Conference turris::womannotes-v3

    I don't know how the law in the UK deals with this, but in Holland once
    you signed the contract, got the keys and pay the rent, the place is
    yours.
    If the landlord needs to enter the premisis for whatever reason, he'll
    need your permision. As far as I remember it's even illegal for the
    landlord to keep a set of keys.
    So, if the landlord enters the house or apartment without your
    permission, whether you're there or not, it's illegal entry.
    
    Charles Mallo

    If you want to know if somebody has been coming in, try taping a hair
    between your front door and door frame with scotch tape.  If it's not
    there when you come back, you'll know something is up.
    
    Also, if you have the kind of carpet that leaves footprints, vacuum the
    hell out of the place just before you leave, and then see if there is
    any evidence of footprints....might also tell you what rooms the person
    went into.
    
    You might also ask him, with all the innocence you can muster, if he
    has seen anyone hanging around....because you have a feeling that
    someone has been in you apartment.  He might 'fess up, and then you
    can blow him out of the water.

    
    yeah, when we signed our lease recently we added a clause that the
    landlord must give us 24 hours warning before visiting.
    
    I also asked if it would be okay if I had double-key deadbolts
    installed upstairs, and maybe a single-key downstairs at my expense,
    and I'd give him the keys (it's for my own peace of mind, he doesn't
    seem like the ooky type).  He said that'd be okay.  
    
    I learned a trick in Worcester where you drill through both window
    frames when the window is down and locked, and place a nail through the
    continuous hole through both window frames (you place the hole in the
    middle, near the lock).  That way, neither window frame will move
    unless you remove the nail.
    
    -Jody
    

    The contract for my place (a bedsit) says the landlord and landlady may
    only enter with an appointment (presumably, in an emergency as well).
    They enter the corridors without an appointment, for things such as
    cleaning, and the communal areas, such as bathrooms (there was plumbing
    to be fixed a couple of weeks ago), but if they intend to do that, they
    put a notice on the notice-board first.
    
    Alice T.

    
    Well, I called the Citizens Advice Bureau (a public free resource
    for legal advice here), who put me onto the Housing Advice Centre.
    
    Apparently a landlord cannot enter without your permission and
    an appointment. Doing otherwise is, technically, harrassment.
    
    However, they did say that many landlords do hang around their
    property - they often have nothing better to do, are ignorant
    of the law, think they're being helpful, and are sort of parochially
    attached to their property. 
    They suggested that I write to him and state that I don't expect
    him to be in my flat without my presence and/or an appointment.
    If it continues they will happily escalate the situation for me.
    
    Meanwhile, I have three sash windows facing onto the street which
    I would like to be able to leave slightly open during the day to
    ventilate (needs special locks, I've heard) and I'm trying to
    get my Yale lock and mortice on my front door changed....
    I also want a pin alarm. I have an entry phone so I wasn't worried
    about a chain lock.
    
    'gail

    I own my own home (with the bank, of course).  My front door has a
    knob-with-lock, and a separate deadbolt lock.  (They use the same
    key.)  The deadbolt has only a latch on the inside because the door
    is solid.  Instead of little windows at the top, it has a peephole.
    
    The back door has a double-key deadbolt lock.  It *does* have windows,
    and even a cat door, so anything less would not be effective.  Now,
    double-key deadbolts are considered dangerous (What if there were a
    fire?), so I have a key available `somewhere' in the room.  All the
    first story windows are kept latched.
    
    Upstairs, in the bedroom, I have a telephone, a hunting knife, and
    (generally) a large, male person.  :-)
    
    						Ann B.

    	In the apartment I've been in for the past three years, the
    apartment manager and landlord have come in without me there...but
    always because I've put in a call about something going wrong.
    They never actually told me they'd be there, they'd just come in
    during the day and fix whatever.  (I'd know, cuz I'd get home the
    next day and whatever would be suddenly fixed!)

    	At first I thought it was kinda odd, but it never really
    bothered me...they're really good about keeping up the place, not
    raising my rent, and in general are pretty good people.  But I do 
    like the idea that if the landlord has to come in for some reason, 
    s/he give some notice.

    	amy

Another way to see if someone has been snooping around is to put a coin between
the doorframe and the door, on the doorknob side of the door.  Note exactly
where you setup the coin.  When someone opens the door, the coin will fall. 
Even if they see it fall, they won't know exactly where it was positioned.

If they spot the hair-with tape after opening the door, they may be able to
reconstruct it since the tape will give away the original position.

                        Roak

    I'm not too comfy with giving away our security systems.  Reminds me of
    those stupid decals on cars that say, "Protected by Chapman".  If you
    know how to get around a Chapman, you're all set!
    
    My place is protected by the standard things and by surprises.  And by 
    my "brass ones"!  ;^>  I don't sit and quiver, I get enraged!  Someone 
    once told his son never to pick a fight with the little guy because he 
    *has* to kill you.  That's me.  I'm the little guy.
    
