jasdip, with all due respect, this is next door. If what's going on is lawful and not otherwise a problem FOR YOU, then it's not your business in my opinion. It may be unpleasant or inconveniencing but if it doesn't affect you directly and adversely, neither the car nor the owner's practices are things for you to concern yourself with.

The owner may suspect someone not on the lease is living there -- or that a tenant intends to skip while owing rent.

That would make me wonder, too. I suppose if he owns the property he would be interested in what’s going on. As far as i know there’s no law against a junk filled car so there’s probably nothing he can do. Perhaps the car owner has a hoarding problem in his apartment and the landlord is documenting the tendencies. Who knows. My neighbor’s car is loaded to the gills but she is a dyed in the wool slob.

A vehicle filled with stuff is probably more attractive to thieves who might be inclined to break into the vehicle to steal stuff. This could potentially lead to other vehicles being damaged or broken into, too.

I bet its a hoarder situation and the landlord is concerned about the condition of the apartment.

It might not be the car of one of her tenants. Perhaps someone is living in their car? Perhaps she is doing a well-being check? Or reporting it to the city?

There are a few experienced landlords on some forums and maybe one of them will chime in. There's a home a few blocks from us that has at least one car full of stuff. And often their front porch is overflowing with boxes and junk. They appear to be friendly people but I'm not the type to ask bold questions.

That was my first thought, same as Lisa. I work in property management and if someone rolled up with a car/van jam packed with stuff that would be a red flag in my book. ETA: and there is a difference of stuff packed up in a car and a car packed up with stuff..LOL

I think it’s fair game for the owner of the building to see who’s parking there and maybe to even look in the car, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for him to take pictures of the inside of a car that isn’t his. To me, that’s going to far.

Since you seem to know the cars owner lives in the building I am going to guess the photographer does too. I would also guess the photographer knows more about the situation and is needing evidence. It's only anyone's business if it connects to a RENTAL place which the photographer seems concerned about.

It is none of your business but it is the business of the owner of the building. Prospective renters/owners would pass on the building seeing a car parked with lots of stuff in it.

Taking dated pictures of possible violations especially over time is used to show that no corrections were done in this area.

It may be that in glancing through the window she saw something that made her feel help was needed, like a sleeping kitten.

I was just curious what she was going to do. This tenant has lived there for a few years, there are only 6 vehicles in the lot, and I know some of the tenants I just found it curious that she would take pics, unless the inside of the car is worse than I thought. But it's still 'my' vehicle. I think a knock on my door might be appropriate if they're worried about the state of the apartment.

In my mother’s assisted living one of the tenants had her car jam packed with “stuff”. She was entering the back door of the building using her walker, so I opened the door and I told her I would take the large clear trash bag she was carrying to the trash room. No, it was going to her apartment. It was definitely just garbage in the bag. I spoke to the front desk ( I know, not my business) but they said uh oh. She is a hoarder and they had an inspection and sprayed for bugs, so she had placed a lot of things in her car to hide them. So they were going to check it out. I can understand the worry over bugs.

Turns out there were 2 hoarders in the building.

What would you have done?

Here, in Colorado, hoarding is considered a "disability". A tenant can't be evicted because of a disability or it's considered "discrimination.

"IF" there had been a meth pipe sitting on THAT car seat....well......a photo would reveal that. It "IS" a property owners business to know what's going on in her rental. She's looking for clues.

And there's the implied warranty of habitability. The landlord is
obligated to keep the leased space in a clean and healthy condition.
Hoarding would contradict the landlord's requirement to provide a clean
and healthy space. Then what?

"Hoarding would contradict the landlord's requirement to provide a clean
and healthy space. Then what?"

Then it's still next door.

This is in Canada, so any American's assumptions about property or other law, without actual experiences, would be just guesses.

I own four properties that are rented out. There is a car at one of them that sounds like the one described -- completely full of tools, papers, clothes and seeming junk, to the point where only one person can fit in it even though it is an compact SUV.

