My two long-time friends and I moved into a beautiful walk-up in the city. Surprisingly, the asking rent price was super low for the neighborhood but we figured after covid, places were itching to get tenants.

We moved in and immediately loved our landlord. He was spunky, caring, and on top of everything we needed. The only thing that felt off was the “basement rule.” The basement was, according to him, being renovated for a garden unit set-up and not to be entered for any reason.

I took the trash out during that first week and passed the basement door located outside under the first unit’s deck. I noticed the intricate array of bolted locks on the door and thought, weird but it’s the city so locks are needed…

The second week he started showing up randomly to fix things we didn’t even know needed repairing. Apparently, the bathroom vents needed to be updated. Again, I thought…fine, great, thanks for keeping on top of everything…

Three months pass and life in the new apartment is great! Until the SURPRISE PARTY…we hosted for our friend Erica. Everyone was partying the night away and Erica’s new boyfriend shows up.

He kept staring at me with a look of confusion so finally, I asked why. He blurts out, “When did you three get into the adult industry?” I started laughing but he was dead serious. I explained he must be mistaken. Erica was mortified so he pulled me into a quiet corner of the party, “Oh come on, you realize guys watch porn and would recognize the bathroom?” I was stunned by his conviction and couldn’t politely laugh it off anymore, I said please go. He shrugged before apologizing and abruptly leaving.

The next morning, the three of us (roommates) are sitting on the couch, hungover with mounds of fast food. My roommates said I should apologize to Erica’s boyfriend for drunkenly throwing him out, so I did. I get a call from Erica a minute later. She said to look at the link she texted, so I did…

A shock wave when through my body as the link prompted me to a porn site. Clear as day…there I was, there they (my two roommates) were…in our bathrooms, naked, showering, and having no clue of the camera(s). My body went slack, my face went white, and VOMIT hurled from my mouth. The videos, from various days and nights, had over 80,000 views.

Erica’s boyfriend was spot on.

The next two days were spent with the police and our families trying to uncover how this could happen. A search warrant of the entire building was in place…that’s when they ENTERED the BASEMENT.

Our landlord was filming not only us but the entire building. Hard drives from the past decade included previous tenants as well.

The police told us he had been selling this “voyeur porn” for years and the person who uploaded it was not him but a client who was reselling the videos. He and the distributor were arrested. We sued the building’s owner and were given a substantial amount.

BE VERY AWARE OF YOUR LANDLORD.