Theft in a renting situation

[Pringles]

I currently rent a room from a family as I'm putting myself through school (my family has moved out of state so can't live with them) and I pay a rather cheap rent for the area I live in standards. Currently in the home there is my "land ladies" son, who recently moved back in for a short time and her daughter. Both are over 23.

Over the couple of years I've lived here, i've noticed a few of my things just disappear. That I know of is a pair of fleece sweats, a hoodie, a cd case with only a couple or CDs and a cd player. I've never really brought any of that up because I really never cared about the items and it is possible I accidently left the clothes in the laundry room and they got placed somewhere else and it's possible I accidently threw the cd player and case away in box of trash I threw out once by mistake.

This morning, I was leaving for work and I went to look for my ipod to bring with me, since Monday is usually a slow day at my job. When I searched my desk (where I always put it) I couldn't find it anywhere. I searched a few minutes for it on the floor and under my bed in case it fell and bounced there but nothing and since I was in a hurry I just left for work. Now I don't know if it was taken, but the son has been a friend of mine for about 8 years or so and I know he would never take anything. I don't really talk to the daughter so I don't wanna accuse her but I've never exactly trusted her.

I'm a really non confrontinal person but I feel as if I need to talk to my land lady about this. I don't wanna accuse her daughter of theft of my ipod in the wrong way, as I don't want to jeapordize my living situation without having a place immediatly to move into in case she asks me to leave. Anyone have any advice as how I could approach this without blatently saying I think someone here stole my ipod?

In case it's asked, the last time I used my ipod was last Tuesday so if it's been missing it hasn't been missing for very long. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Takedown3]

approach the landlady asking if she saw your ipod anywhere, then do the same for the daughter and son all separately.

if no one fesses up get a camera set it up in your room wired from your comp and set it to motion activate.

[Souj]

While the daughter is asleep, take naked pictures of her and blackmail her into giving you sexual favors. If you rape her enough, soon she will grow to love you and she will do anything for you. Make her go to the store and buy a lot of poison. You don't want to buy the poison, cause they could trace it back to you! On an unsuspecting night, sneak the poison into all the family's food. After they all die, you will be free to sneak into the daughter's room and look around for the missing Ipod.

[Cephius]

If you're going to accuse the son or daughter of stealing something you're going to need hard proof, otherwise I simply don't think it'll end well. Drop some money on a cheap webcam and have it record while you're out of the room? Ask for a lock to be installed on the door?

Again I wouldn't come out and say "I think someone is stealing my stuff" unless you're absolutely sure and can offer up some kind of evidence.

[Pringles]

Yeah, I don't have any real evidence of theft at all, which is why I don't want to say i think someone stole it. If I if I can change the locks at this point, I feel as if I might come off negative towards the land lady and her family, which I don't want to do. Would setting up a cheap webcam to record when I'm not at home be illegal in anyway as I don't own the house?

The asking them all if they might have seen it might be what I'll try first. I have no problem setting aside a small portion of the money I put into my savings account each paycheck until I can buy a new ipod. I just don't want to mistakenly buy new one to have it disappear again on me. Either way, I'll most likely use this as a reason to look for my own place, as all my debt should be paid off by the new year and such.

[richardd]

what will you do if you do end up catching them in the act? can you take any legal action? similar situation happened to me when i was 18, but i didnt have the money or time to invest for lawyers lol. i just packed up and got the hell out

[Byrthnoth]

Why would a girl want your clothes? Might want to investigate the broski more thoroughly.

[Cephius]

Yeah, I don't have any real evidence of theft at all, which is why I don't want to say i think someone stole it. If I if I can change the locks at this point, I feel as if I might come off negative towards the land lady and her family, which I don't want to do. Would setting up a cheap webcam to record when I'm not at home be illegal in anyway as I don't own the house?

The asking them all if they might have seen it might be what I'll try first. I have no problem setting aside a small portion of the money I put into my savings account each paycheck until I can buy a new ipod. I just don't want to mistakenly buy new one to have it disappear again on me. Either way, I'll most likely use this as a reason to look for my own place, as all my debt should be paid off by the new year and such.

As long as you're only recording in your room I don't see how it would be illegal. You're paying for the room, it's your private space. If you catch someone in the act you can bring it to your landlady's attention, if nothing happens you know you're just losing your stuff

[Cream Soda]

Get a program called dorgem for your computer.

It uses your webcam and snaps pictures every (set amount of time could be 1 sec, could be 10 sec etc) when it detects motion.

I have it set up for myself and I'm rather pleased with it.

I know it doesn't help the current situation, but if you have a webcam, it could certainly help future situations.

[Pringles]

Why would a girl want your clothes? Might want to investigate the broski more thoroughly.

Daughter is a major wigga(best way to describe it) and her wardrobe consists of sweatpants and wifebeaters.

As for the webcam advice, thanks for it I'll probably stop by walmart to pick up a cheap webcam tonight. Would a full recording or a snapshot like Cream suggested be a better option? And would it work on a laptop with a screensavers running or am I better off using my desktop and turning my monitor off?