    Sandy

    Besides the normal collection of locks on all the doors, I have a VERY
    large dog.  If any stranger (and most fiends) comes in the yard, he
    barks until several minutes after they're gone.  He scares the devil
    out of most everybody.  (For reference, he's mostly barking to be
    petted; he's never hurt anybody -- but a prowler doesn't know that).
    
    -Pete

    anybody who knows dogs can tell the difference between a dog that means
    it, and a dog that means to get petted.  (Tho it's true that if you are
    not familiar with the dog, it pays to keep an eye peeled.)
    
    Now, my dog, an 87-lb Golden Retriever, *sounds* really really
    impressive; she's got a great "big dog" bark, but it loses something in
    the delivery, expecially when she barks around the tennis ball in her
    mouth :-) and then drops it on your shoe, and waits for you to throw it
    for her.
    
    it's a gross slobbery tennis ball, too.
    
    but anyway, a dog is a great alarm device, but generates lots of
    hairballs...

    I don't know about the UK, but most states have landlord-tenant laws. 
    Call the Attorney General and ask to have a copy sent to you.  Here in
    Washington a landlord must give 48 hours notice of entry, unless it is
    an emergency.  If no notice is given and it is not an emergency, then
    the landlord can be charged with criminal trespass.  
    
    Karen

    
    'gail, glad you got some advice and have that agency's support.  I
    think if I were you, I'd talk to the Landlord again before escalating. 
    Something like:
    
    The past few days I've come home and it felt like someone was in my
    apartment, have you been in there?
    
    if he says yes or no,  you can ask him to please let you know if he's
    going to need to be in there.  It creeps you out to be surprised. 
    Based on his reaction and subsequent behavior, you could decide whether
    or not to escalate.  I know you said you've just moved there, so I'm
    sure you'd like to have this work out (at least if you hate moving as
    much as I do).
    
    Good luck,
    
    Justine

    I lived in a HUD apartment for a couple of years in Georgia.  It
    was in the lease contract that the manager could enter anytime.
     They also had property inspections where they could look anywhere
    in the apartment.  These were announced.  Then you'd get a list
    of what they wanted cleaned.(refriderator, floor, closet straighten,
    clean dishes)  A real bad joke!  I couldn't believe it.  But, all
    they'd tell ya is that if you don't like it leave.  And if you're
    on low income, you don't have a lot of choices sometimes.
    
    Oh well, presently, where I live in regular apartments, the landlords
    do have keys to the place but only enter when you call in a repair
    or they announce that they will.  Living upstairs makes me feel
    safer.  And I guess I'm not too worried about someone entering.
     I just go to sleep.

    To leave windows open a bit, use the nail part way through the sash
    trick, but drill the holes in the vertical part of the sash in two
    places.  One place to keep the window totally shut, the other place to
    allow the window to be open only an inch or two. More than just a tiny
    bit, someone can reach in and remove the nail.  Also, when you leave the
    window open a bit, put a piece of masking tape over the nail, so that
    it cannot be dislodged by shaking the sash.

    I also recommend window gates.  They lock on the inside. No one can get
    in even if they do open or break the window.

    For the door, I recommend a deadbolt and a fox lock.  That is a metal
    pole that is angled against the door with one end set in a plate in
    the floor and the other end in a locking niche in the door.  No one can
    force a door open that has a lock like this.

    One trick I used in NYC was to have multiple locks on the door and then
    lock only a few of them.  So, if someone had keys or picked the locks,
    they would be locking some locks while opening others.  Then, if you
    get home and find the "wrong" locks locked, you know someone tried to
    gain entrance.  And then you get to spend a jolly time figuring out
    which locks are really locked.  But you have the time, a burglar
    doesn't.

    Where I currently live, a house, we keep the windows locked except one
    which is high up, very small, and overlooks a neighbor who is always
    home.  Since this means locking our dog in the house, we put the ac on
    low for him, otherwise it gets over 100 F. indoors.

    The dog is a good woofer but he doesn't sound huge.  Although he is
    big.  

    My husband will not allow me to plant bushes near the house that
    could provide cover for prowlers and we have outdoor lights all over.
    The only thing that really makes me nervous is that the house is all
    open. If someone were to get in, there is nowhere to hide.

    
    Wow, Margaret, where do you live?  The people in my neighborhood
    sometimes don't even lock their doors.  Do you stay all buttoned 
    up like that when you're home?  Or is this just to keep would-be 
    intruders out while you are away?
    
    You can buy "window" locks.  You can also buy these nifty little
    widgets that you nail onto the frame of the top window, on both sides.  
    They have a triangular part that is hinged to a base (the part you 
    nail to the top window frame).  When you open them up, you can move 
    the top or bottom window up or down without hindrance.  When closed, 
    you can move them only so far as you have determined by placement of 
    the widgets.  (Distance from top of bottom window.)
    
    Like this, from the side:     |
                                  |
                                  ||> top window
                                  |
                                  | |
                                    |
                                    | bottom window
                                    |
    
    If you can't find them over there, I'd be glad to send you as many as
    you'd like.
    
