Could I end up with "too many" cameras? Consequences?

[Timokreon]

I, unfortunately, live in a HOA... though it's pretty much a live and let live HOA. Actually had a neighbor stop me and asked about my cameras. Stated the only reason she even noticed them was because she saw me working on one a week or two ago. I stated that the cameras have been there for a few years, she laughed and said she had no idea.

I told her I prefer that people not know/notice them, but have no qualms if they do. Also stated that if she ever needs me to look for something to let me know. In my neighborhood, I would say 75% of the homes have some sort of camera installed now. A few years ago, maybe 10%. With crime rates going up, and criminals not being punished, people are starting to realize they need to protect their own homes.

 

[Ri22o]

I, unfortunately, live in a HOA... though it's pretty much a live and let live HOA. Actually had a neighbor stop me and asked about my cameras. Stated the only reason she even noticed them was because she saw me working on one a week or two ago. I stated that the cameras have been there for a few years, she laughed and said she had no idea.

I told her I prefer that people not know/notice them, but have no qualms if they do. Also stated that if she ever needs me to look for something to let me know. In my neighborhood, I would say 75% of the homes have some sort of camera installed now. A few years ago, maybe 10%. With crime rates going up, and criminals not being punished, people are starting to realize they need to protect their own homes.

Ours is pretty lax as well. Unfortunately it is one of those necessary evils that have varying degrees of evil.

 

[samplenhold]

In order for them to make a change to your Covenants it requires approval from more than the majority of the homes in your neighborhood.

Not in my HOA. Covenants state the board can make changes to the rules without homeowner approval. Basically stating 'that is why you elected the board'.

Unless they come to me complaining about the cams, I am not going to stir the pot.

 

[Ri22o]

Not in my HOA. Covenants state the board can make changes to the rules without homeowner approval. Basically stating 'that is why you elected the board'.

Unless they come to me complaining about the cams, I am not going to stir the pot.

Damn. I am surprised state law allows that. I know we have some area for "interpretation" or gray area "maintenance" violations, but they can't just do whatever they want with making new amendments or changes.

 

[wittaj]

Generally the law give HOA way too much responsibility. They can foreclose your house for delinquent HOA fees in many jurisdictions as an example. How nice, you pay $X per year for them to tell you that your fence is too high or you have too many cameras, so you don't pay the bill and they take your house.

 

[samplenhold]

I have lived in two neighborhoods that have HOAs. Both of them in the Houston TX area. Before that, I had lived within city boundaries in New Orleans, Milwaukee, and Boston. None of those places had HOAs, but did have zoning.

Now HOAs can be a good thing. So far in the two places I have lived with HOAs, they have been OK for me. Got the infrequent letter for a violation and given time to fix it. Not a big deal. Both places were kept up well and the area looked very nice. As long as the board and committees are Karen free, things work OK.

Now the other places I lived in cities that had zoning, the zoning laws were rarely enforced. At times there would be junk cars in the streets, people parking their cars on the lawns. Trash piled up. Houses needing a good paint job, etc.

I used to have rental properties and also did some flips. Some places had an HOA but it had no real enforcement. Those places looked pretty bad.

 

[Sammyf]

Happened to see a house with sign about recording video surveillance today. I really had to look carefully and managed to spot one bullet style cam that had the same color as the trim around the window that it was attached to, also the wall had similar color. The cam wasn’t huge (though hard to tell from distance around 15-20 meters / 49-66 feet), anyway, it was surprisingly hard to spot it without previous knowledge about the house. It also took more time than what people would usually spend taking a glance at one’s house. Would be nice to know how many cameras they actually have visible from the street and what brand.

 

[dmcIPCAM]

I have a 5442 camera at my front door 7ft high from the pad, that is almost at arms length to anyone standing at the door, 99.5% never notice it.
View attachment 156742

This past Monday a guy walking his dog tossed a baggie of dog crap into my trash can which is situated on a small pad on the side of the house opposite the garage man door. In the grand scheme of things, well, at least he picked up the dog crap, so I wasn't that upset. But, feeling like being prickly, I went out and asked, sweet as pie, if I could help him with anything. He was startled and said his dog got away from him and he caught her next to the trash cans. As I was talking with him I mentioned that - pointing to the 5442 mounted three feet or so away from his head - camera had detected motion. He was mortified and the expression, "deer in headlights" came to mind. But I started thinking about your post and, while I have no evidence for this line of thinking being factual, I think when people are doing something dubious their focus is on whether or not another PERSON can see them and as a result, an inanimate object like a camera sort of blends into the same attention space as a light fixture or trim. Anyway, I'm still smiling about the encounter.