[Amelya]

Why would a girl want your clothes? Might want to investigate the broski more thoroughly.

It's possible she may be selling/trading them to other people for money, drugs, who knows what. A guy I dated in high school had a crackhead sister who would take just about anything she could trade or sell. Hoodies, CDs, electronics, car parts, you name it.

In the mean time, maybe you could get a small safe/lock box to keep valuables in?

[Cream Soda]

Daughter is a major wigga(best way to describe it) and her wardrobe consists of sweatpants and wifebeaters.

As for the webcam advice, thanks for it I'll probably stop by walmart to pick up a cheap webcam tonight. Would a full recording or a snapshot like Cream suggested be a better option? And would it work on a laptop with a screensavers running or am I better off using my desktop and turning my monitor off?

You could use either, honestly. As for your question about full vids, I'm not sure how much memory that would take up, but if you have the entire area you want covered, then snap shots of 1 second intervals should do the trick.

The webcam light will be on so you may want to get a piece of colored tape and cover up that light.

Will work with screen saver up (even if have to put password from there to get back in)

[Pringles]

It's possible she may be selling/trading them to other people for money, drugs, who knows what. A guy I dated in high school had a crackhead sister who would take just about anything she could trade or sell. Hoodies, CDs, electronics, car parts, you name it.

In the mean time, maybe you could get a small safe/lock box to keep valuables in?

I don't think it's theft to resell, as I also have on the same shelf of my desk I keep my iPod on, 3 different gameboys, my psp, a gamegear and all my games for them. And some of those would probably sell more than my ipod(it's the first gen when they introduced color to the backlight screen and such).

*edit* response to cream soda; only area I need covered is my door, which is in direct sight from my desk when walking in. Thanks for letting me know it works on screensaver, I'll probably use photo mode then since it'll save on memory.

[*Shinzon*]

Ask if they borrowed it, especially if you're cool with the boy. Otherwise just keep shit under lock and key.

[richardd]

yeah, but look at it from a thf's point of view. no one is going to outright steal a PS3 or a psp, ipod or whatever until they test you and see how you react/if you even notice your other things are gone 1st. she probably ended up working her way up (or the brother you're friends with. real world sucks. dont trust anyone. i dont even trust my family) and just wanted to see if you'll say something or approach her even though she/he probably has like 5 excuses ready lol. but thf's dont usually take that big of a risk when stealing things. thats why your ipod was just misplaced instead of magically disappearing

[Acturus]

Best you can do is to ask each of them if they've seen your iPod. Without proof, you can't really accuse anyone.

As for theft concerns, does anything in your lease agreement (assuming you signed an agreement) account for modifications or improvements on the space you're renting? You should put a lock on your door, but you also have to make sure you're not breaking any terms of your lease by doing so without letting your landlord know and/or getting approval to do so.

Most rental agreements tend to also have stipulations that the landlord will have a copy of all keys, so if you get a lock, you'll probably need to supply the landlord with a key.

Also, the webcam is a good idea too. It's not prevention, but it can give you evidence to go to your landlord with your concern.

Last, get the fuck out of that situation. You're renting a room in a house where you can't secure your living space, and you're concerned about theft by at least one of three different members of the same family. Unless you've got a really good reason to stay there, I suggest you find a new place to live ASAP.

[Pringles]

I'll have to check my lease agreement when I get home, but I don't recall if it has any portion that says I'm allowed to modify the locks or anything. I don't want to leave unless I feel I have to as it's 1)cheap rent, 2) within close proximity to both my school and my work and 3) I want to make sure when I do leave, I have enough in my savings account to cover 6 months of potential rent/utilites, car payment and insurance and phone bill in case my job might potentially take a turn for the worse (I don't see that happening, but I like to play on the safe side with that).

[richardd]

idk man, its very responsible on your part, but you need to take some risks if you want to prevent this from happening in the future. i agree with acturus. do you have any nearby friends you can stay with temporarily? maybe you can offer them some cash for their electric bill while you try to get settled someplace else?

[Byrthnoth]

A temporary solution would be to put small-yet-valuable things in some manner of box. It would ideally be heavy and involve a lock. I will call it . . . a lockbox. Label it "MY SECRET TREASURE" and put it in front of your webcam.

And yeah, asking if they borrowed it is probably a good way to go. You may never get your iPod back, but you might scare them out of taking your shit again by proving that you aren't entirely oblivious to your crap disappearing.

[Lovian]

As a landlord myself read your rental agreement it should have all the information you need as to what your allowed to change. If its not mentioned then you will need to talk to your landlady, which as you said might cause some bad blood between you, not something you want to do if you don't have a good escape plan. Check to make sure that if you leave before the end of your lease you aren't liable to pay till the end of it. I don't know if you have your own content insurance or part of the landlady's but that might also play a part in getting your some compensation back if it does prove that someone is stealing your stuff.

I would defiantly talk with everyone to ask if they had seen your our ipod, this might tip them off that you are checking to see if anything else is going missing. As to why they wouldn't take some of your other stuff, your less likely to notice that missing (small enough to slip into a pocket) and easiest to resell quickly.

Hope this helps and that it gets cleared up soon