Unfortunately it is mine :-( and the tools and construction materials and receipts are all related to various projects on our property and the various other rental properties.

So, did anyone take a picture of the owner taking a picture of the vehicle's interior?

It may be 'no one's business' but I do think it rises to the level of the business of who ever's property its parked in-front of. Any car unknown parked for long periods of time in-front of private property or public for that matter gets scrutinized.

There is a difference between a car or truck filled with stuff vs a hoarder vehicle.

And parking your sloppy tool bin outside your tenants living area is nothing to be proud of.

Or the person who took the photo is going to show it to all his/her friends on FB to say, "look at the hoarder car in my complex!" some people just like to take pictures of other peoples things.

I don't think it's a hoarding situation, I was just pulling the blinds at my window and saw the 2 of them at the car, pointing. Then he pulled out his cell and took a pic. The vehicle faces my window, I look down on the vehicles, and I can see stuff in his passenger seat and behind.

Heck, maybe I'll wander over and have a peek inside to see how bad it is!

Nah, besides the windows are covered with snow now :-D

Jas that might set your mind at rest, to see if there is a meth pipe or a kitten or a gun or something else that might make one person point and the other take a pic. As far as your question as to when it might be other people's business to see what is in a car, I think that varies as to who they are (police and landlords may have more business doing so), or if there are items that can easily be seen by others inside the car (I think you might agree that if an animal was kept in a car, for instance because maybe pets are not allowed in the apts, that might become the business of anyone worried about the welfare of animals).

If there was a kitten, meth pipe or gun, the proper thing to do would have been to call the police. Obviously they didn't, so my conclusion is that it's just a "buttinski". And no, I don't buy any of the rationalizations that they're trying to protect their property or other ridiculous cover-ups.

Obviously they didn't

How is that obvious? If the police stopped by at some later time or even reviewed transmitted photos from the station and either acceptable explanations or arrests were made for whatever might have been photographed, they would not necessarily impound the vehicle.

Since it's a rental dwelling I say be as nosy as you want to. If the person was going onto someone's private property and taking photos that would be a different situation. I used to live in a neighborhood where there were 40 single family homes on one block. A very old couple moved across the street - turned out they were from really back-woods WV. I didn't have a problem with that since I was born there myself. But that old woman was the nosiest person I've ever known in my life. Within a couple of months she knew who was coming and going in every house, what kind of vehicle they drove, who lived there and how many, when they came home - it was unbelievable. Then I got to thinking - if our house had been burglarized or vandalized while we were at work we could just send the cops to her and she would have every detail that they would ever need. So I stopped thinking about her nosiness as something that was bad and welcomed her as being the neighborhood sentinel.

Bob, I just read your comment and skipped all the others to tell you that though I rarely full-out laugh at comments, yours did me in!! You're hilarious.

I agree that Bob's comment hitting a funny bone. It's so nice to hear people admit to being less than perfect. I have a friend who is almost fanatical about cleanliness to the point I have to get the OK to raise or lower the toilet lid when I exit her washroom. It's an OCD thing and I still love her dearly ...kid get about it all the time.

> And parking your sloppy tool bin outside your tenants living area is nothing to be proud of.

I just realized this comment was most likely directed at me. The "sloppy tool bin" is my primary (and only) vehicle. It is parked outside the basement apartment of our residence (which has a separate full kitchen, separate bedroom and full bath and separate laundry facilities) meaning it is parked outside our residence.

A few years ago I was walking the dog in a neighboring town when I noticed this car with so much junk piled up that I don't know how they drove it. I would always look at the car in future visits to that town, and one night I saw on TV that the house this car belonged to burned to the ground and killed the man hoarder inside. The fireman couldn't rescue him because his house was like his car.

That's very sad lily. Hoarding is a difficult disability to deal with.

The cynic in me says that the owner of the building was probably taking a picture to post on social media. But who knows what the truth really is.

I would probably be concerned if I heard noises from the car or something myself. Otherwise I would just dismiss it as an owner of a place watching out for what was on their property.