Made our September trip to the beach home after the busy Rental Season. Overall mostly minor things as expected(missing utensils, coasters, furniture moved etc). Then we discover items missing from our Owners closet!!!! Someone picked the deadbolt lock and manage to relock it enough that maids or other guest wouldn't notice. For some reason they took, toiletries, makeup, laundry basket. In addition they stole a bottle couple bottles of wine, bottle of bourbon, Drill, Socket set and some other tools. They left all the beach stuff, fishing rods, wet suit, fins beach chairs, balls etc. Then we noticed they took our dog water and food bowls and stands. Everything replaceble but just frustrating and made for a horrible start to the trip.

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Sorry to see this, it stinks. Some people....

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People are scumbags. I have a door alarm on my storage closet that goes off whenever it's open. Of course I stay upstairs so I would hear it. Sorry that happened to you. It's not so much the missing stuff as much as the feeling of the moral contract being broken. Nothing worse than a thief.

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As someone that is pretty good at picking locks I can tell you it is way easier than you might think. Avoid Kwikset locks, a child can open those. Schlage is a much better brand and a little harder to pick.

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As someone that is pretty good at picking locks I can tell you it is way easier than you might think. Avoid Kwikset locks, a child can open those. Schlage is a much better brand and a little harder to pick.

Thanks the plan is to replace the lock over the off season.

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Not sure about legality of this.... Can a motion triggered camera be installed in the locked closet. It would send the alert and video file to your phone without the renters knowing upon door opening. This domain was off-limits to the guest. Can it be a privacy issue?

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Not sure about legality of this.... Can a motion triggered camera be installed in the locked closet. It would send the alert and video file to your phone without the renters knowing upon door opening. This domain was off-limits to the guest. Can it be a privacy issue?

I was considering adding a camera in the closet. I can't imagine it is a privacy issue as they should be in there. Issue is there is not power in the closet so would have to be battery powered, wasn't sure if it would make the season.

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Not sure about legality of this.... Can a motion triggered camera be installed in the locked closet. It would send the alert and video file to your phone without the renters knowing upon door opening. This domain was off-limits to the guest. Can it be a privacy issue?

I was considering adding a camera in the closet. I can't imagine it is a privacy issue as they should be in there. Issue is there is not power in the closet so would have to be battery powered, wasn't sure if it would make the season.

Does it have a screw in light fixture? They make plug adapters for them. You could swap out your bulb for the plug adapter and leave the switch on during the season.

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Not sure about legality of this.... Can a motion triggered camera be installed in the locked closet. It would send the alert and video file to your phone without the renters knowing upon door opening. This domain was off-limits to the guest. Can it be a privacy issue?

I was considering adding a camera in the closet. I can't imagine it is a privacy issue as they should be in there. Issue is there is not power in the closet so would have to be battery powered, wasn't sure if it would make the season.

I would think you are ok placing a camera in an area not available to a renter. Now, if you put a shotgun there with a string to the trigger .... they might think that to extreme.

Don't be this guy - I see a lot of owners closet doors like this.

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Not sure about legality of this.... Can a motion triggered camera be installed in the locked closet. It would send the alert and video file to your phone without the renters knowing upon door opening. This domain was off-limits to the guest. Can it be a privacy issue?

I was considering adding a camera in the closet. I can't imagine it is a privacy issue as they should be in there. Issue is there is not power in the closet so would have to be battery powered, wasn't sure if it would make the season.

Does it have a screw in light fixture? They make plug adapters for them. You could swap out your bulb for the plug adapter and leave the switch on during the season.

Will look into that, it has a flourscent light vs a screw in.

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Made our September trip to the beach home after the busy Rental Season. Overall mostly minor things as expected(missing utensils, coasters, furniture moved etc). Then we discover items missing from our Owners closet!!!! Someone picked the deadbolt lock and manage to relock it enough that maids or other guest wouldn't notice. For some reason they took, toiletries, makeup, laundry basket. In addition they stole a bottle couple bottles of wine, bottle of bourbon, Drill, Socket set and some other tools. They left all the beach stuff, fishing rods, wet suit, fins beach chairs, balls etc. Then we noticed they took our dog water and food bowls and stands. Everything replaceble but just frustrating and made for a horrible start to the trip.

Dam that sucks!

Same thing happened to a friend of mine who has a rental in OC. He did two things, one was put on a electronic lock. He also put a Ring camera in the inside of the closets. The closet has a power outlet so he was able to use that for the camera. He did this for two closets, one large one has a lot of their own personal stuff in it. The smaller one has everything for the cleaning crew.

Click to follow link...


Click to follow link...

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Blink cameras have internal 2 year LI batteries. You need to plug in the receiver unit near your router, so that may take a little hiding. The receiver is only about 2" square. You could also use it for your outdoor cameras. (Not in the shower...)

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Made our September trip to the beach home after the busy Rental Season. Overall mostly minor things as expected(missing utensils, coasters, furniture moved etc). Then we discover items missing from our Owners closet!!!! Someone picked the deadbolt lock and manage to relock it enough that maids or other guest wouldn't notice. For some reason they took, toiletries, makeup, laundry basket. In addition they stole a bottle couple bottles of wine, bottle of bourbon, Drill, Socket set and some other tools. They left all the beach stuff, fishing rods, wet suit, fins beach chairs, balls etc. Then we noticed they took our dog water and food bowls and stands. Everything replaceble but just frustrating and made for a horrible start to the trip.

Glad they left you with the pricier stuff. Sorry. This feels so bad and changes the way you look at renting. We have wireless cameras we use off season, but in season we put them in our owners' closets. Yes we have caught someone in our closets before that way. Unfortunately for us, it was the cleaners, and since we trusted that they were looking for cleaning supplies (as they claimed), we didn't find out that they had done all their cleaning up....in our closet until we got back to the house in Sept. We lost about 1K worth of stuff (fan, furniture, pots/pans, serving bowls, new blankets, vacuum cleaner (Shark) and Neso Tent. We also lost our cleaner, because she did not want to take responsibility for her staff.

