Protecting Privacy: Selling a Home

[dblas]

My success and bank account says otherwise.

That may be, but the link on the form does not appear to go to the law about recording. Hence the copy and paste I posted above, was from that link. Please explain how "Recorded Options Notice" applies to audio recording?

 

[Combloc]

Nah. I'm wasting my time at this point. OP, good luck. You got good advice when people told you to pack up your stuff and move it before putting your house on the market. I recommend you follow that advice.

 

[ericoak]

Read Paragraph 10 of the marylandistan standard Exclusive Right to Sell Residential Brokerage Agreement. It has all the information you need including a link to the md.gov website jam packed with all the lawyering you want to read on the subject.

When I'm walking through a house with a prospective buyer, we're discussing a myriad of things including financing, purchasing strategy, contingencies, and plenty of other sensitive information. If I see even a hint of active surveillance equipment, I'm on the phone with the seller's agent and advising my clients to seek counsel. It's my ethical duty as a realtor and my fiduciary duty to my client. The buyer's privacy outweighs the seller's paranoia.

Your loss. I, and the vast majority of my colleagues I can assure you, would advise our clients to look elsewhere.

It seems like you went from saying it was illegal or ground for a civil case to saying you would advise your client to look elsewhere. I'd be shocked if people weren't allowed to record strangers in their house, especially when they aren't present.

The idea that a buyer deserves privacy in someone else's property seems like a bad joke.

EDIT: Looks like audio recording even in your home requires consent in MD, but video recording on your own property is good to go.

 

[ericoak]

The Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors own website says video recording is acceptable in their opinion and audio is not.

https://gbbr.org/blog/2019/03/27/is...legal in Maryland,and agents are being filmed.

 

[Combloc]

Correct.

 

[Combloc]

It seems like you went from saying it was illegal or ground for a civil case to saying you would advise your client to look elsewhere. I'd be shocked if people weren't allowed to record strangers in their house, especially when they aren't present.

The idea that a buyer deserves privacy in someone else's property seems like a bad joke.

EDIT: Looks like audio recording even in your home requires consent in MD, but video recording on your own property is good to go.

It seems like you need to read my first post in this thread instead of taking things out of context. All of my subsequent posts built upon the first one.

And the joke's on you. As you discovered, the buyer has every expectation of audio privacy in someone else's property when that property is on the market.

If ya' wants to play the game, ya' gots to know the rules.

 

[ericoak]

Read Paragraph 10 of the marylandistan standard Exclusive Right to Sell Residential Brokerage Agreement. It has all the information you need including a link to the md.gov website jam packed with all the lawyering you want to read on the subject.

When I'm walking through a house with a prospective buyer, we're discussing a myriad of things including financing, purchasing strategy, contingencies, and plenty of other sensitive information. If I see even a hint of active surveillance equipment, I'm on the phone with the seller's agent and advising my clients to seek counsel. It's my ethical duty as a realtor and my fiduciary duty to my client. The buyer's privacy outweighs the seller's paranoia.

Your loss. I, and the vast majority of my colleagues I can assure you, would advise our clients to look elsewhere.

It seems like you need to read my first post in this thread instead of taking things out of context. All of my subsequent posts built upon the first one.

And the joke's on you. As you discovered, the buyer has every expectation of audio privacy in someone else's property when that property is on the market.

If ya' wants to play the game, ya' gots to know the rules.

Correct you had it right in your first post.

I mistakenly interrupted your response as some special protection for buyers, which there isn't, just the same law that applies to everyone else in the state.

Remember the motorcycle guy who recorded the cop pulling him over and pointing a gun at him, and the next day they raided him over the illegal recording?

https://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/19...d-for-recording-cop-brandishing-gun-with-hel/

 

[Pinecone]

If it were me in your situation I think I would pack it up and store it off site in a secure facility until you move. I know it makes it tough to do any reloading but some things in this circumstance need to be put on hold.

This is what I would do.

 

[lazarus]

i don't know the law either way. but how do businesses do it, surely they have cams that record video and sound? retail exemption or something?

You don’t have a general expectation of privacy in a store outside of areas like bathroom and changing rooms.

 

[ST19AG_WGreymon]

If your house has at least 3 bedrooms and 2 baths and you give me a deal, I promise not to tell.

 

[Michigander08]

Pack up your stuff! You can't trust what the realtor says or what the people who come looking at the house do!

