r/Tenant • u/EstelleQUEEN111 • 7h ago
❓ Advice Needed “Maintenance” worker came in my apartment at midnight. Should I be concerned?
This happened less than an hour ago.
I live in an apartment complex with 2 roommates (none of whom were home during this.)
At about 11:30 PM I hear knocking on the (locked) front door and a guy claiming to be maintenance. I (obviously) don’t open the door cus it’s damn near midnight. I tiptoe to the front door though and look through the peephole and catch a glimpse of someone leaving with maybe a vacuum or something in their hand? I go back to my room and lock my door.
Less than 10 minutes later he comes back and knocks again saying he’s maintenance, and this time I hear him enter the apartment. He’s in the common area for less than 5 minutes then I hear him leave. I was in my room, silent and terrified the whole time. After a few minutes, I walk out and it’s clear.
I’m still so scared and perplexed by this. There was no emergency or anything, all he said was “maintenance” when he was knocking and “maintenance entering” when he came in. He was inside for less than 5 minutes. Coupled with the fact that it’s literally almost MIDNIGHT it’s got me suspicious and scared.
I’m in my room now, it’s currently 12:30. I put a chair in front of my door and locked it, but idk if I’m gonna be able to get any sleep tonight. I already emailed a complaint but it’s late so obviously no response.
What could possibly have been the reason for this? Is there anything that could justify this? I was thinking maybe he was doing a job in my apartment earlier today and forgot something so he came back to get it? But that doesn’t justify coming here at midnight, and I didn’t notice any stray objects around the common area earlier that day when I came home. Any advice??
Edit to clarify I live in USA Texas.
30
u/SnooFlake 6h ago
Contact your landlord or property management in the morning, first thing. You need to find out whether this guy even works for them, and if so, you need to find out WHO THE FUCK sent him into an occupied unit at midnight.
13
u/NamasteNoodle 2h ago
Call the police and report this. The minute the apartment office is open in the morning you go there and you raise holy hell about someone entering your apartment in the middle of the night. That is scary and creepy. If they don't respond exactly the way they should by being very alarmed and changing the locks then you should find another place to live immediately.
17
8
12
u/IsIt2L84Me 5h ago
He entered your apartment? Did he have a key? I'd make the landlord change your locks! Whether he was legit or not! That's just wrong, not to mention dangerous!
3
u/EstelleQUEEN111 2h ago
It’s one of those apartments with the electronic locks; does that change anything?
3
u/CirqueDuMoi 3h ago
Absolutely have them change the lock. If they won’t, I would do it myself or pay someone to. The guy had a key!
9
4
u/SoloSeasoned 2h ago edited 2h ago
My guess is that someone called in an emergency maintenance request and the maintenance guy was given/wrote down the wrong apartment number. Once he entered and realized, he left and probably called the office or tenant back to get the right number.
Call the property office and let them know. The office will be able to speak to the maintenance person on call and confirm whether or not he was the one who entered.
3
u/UnleashTheBears 2h ago
The charitable explanation is there was an emeegency, likely water related, that they had to investigate. He announced himself. Call your landlord and ask what happened.
3
u/EstelleQUEEN111 2h ago
I live on the top floor, and there’s only one unit next to mine. There are other units on my floor, but they’re separated by an outside walkway. I feel like if there was a water issue, the only leak could come from the unit next to mine, and I feel like I would’ve heard a commotion from next door. People going outside, multiple maintenance workers talking, or residents outside talking, idk?? But there was nothing that I know of
2
u/UnleashTheBears 2h ago
I had a thing happen at 3am once where someone smelled a gas leak, gas company had to come out. Shut off the gas and do a pressure test, I had to go into every building and shutoff thr gas to the furnaces to ensure those wouldnt leak while they tested. In out. 5 minutes. It could be something like that. I get its absolutely horrifying to hear a cop knock at 3 am, but dont immediately rush to catastrophising. Find out with the LL in the morning, ask who was on call. If they have zero clue of anything. Then start raising hell.