The update is now we are in a much better situation with a new cleaner and the police were absolutely disinterested in our NRPO problems (and the cleaner lives in Currituck, which adds to the bureaucracy in dealing with charges). She even took time to write up an advertisement in our guest book for her husband's fishing business. She's still out there, cleaning cottages...btw.

A long story to let you know that you are not alone. It happens, but that doesn't make it feel any better. So sorry.

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Perhaps placing the video monitored sticker on the outside of the owner's closet door could deter some would be thieves.

www.amazon.com/s?k=blink+...

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Made our September trip to the beach home after the busy Rental Season. Overall mostly minor things as expected(missing utensils, coasters, furniture moved etc). Then we discover items missing from our Owners closet!!!! Someone picked the deadbolt lock and manage to relock it enough that maids or other guest wouldn't notice. For some reason they took, toiletries, makeup, laundry basket. In addition they stole a bottle couple bottles of wine, bottle of bourbon, Drill, Socket set and some other tools. They left all the beach stuff, fishing rods, wet suit, fins beach chairs, balls etc. Then we noticed they took our dog water and food bowls and stands. Everything replaceble but just frustrating and made for a horrible start to the trip.

I am so sorry this happened you. I get the attraction of the booze and tools, but taking the items belonging to your furry family members is downright offensive. You are not alone. Happened to us, too, and no way to tell which renter was the thief. We decided to take a long break from renting after that.

Way back when, as clueless teenagers, we often fantasized about what mysterious contents had to be locked away and joked about breaking in. But there was no way we ever would have done that. For sure we would have been disappointed to find mostly sheets, towels and cleaning supplies.

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Made our September trip to the beach home after the busy Rental Season. Overall mostly minor things as expected(missing utensils, coasters, furniture moved etc). Then we discover items missing from our Owners closet!!!! Someone picked the deadbolt lock and manage to relock it enough that maids or other guest wouldn't notice. For some reason they took, toiletries, makeup, laundry basket. In addition they stole a bottle couple bottles of wine, bottle of bourbon, Drill, Socket set and some other tools. They left all the beach stuff, fishing rods, wet suit, fins beach chairs, balls etc. Then we noticed they took our dog water and food bowls and stands. Everything replaceble but just frustrating and made for a horrible start to the trip.

I am so sorry this happened you. I get the attraction of the booze and tools, but taking the items belonging to your furry family members is downright offensive. You are not alone. Happened to us, too, and no way to tell which renter was the thief. We decided to take a long break from renting after that.

Way back when, as clueless teenagers, we often fantasized about what mysterious contents had to be locked away and joked about breaking in. But there was no way we ever would have done that. For sure we would have been disappointed to find mostly sheets, towels and cleaning supplies.

If they had just drank the booze I would have gotten over it much quicker. Still can't figure out why they took my underwear and spare bathing suits, but left a $200 wet suit. Just realized that have a sweartshirt with my Name and boat name "Irish Harmony" maybe they will be dumb enough to wear it.

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While I don't have a battery operated camera, I would think you could set one to only go active when it senses motion, thus taking away the worry of losing power. I'd also look for one that has date/time setting. In that you only check it occasionally you'd be able to zero in on which renter did the dirty deed.

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Not sure about legality of this.... Can a motion triggered camera be installed in the locked closet. It would send the alert and video file to your phone without the renters knowing upon door opening. This domain was off-limits to the guest. Can it be a privacy issue?

Totally legal and that comes from the sheriffs office and the dare county prosecutor.
Almost 8 years ago we had a game camera I put in our owners closet. It caught a person from the rental company using the key we provided to open and remove some rather high end fishing equipment. About halfway through him taking it all out he noticed the game camera then put it all back and closed the door.
We sent the footage to the sheriffs office when we saw what happened and they forwarded it to the dare county prosecutor who looked at it and said he was most definitely stealing it but legally since he had "dominion and control" over the property from the management company and put everything back they could not prosecute the case.
He was reassigned to another office from where our house was and continued to work for them for a few years. I am not sure if he still works for them anymore.

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While I don't have a battery operated camera, I would think you could set one to only go active when it senses motion, thus taking away the worry of losing power. I'd also look for one that has date/time setting. In that you only check it occasionally you'd be able to zero in on which renter did the dirty deed.

My blink cameras are motion activated and send the video to your cell phone. It's quick enough that you could get on the speaker and tell them to get the heck out of the closet or the Sheriff will be on the way. So far the double A LI batteries have lasted easily for two years on the less activated cameras I have.

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If you do get power in the closet, take a look at this camera. I bought one for an entirely different reason but it's a solid camera at an extremely affordable price. However, my guess is, after you change the lock there will be zero unwanted activity. But piece of mind is nice.

www.amazon.com/gp/product...

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Tim pointed out the hinge pins on the outside that are easily removed. There are security hinges with set screws that prevent the pins from being removed unless the door is open. There are also hinges made with non-removable pins.

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It's a shame this thread even exists...sign of the times, I guess.

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Does the company renting your house have a copy of the key? Could be staff or vendors. I’ve seen it happen in the past.

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It's a shame this thread even exists...sign of the times, I guess.

Is it a sign on the times? My Aunt and Uncle lived on LBI in the 70s and 80s. They owned a house with a small cottage next door they would rent. As a teen I remember them talking about things that went missing from the owners closet.

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Does the company renting your house have a copy of the key? Could be staff or vendors. I’ve seen it happen in the past.

No we are the only ones with a Key to the Closet.

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