Landlord providing unauthorised access
I have lived in the same apartment building attached to a motel near Pittsburgh, PA for 14 years. I do not have a written lease, but I do have bank statements listing monthly payments to the motel.
Lat Monday I came home to discover that my landlord had provided full and open access to a movie crew and that my apartment was now part of a movie set. While I was at work the crew had replaced my drapes with vertical blinds and taped over the lock on my front door to prevent it fully closing.
I let the crew know that I had not provided any permission or consent to their use of my apartment and that I did not believe that the landlord had any authority to provide permission or access. Despite this, they insisted on setting up a large movie light inside my apartment (with the landord by their side). The inside of my apartment was now brighter than the surface of the sun, so I fled to my van in the parking lot, returning 15 minutes later only to be told by an cast member that I would have to leave as they needed to reshoot a scene - I was, in effect, being evicted by an actor.
When I confronted the landlord (again) and told him that he had no right to provide access to my apartment (or sublease it? He was, apparently, paid $400 by the crew) his response was, and I quote, "It's my building and I can do what I like".
I've spent the last five days trying to find out just what my rights are, what laws the landlord and crew might have broken, and what action I would be justified in taking. The only explicit advice I've received so far was to file a report with the local police. I did that this evening and the police officer told me that it seemed to be a civil rather than criminal issue.
