Real Estate & Property Law

Fake Security Cameras - A Good Idea?

In the past I have suggested that an association in a highrise building with some entry by seedy people who were perceived to be undesirable gamblers put up signs that the building was "under surveillance" as a means of discouraging visits by people who would not want to be photographed entering thee premises. (The association did not want to spend the money for security cameras.)

Since then, there have been some discussions each year at the annual CAI law seminar about cases involving security issues where owners who were harrmed sued claiming that having the security personnel created expectations about their safety. The suggestion was that associations had to be careful if they hired security because it could create a false sense of security, and therefore, if there was any crime on site, having ineffective security could be worse than none at all. Thus, it could backfire.

I do not know of any case where an association put up signs indicating that the premises is "under surveillance" and got burned for it. However, it could get "sticky" if there was a crime and the police asked if there were any tapes. On the other hand, "under surveillance" can mean a lot of things not necessarily involving tapes.

Here is an email from a reader who wants to know the ramifications of going a step further and installing "fake cameras" in site to give the impression that people were being taped.

"Thank you for all that you do for the HOAs. I have a quick question. When we had a reserve study performed, the person doing the study said that the fake cameras that we have around the property were against the law. He explained that 2 years ago a woman was raped at an HOA that had cameras, she was under the impression that the cameras were working cameras, but when she found out they were not, she sued the HOA and won. Do you know if this information about the cameras is correct, and the law changed to no fake cameras are allowed at HOAs?"

It is possible that there was a case; however, sometimes people mix up info from various cases when they hear too much information at a seminar or multiple seminars. There was a case many years ago where a woman was raped but that fight was over security lighting.

Anyway, it is conceivable that there was such a case, but I am not aware of it - does anyone out there know of one?

If an association creates an "illusion" of security without providing any, I do think it could be a problem. In some cases, bright motion lights might work as well. They can tend to deter nighttime theft and related security issues.

Full post as published by California Condo & HOA Law on May 24, 2010 (boomark / email).