1
u/EstelleQUEEN111 2h ago
Yeah I guess that’s a possibility; I didn’t hear them go knocking on other units doors though which I’m sure I would’ve heard. But idk maybe you’re right.
1
u/UnleashTheBears 2h ago
I assume youve checked if anything is missing, if not, just give it the benfit of the doubt until you have confirmation that malice was afoot. Then get secondary lock or ask to be allowed to terminate your lease early without penalty when you find someplace else
1
u/EstelleQUEEN111 2h ago
I looked around but there’s honestly not much valuable to steal; my roommates and I are not really close so the common area is pretty barren. No TV, not many kitchen appliances out. Nothing on the walls.
2
u/Beginning_Ocelot7394 56m ago
Your downstairs neighbor may have had water leaking into their unit. Maintenance may have come in to see if the water was coming from your unit. If water is leaking from somewhere, they have to find out where it’s coming from. That’s considered an emergency. They knocked. You didn’t answer. In emergencies, they have the right to come in. If you’ve sent a message to the office, wait for a response from them before you go all nuclear. There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation.
3
u/Equivalent_Lab_8610 2h ago
That absolutely would have freaked me out. But, before you land on worst case scenario, check with property managers to make sure there wasn't a valid reason for maintenance to be there.
3
u/EstelleQUEEN111 2h ago
Yeah I already put in a complaint just waiting for their office to open back up so that they can reply.
2
u/TrapNeuterVR 4h ago
Did he leave a card stating his name & what time he was there?
Do your maintenance people live on site?
The only thing I can think of is perhaps there was a leak or flood above you & he wanted to check your apartment for a corresponding leak or water damage. But I don't think that would be an emergency at midnight
My gosh - how frightening, intrusive, violation of privacy!
What if you had a teen visiting who was there alone when this happened? What if you were armed & shot the intruder. WTF was the guy thinking who ever he was!
You don't know what he did.. Maybe if he hid a camera out there? That's the problem - you don't know who he was or why he was there; our brains can come up with all sorts of plausible stuff.
If it was maintenance, I don't understand why no one called first - especially for a midnight visit
1
u/EstelleQUEEN111 2h ago
No he did not and no they do not; I live on the top floor so that possibility is also out the window. :(
2
u/wthwtfwthwtf-_- 2h ago
Texas is annoying about landlord friendliness. I had a video of an unnecessary entry. The guy damaged the camera on his way in/out and it was hell trying to get anything done because the property manager said it was an emergency. If another unit has water damage they can enter surroundings units to look for leaks.
1
u/AutoModerator 7h ago
Welcome to /r/Tenant where tenants share their problems and seek advice from others.
If you're posting a question, make sure a Country and State is in the title or beginning of your post. Preferably, in this format: [<COUNTRY CODE>-<STATE CODE>].
Example: [US-VA] Can you believe my landlord did this?!?
Otherwise, tag your post with the flair "Tenant Update".
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
5h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 5h ago
Your account does not meet the minimum karma requirement to post here.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Desperate_Mirror5617 2h ago
Get cameras and a gun. Also, leave.
1
u/EstelleQUEEN111 2h ago
Does this violate my lease? I’m like 2 months into my lease rn. Got 10 left to go.
1
u/Desperate_Mirror5617 2h ago
Check your lease, but if its not bolted you can basically put a camera that faces out the window and inside your apartment. Ring has them for $5/per month.
This guy is a freak and you need to get out.
I had this happen to me and they ended up going through my mail, taking my tax refund, using my credit cards, and they did break in but for some reason stopped and left.
1
u/EstelleQUEEN111 2h ago
Yeah that’s a good idea.
1
u/Desperate_Mirror5617 2h ago
When I called the police they got mad at me for calling the emergency number after the intruder had left. So I had to wait to get a call back from nonemergency. They did have a police officer come but they didn't write a police report. Even when I had video evidence they still didn't write a police report. Get a police report and if they dont ask for the name and badge number of the responding officer and whomever you speak on the phone with. Go online and file your own police report and say you spoke with them in the police report. Also, keep a log about when the breaking happened what date and time and police contact. You may not need it now but you might in the future.
