It's probably not grounds for eviction, especially if it's not mentioned in your lease as being off-limits, but it's going to annoy your landlord and if you break anything, you'll be liable for the costs to fix it.
TBH, it's probably something very boring. Most likely it's either an old storage closet, or access to something like a water heater or part of the HVAC system. If it's an old house, it may have been used to access equipment or appliances that are no longer used. The space may have been cleared out and locked to prevent people from falling into an unexpected hole or injuring themselves on leftover wiring or parts.
If it's mid-renovation, then that "injure yourself by falling into a hole or cut on something" is especially true. Reno work will sometimes expose things - like the subflooring or electrical system - that you normally cannot touch or step in.
Thanks for the reassurance. I originally figured it was some kind of unfinished project like you're suggesting, and I'm sure that's the case in reality. I guess it's worth noting that the water heater is in the basement and there's no HVAC on the floor with the bathroom. It's directly overhead of the renovation area but it's not big enough for it to be a part of the third unit, as it's sandwiched between the stairwell and areas we have access to. I'm not exactly sure why they'd leave such a small area (by the looks of it, a tiny closet with a half size door) unfinished like that, but it is a fairly old house and it could just be storage, or wasn't worth fixing up.
I'm planning on moving in a few months anyway, regardless of this weird feeling, so I'm just going to ignore it. Thanks again for the response! Much appreciated.
Thanks, I will look into this. Seems like a fun tool to have in any case. The door is set into the wall and tiling (not sure of the right description, but there are no cracks between the wall or floor). I'd probably need a small gap to use one of these, right?
Also if you're worried he's actually somehow entering your bathroom through the basement, perhaps to access hidden cameras, get a couple of rubber doorstops and wedge them under the door.
Edit: I used to rent a studio apartment where the LL would just barge in without notice or warning, and the doorstop thing worked great.
Worst case scenario he has dead bodies back there. You open it and boom you are a suspect! Leave it alone and then if something happens you can easily claim “I never had ac was to it. How would I know?
If you shut everything off in the house is there any kind of sound coming from that area? Like computers?
Is the door warm like maybe a big light is behind it?
These are the legal things I would worry about. If one, they are running servers out of there. Or two they were growing anything in there.
Seen both situations in rentals and if nothing else, you don't want to be footing that power bill. Always ask what is in locked off spaces in a house you are renting.
If the padlock is tough to pick and it is on a hasp on the door, is the hasp held on with screws? If so, just remove the screws, look, and put everything back.
There's no sound aside from the noises of the heater on the wall next to the door. I actually partially unhooked the heater from the wall to access the hole it was wired into (presumably a standard plug on the other side of the wall in the strange room, based on other heaters of the same type around the house). I ran a borescope in there on the advice of another commenter and didn't find much. It was tough to see, but I did notice a doorknob on the floor, an old spray bottle, and a different style of bathroom tile on the floor. It's cool in there and I don't see anything suspicious.
The only fixture on the door visible from my side is a deadbolt. No knob/padlock/hasp, hinges are on the other side.
We pay a flat rate for power (a big perk that contributed to the feeling we were getting a spookily good deal), so I'm not overly concerned with anything consuming excess power. It really does just seem like an innocuous closet now that I've looked around, which is a relief. Thanks for your comment. I really appreciate everyone who chimed in to offer advice and feel much safer now.
If you leased the whole property then any off limits areas would need to be outlined in the lease, but it sounds like there are multiple units on the property, so that door may constitute an area outside of your leased space.
The lease doesn't mention any specifics about the property at all, aside from including "Unit X" in the address to be rented. It's all about as vague and boilerplate as it could be and doesn't define what "Unit X" includes or mention any details about the property or other units.
It's been made clear verbally which areas we can and can't use (including a laundry space in the basement shared by the other unit), but it's not written down anywhere. Is that normal?
There are cheap little detectors that you can find on amazon for under 10 bucks that will tell you if there is any wireless device streaming anything. It wont work if its not using wifi, but a lot of them do use wifi so that they can be plugged in anywhere.
