The landlord used her key and usually entered while we were away. At one point, we were suspicious someone had been inside because the thermostat had been turned down (a lot) and some loose papers that had been on the kitchen table were on the floor. Later, I was working second shift at my factory job and DW was working days as a school teacher. I awoke hearing footsteps and thought DW had returned home meaning I had overslept. Rushing out to the kitchen in my undies, I walked right into the landlord's MIL which was quite a shock for both of us. From that point on, we put tiny pieces of tape on drawers, closet doors, cabinets, etc., to see if she was opening them, and she was. She wanted us to keep the thermostat at a very chilly setting in the winter and liked to enter to be sure we were complying. She also insisted, very firmly, that she had a right to "check on things" whenever she pleased and would be continuing to enter when we were away. Well, we purchased our own home and never rented again. Looking back, perhaps this unsavory landlord was a blessing since we were "city kids" and enjoyed living in our flat in the city and the urban lifestyle. Might have taken us years to get up the gumption to buy and move if the original landlord, a real nice guy and a real pro at the business, had not sold and moved.
Earlier in this thread, I asked for advise on how (hypothetically - I'll likely never rent again) renters can get a fair shake from excessively profit-minded or incompetent landlords who either withhold services/repairs, are late with services/repairs or just act weird. Having read through this thread, it seems like the answer would be to rent in a corp owned large complex. That way, I'd think you'd have a better chance of not having to share tight quarters in a small building with a resident owner who's a bit, shall we say, creepy.