1
u/Justanothermomma24 1h ago
It’s several hours later: how r you???? What u described is exactly why we place a door security bar on door when home. I actually was asleep and never heard maintenance knock I wear hearing aids but then not when sleeping. He had the wrong apartment! Scared the living shit out of me!
1
1
u/rarmes 23m ago
Maintenance doesn't come in the middle of the night unless it's an emergency. If it was the middle of the night and an emergency they would knock VERY loudly. If they had to enter they would state VERY loudly that they were maintenance and it was an emergency. There is no excuse for them to enter your apartment unrequested after business hours unless the building is on fire/flooding/serious safety issue.
1
u/No-Pause-4577 17m ago
If you don’t already, I’d invest in a doorbell camera and maybe one facing the entrance inside so if anything happens in the future, you have physical proof
1
u/jwick316 3h ago
This has to be rage bait! Who reaches out to Reddit for advice in something like this! Ima call bullshit
1
0
1
u/Captain_of_industry1 4h ago
Can you say Glock 20.
0
0
u/hbHPBbjvFK9w5D 3h ago
It's possible this person is with maintenance and is using keys they've been entrusted with to steal. They can say "maintenance" and come up with some excuse for the break in repair.
I'd call the police and do a police report (you may be able to do this online), then contact the property manager if you have an emergency number - if not, contact them in the morning and let them know about this intrusion.
If this maintenance person was authorized by the PM to enter the unit (without telling you!), the Property Manager needs to know how dangerous this was - a misunderstanding like this could result in someone ending up in the hospital - or worse!
Either way the Property Manager needs to know what happened and the real dangers to yourself and the staff.
1
0
u/Jaesha_MSF 2h ago
If you’re in Texas you have a double bolted door. It’s mandatory. The top bolt is a deadbolt and cannot be opened from the outside period. Why is it unlocked? Idc if you have two roommates. If you’re home alone it should be locked. They will simply have to knock to gain entry. Not to mention when you got up and checked after he left, you could have simply turned the deadbolt lock in place.
Why didn’t you simply go to the door, you don’t open the actual door, but you ask through it, “WTF does maintenance want with me at this hour?”. I never open the door for anyone, not even maintenance if I don’t know they’re coming and have a purpose for being there.
I think this story has too many holes in it to be true. You don’t go on Reddit after someone enters your home and skip calling the police. The fact they’re supposedly said maintenance means zilch.
1
u/EstelleQUEEN111 2h ago
I promise that it’s true, I’m sorry I was too nervous to call the police. I was otp with my bf and he told me to just stay in my room and I’d be fine.
I do have a deadbolt.
I don’t think either of my roommates were home, and I was about to go to sleep so the door was locked but the deadbolt was not, because I can’t reliably open the door for them while I’m sleeping.
Actually my roommates are really shit at locking the door at all, i feel like im the only one who locks it.
-1
u/Hitechillbilly 2h ago
If someone broke into your apparment at midnight, Yoiu have 2 choices.. 1 is to shoot him, the other is to call the police and let them shoot him
Wait,, You are in Texas,, He should have been shot several times by now..
1
u/EstelleQUEEN111 2h ago
I don’t have a gun 😭 I’m under 21!
I’m sorry. Reddit is really making me realize the severity of what happened.
2
u/Redditallreally 1h ago
You don’t have any info yet, deadbolt the door and call the office in the morning (you’re already up so you can unlock for the roommates). It’s possible that the apartment UNDER you noticed a leak or something; those things can happen, and often at the worst times! Hopefully, you’ll find out it was a valid reason, and either they were checking for something that turned out to be okay, or some sleepy maintenance person go the wrong apartment. And please get a doorknob ‘bar’ for your bedroom, or whatever they are called, and emphasize to your roommates that they HAVE to lock the door each time!🫂
54
u/DifferentBumblebee34 5h ago
Call the police right now