Owner Could Take After-Hours Photos and Videos of Tenant's Space

A tenant sued an owner for not maintaining its space. Before the tenant moved out, the owner's vice president entered the space twice to photograph and videotape its condition. Her visits occurred late at night—not during the tenant's normal business hours. The owner didn't give the tenant advance notice about these visits. When the tenant learned of them, it asked the court to rule that the owner's visits violated the lease.

A federal district court in Illinois ruled that the owner hadn't violated the lease by entering the tenant's space late at night to take photographs and videos. The court noted that the lease said the owner could enter the space for examination purposes “at all reasonable hours.” The court interpreted this to mean that the owner could visually examine and document—with cameras and video recorders—the condition of the space. And the court said that the late night visits took place at “reasonable hours—because they occurred at a time that was least disruptive to the tenant's business activities. Plus the court noted, the tenant never objected when, before the lawsuit, the owner entered the space after-hours for cleaning purposes [MONY Life Ins. Co. v. Hinsdale Mgmt. Corp.].