but if I was a landlord and knew my tenant was going to be moving out and especially with current market conditions, I'd try to get it sold before the tenant (you) moved out. So just take new photo's not showing your stuff.
Don't know your area, but maybe there's another renter out there who needs a shorter term rental who works a lot at their office, doesn't have a lot of stuff and who won't mind the showings, etc. Then they possibly could assume the remainder of your lease term - of course if your landlord agreed which they most likely would since it would still be rented. Just a thought.
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