 

[looktall]

I have had zero dogs shit on my lawn since I used my cameras to prove to the owners that it was in fact their dogs who shat on my lawn and that despite their plea of ignorance they were not only present when the dog shat on my lawn they actually watched the dog do it and then left it there.

One of the people was my next door neighbour. I reported her to the council.
Turns out she had been given official warnings from the council before about her dog (she lets it walk around off leash) which meant if I reported her dog again she would be fined $150.
I reported her the very next day when the dog shat on my lawn again.
She has since moved out.

The other guy lived god knows where but he would walk his dog past my house most nights.
It took a while to finally catch him and confront him.
Unfortunately on that particular day the dog didn't shit on my lawn but the guy copped and earful anyway and hasn't been past my house since.

I no longer have to remove dog shit from my lawn before I mow it.
Which is nice considering I don't even own a dog.

 

[JDreaming]

I have had zero dogs shit on my lawn since I used my cameras to prove to the owners that it was in fact their dogs who shat on my lawn and that despite their plea of ignorance they were not only present when the dog shat on my lawn they actually watched the dog do it and then left it there.

One of the people was my next door neighbour. I reported her to the council.
Turns out she had been given official warnings from the council before about her dog (she lets it walk around off leash) which meant if I reported her dog again she would be fined $150.
I reported her the very next day when the dog shat on my lawn again.
She has since moved out.

The other guy lived god knows where but he would walk his dog past my house most nights.
It took a while to finally catch him and confront him.
Unfortunately on that particular day the dog didn't shit on my lawn but the guy copped and earful anyway and hasn't been past my house since.

I no longer have to remove dog shit from my lawn before I mow it.
Which is nice considering I don't even own a dog.

One of the main reason I was interested in security cameras in the beginning other than checking for delivery packages was to catch people who don't pick up behind their dogs. I rarely have to pick up other people's dog poops near the front of the house thanks to the security cameras now a days. I think those lazy bums are picking on easier targets because they don't want to be confronted.

 

[Flintstone61]

The people who lied to me about hitting shit with their cars learned very quickly that no Bullshit story was gonna pass muster at the Condo.
It was always the Weed smoker and his gf that could generate a Tall Tale at the drop of a Hat.
One guy Insisted I call the police on them to " call them on the Carpet", and have the officer confront them about making the arrangements to take care of business properly after she backed into his Murano, and denied it.
One girl smashed into a rock and went airborne, and made up some Bullshit about an Icy Curve being the culprit, Except that I had salted it the day before, so that Tale wasn't gonna fly. I texted her the Movie of her " stunt" and she was clearly paying attention to something else..like her phone...
and drifted into a 400 lb boulder .

 

[Flintstone61]

here it is.....
View attachment 112460-3c8c8c6e3d05a71dbbcde719b4b99db8.mp4

 

[garycrist]

A song for the young lady...

 

[dmcIPCAM]

A song for the young lady...

I love it! This thread has been awesome! We've gone from a discussion about the number of cameras, to weed, to keypads, to dog crap,
and to people who can't look out the windshield while driving... all to arrive at this gem:

 

[Perimeter]

As the OP is from Canada, he might have to observe some laws regarding observation. If he lives in a more densly populated region, his chances increase to run into someone who would react unfavorably if the cameras orientation violate the law. So I'd check that and decide then.

 

[Hallm]

I live I Ontario Canada and while I do not have cameras on my property, I find the hobby/topic interesting. In our city a homeowner used the video taken by her security cameras to complain about the recycling being collected on her street. She used video from her security cameras to show the city the problems she was having with the collectors.
The response from the city was that she needed to adjust her cameras as she was in violation of a city by-law that prohibited the recording of public areas other than her property.

Hamilton to keep bylaw ban on security cameras facing the street

We had a very tragic murder here several years ago where 2 men looking to purchase a pickup truck took the owner on a test drive and killed him for the vehicle. It was a horrible event. A majority of the evidence the police used to convict the two men was gleaned from cell phone conversations and GPS tower locations. In addition, security camera video from businesses and homes helped to put together the time line on their vehicle movements related to the killing.

As the article states, there are lots of cameras recording plenty of public areas in the city, Just don’t use it to complain about garbage collection!

 

[The Automation Guy]

We have all seen crazier laws, but I have to laugh at the logic used in these situations....

A quote from the article, "In my view, the bylaw strikes a good balance between homeowner security and the privacy of the public. Individuals have the right to go about their daily lives with a reasonable expectation of privacy," he said".

In what universe should a person have an expectation of privacy when they are walking outside along a public street? We aren't talking about recording a person's backyard over their 8' privacy fence (which a person should have an expectation of privacy). I'd say that law wouldn't be enforceable, but who knows with the judges we have today......