Other realtors (not your selling realtor) can come anytime and bring anybody. I have seen kids wandering around, jumping up and down on chairs, and grabbing stuff.

A realtor will not be your house watcher! They care less and don't have time watching all the people. While they are talking to some people, other people will be wandering around in different rooms!

Any realtor saying that they will do what you request is false! Some realtors will leave windows open, backdoor open, lights on, and so on.

An empty house is a whole lot better!

 

[lazarus]

Correct you had it right in your first post.

I mistakenly interrupted your response as some special protection for buyers, which there isn't, just the same law that applies to everyone else in the state.

Remember the motorcycle guy who recorded the cop pulling him over and pointing a gun at him, and the next day they raided him over the illegal recording?

https://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/19...d-for-recording-cop-brandishing-gun-with-hel/

Yes. Maryland had a separate law that said recording of police officers in their official duties was illegal. The Supreme Court finally threw that last out maybe 6-7 years ago.

Maryland’s wire tap laws specifically govern audio recordings. There are separate peeping Tom laws that you’d run in to for something like recording in a bathroom or changing room for video.

But for audio, it is all parties MUST consent to an audio recording in Maryland ANYWHERE there might be an expectation of privacy.

Just because you don’t think there is an expectation of privacy, doesn’t mean the law thinks otherwise.

Generally on people’s personal property there is considered to be an expectation of privacy. It doesn’t matter if it is someone else’s personal property. Business property there is generally not an expectation of privacy in “public” areas of the business. Audio recordings of employees in a conference room would violate Maryland’s wiretap law if it was not with the consent of all parties present (be warned, your employment contract might have a clause that you are agreeing to audio recording of yourself at all times while on your employer’s premises or while conducting work for your employer). An audio recording of customers in the checkout line at the grocery store would be fine.

But yes, unless you are having a signed waiver from anyone touring your house, you may not legally record any audio from them.

And if you have anything like a nanny cam to make sure the babysitter isn’t doing bad thing in your house? You better have told them in Maryland. Because if it records audio, it is violating the law. Hell, if you have video recording that captures audio in your house just because burglars, that’s violating the law if guests come by (it wouldn’t be violating the law if a burglar broke in as the wire tap law exempts the 2-party consent rule if the recording is capturing evidence of a crime).

I don’t think you are going to get your nuts in a jam if you have audio recording on an indoor security camera with guests. But for real estate showings? Bad, bad idea as you may in fact have a realtor who jams you up. Outdoor security cameras are pretty generally not going to be an issue. Nanny cam unless it is video only? Bad idea.

Boy that would really suck if you fired your babysitter because you saw she was working on her homework and chatting with her boyfriend the entire time rather than patiently playing board games with your demon spawn like you asked her too. And she went, “wait how did you know?!?” And you said something like “I heard you on the nanny cam taking with your boyfriend rather than playing board games with my kids like we were paying you to!”

https://wgk-law.com/blog/are-hidden-nanny-cams-actually-legal/

Go ahead and install a nanny cam if you want. But make sure it’s a model that cannot record audio. Not one that can, but you turn the audio off on.

I’d say the same if you are selling your house and you just have to have to have a nanny cam to monitor things inside.

I’d also realize if noticed by the buyers, you probably lost a sale and you might still be in a headache with your agent and their agent.

And the attitude of “well they can just go on down the street” is a great one to not sell your house. Then again I’ve heard it plenty of time from people in response to agents also giving advice on how to stage their house. Or things like “you should really, really repaint the house a neutral color. I know you love Burgundy everything with cat pictures and crosses on all of the walls, but…”

“I love my house like this and if they don’t love it like this then they can go buy someone else’s house”

Those are often the houses you see sitting for months and months. Because the seller is way too emotionally involved and not a very reasonable person. They’ll probably still sell, but at a much lower price and taking a lot longer.

 

[t84a]

In today's market, I'd FSBO.

 

[TruthAloft]

Yes and No

As a realtor, I can tell you without a doubt that, sign or no sign, it is illegal for a seller to record audio of private conversations without the consent of all parties concerned. If your video equipment is capable of recording audio, even if you contend that the audio recording function is off, you're asking for trouble.

It depends upon what your State law requires for such recording. Many states have single party consent. Realtors are a pretty savvy bunch, but they aren't generally lawyers ;-)

 

[TruthAloft]

I'd suggest that you just suck it up (as annoying as it may be) and put the entire reloading workshop into a temporary lockable storage container that you can put somewhere on your property--or off premises if that is not a workable option.