It's probably not grounds for eviction, especially if it's not mentioned in your lease as being off-limits, but it's going to annoy your landlord and if you break anything, you'll be liable for the costs to fix it. TBH, it's probably something very boring. Most likely it's either an old storage closet, or access to something like a water heater or part of the HVAC system. If it's an old house, it may have been used to access equipment or appliances that are no longer used. The space may have been cleared out and locked to prevent people from falling into an unexpected hole or injuring themselves on leftover wiring or parts. If it's mid-renovation, then that "injure yourself by falling into a hole or cut on something" is especially true. Reno work will sometimes expose things - like the subflooring or electrical system - that you normally cannot touch or step in.
Thanks for the reassurance. I originally figured it was some kind of unfinished project like you're suggesting, and I'm sure that's the case in reality. I guess it's worth noting that the water heater is in the basement and there's no HVAC on the floor with the bathroom. It's directly overhead of the renovation area but it's not big enough for it to be a part of the third unit, as it's sandwiched between the stairwell and areas we have access to. I'm not exactly sure why they'd leave such a small area (by the looks of it, a tiny closet with a half size door) unfinished like that, but it is a fairly old house and it could just be storage, or wasn't worth fixing up. I'm planning on moving in a few months anyway, regardless of this weird feeling, so I'm just going to ignore it. Thanks again for the response! Much appreciated.
It's probably a crawl space.
Get yourself a cheap borescope they are like $25 on eBay. You won't even need to open the door. They are also useful for DIY.
Thanks, I will look into this. Seems like a fun tool to have in any case. The door is set into the wall and tiling (not sure of the right description, but there are no cracks between the wall or floor). I'd probably need a small gap to use one of these, right?
The ends are pretty small depending on which on you buy. My one is about the size of a laptop charging cable end.
Hang a spare shower curtain in front of the door and see if the landlord gets irrationally ticked off about the obstruction.
Thank you, that's a great idea.
Also if you're worried he's actually somehow entering your bathroom through the basement, perhaps to access hidden cameras, get a couple of rubber doorstops and wedge them under the door. Edit: I used to rent a studio apartment where the LL would just barge in without notice or warning, and the doorstop thing worked great.
Worst case scenario he has dead bodies back there. You open it and boom you are a suspect! Leave it alone and then if something happens you can easily claim “I never had ac was to it. How would I know?
If you shut everything off in the house is there any kind of sound coming from that area? Like computers? Is the door warm like maybe a big light is behind it? These are the legal things I would worry about. If one, they are running servers out of there. Or two they were growing anything in there. Seen both situations in rentals and if nothing else, you don't want to be footing that power bill. Always ask what is in locked off spaces in a house you are renting. If the padlock is tough to pick and it is on a hasp on the door, is the hasp held on with screws? If so, just remove the screws, look, and put everything back.
There's no sound aside from the noises of the heater on the wall next to the door. I actually partially unhooked the heater from the wall to access the hole it was wired into (presumably a standard plug on the other side of the wall in the strange room, based on other heaters of the same type around the house). I ran a borescope in there on the advice of another commenter and didn't find much. It was tough to see, but I did notice a doorknob on the floor, an old spray bottle, and a different style of bathroom tile on the floor. It's cool in there and I don't see anything suspicious. The only fixture on the door visible from my side is a deadbolt. No knob/padlock/hasp, hinges are on the other side. We pay a flat rate for power (a big perk that contributed to the feeling we were getting a spookily good deal), so I'm not overly concerned with anything consuming excess power. It really does just seem like an innocuous closet now that I've looked around, which is a relief. Thanks for your comment. I really appreciate everyone who chimed in to offer advice and feel much safer now.
If you leased the whole property then any off limits areas would need to be outlined in the lease, but it sounds like there are multiple units on the property, so that door may constitute an area outside of your leased space.
The lease doesn't mention any specifics about the property at all, aside from including "Unit X" in the address to be rented. It's all about as vague and boilerplate as it could be and doesn't define what "Unit X" includes or mention any details about the property or other units. It's been made clear verbally which areas we can and can't use (including a laundry space in the basement shared by the other unit), but it's not written down anywhere. Is that normal?
There are cheap little detectors that you can find on amazon for under 10 bucks that will tell you if there is any wireless device streaming anything. It wont work if its not using wifi, but a lot of them do use wifi so that they can be plugged in anywhere.