    CQ

    I used to live in NYC where heavy-duty security measures were 
    necessary.  I also have lived in the country where the doors were
    hardly ever locked, and (except for screens) hardly ever closed 
    except in winter.

    Now I am in the suburbs.  When home the house is left open and breezy
    and has great ventillation.  When we are away, my husband insists we
    keep it tightly buttoned.  I am less hung up about it, but it makes him
    happy.  There have been a number of breaking and entering type crimes
    in our neighborhood. We live in a very middle class suburb of Boston so
    there is less street crime but property theft seems to be rising.
    
    Also, I am often home alone as Jim travels on business and he has said
    he is worried about me when he is away.  I see much of this as simple
    concerned spouse noise, but I do feel less secure than I felt in my 
    second-floor condo when I lived alone.  ALL the windows and doors are
    at ground level.
    
    Basically, I have lived from high-crime urban to very rural and
    security measures decrease the further I get from the city.  On the
    other hand, the most heinous crime I personally know of happened to
    friends of mine who had moved to very rural Bucks County Pennsylvania
    to escape NYC.  
    
    My take on security is to do what seems reasonable for the area, and
    keep a phone and flashlight by the bed.  Anyway, foundation plantings
    can be sooo tacky. :^)  Oh, we do have timers on the outdoor lights, 
    they come on automatically at dusk so we never come home to a dark
    house.  I look on that as more convenient than secure but it is both.

    RE: .15  Margaret
    
    >I also recommend window gates.  They lock on the inside. No one can get
    >in even if they do open or break the window.
    
    Can you tell me more about these?  What do they look like from the 
    outside of the house (are they visible from outside?)
    
    Thanks!
    Suzanne

I have found a set of window bolts that work perfectly to secure a window, 
either tightly closed or partially open. It is a bolt that screws into the 
top edge of the bottom sash and then into the lower edge of the top sash. 
It is countersunk into the bottom sash so you cannot use a pair of pliers 
on it, and it has a round head with only one flat on the side, so it 
requires a special key to open it. 

Once you install it in the closed position, you then back the bolt out 
enough to open the window and raise it enough to give you some air without 
being big enough to pass a person through, and drill another hole to create 
an open window position. Full instructions are on the package. Address of 
the company is:

Trileen Mfrg Co.
P.O. Box 1121
Lexington VA. 24450

I paid about $5.00 for 6 bolts and the special key. I would suggest two 
sets so you have an extra key, although they may sell them separately. I 
bought mine originally thru Brookstone Tools in NH, but they no longer seem 
to offer them. Write them directly or try a large hardware store to special 
order them. I doubt the highway discounter hardware guys have them.

    Vic H

	Having good locks is of no use if an intruder can break the 
	frame of the door. The cutouts to accomodate the bolts from
	locks can be a weak point. They are often reinforced by a metal 
	strikeplate which is attached to the door frame.  However, this
	does not add much additional protection.
	
	After being broken into by having the door frame broken (despite
	a standard strikeplate), I had a sheet metal shop fabricate a 
	pair of heavy-duty strike plate reinforcements. Cost about
	$25 for the two.

	Each is about 14 inches long, made from fairly thick sheet metal,
	about 3/8 inch (I forget exactly) thick. The plate is bent lengthwise
	to form a long corner, with cutouts for the lock bolts. I attached
	one to each door frame using several long lag bolts, so that 
	the plate is attached not only to the door frame, but to the studs 
	behind it. There are bolts from each direction.

	Since the reinforcement forms a corner, I had to remove the door
	trim to install it, and then chisel out some space in the trim
	before re-attaching it.

	If someone breaks in again, it won't be from kicking the door in.


						Tom_K

    This whole entry is really a scary indictment of life in America in
    the 90's.
    
    Might I suggest another metallic object you might find useful?  They
    come in several sizes, and the manufacturer is an old-line company
    called Smith & Wesson.

    Window gates.

    I've seen two models.  One is expandable so it fits many widths of
    windows and a reasonable range of heights.  The other is a solid gate
    so fit is more crucial.  Both come in a variety of
    styles/expense/safety.  Most are obvious from the outside.  It is also
    necessary to check with the local fire department. In NYC, where such
    gates are common, there are models that are approved and some that are
    not.  Buying the wrong model can be a costly mistake.

    You also have to be careful that while you can lock them securely, you
    can also unlock them when necessary.  Therefore, the key must be nearby
    but not in arm's reach.

    When I had gates, most hardware stores sold them and many also
    installed them.  I imagine that a chain-type hardware store would be
    able to get them for you no matter where you live.

    I hate this topic.  I also hated living where gates were necessary.  I
    hate locking doors and windows and coming home to a stuffy house.

    RE: .21  The S&W is only useful if you are there to defend your home.
    Otherwise, your home has to defend itself with good locks. 

       Margaret

    
    RE .23
    
    	Funny, I never even thought of this issue as one of protecting
    	"valuables".  For me it was the sense of intrusion and lack of
    	privacy - sort of a creepy-crawly feeling...
    
    clb