Southern California Landlord Secretly Filmed Tenant with Hidden Spy Cameras, Lawsuit Alleges
- Victor Nwoko
- Mar 3
- 3 min read
A Southern California tenant claims her landlord installed hidden spy cameras in her bedroom’s smoke detectors and secretly recorded her while she was “naked and engaging in intimate situations,” according to federal court filings obtained by The Independent.
The landlord, Bond Nichols, 74, allegedly downloaded the illicit footage and shared it with multiple associates, including a male porn star he attempted to set up with the tenant to surreptitiously record them together. In a civil complaint filed on February 27, the woman, identified only as “Jane Doe,” accuses Nichols of violating her “fundamental right to privacy,” causing her “severe emotional distress, anxiety, and mental anguish.” Nichols admitted to his actions when confronted by Doe, the complaint states. He has not responded to emails, voicemails, or texts seeking comment. The case remains a civil matter, with no indication that Nichols is facing criminal charges.
Doe’s ordeal began in September 2018 when she rented a bedroom with an en suite bath from Nichols in his 3,000-square-foot Long Beach residence via Roomies.com. Nichols, described in the complaint as a “real estate mogul” with multiple rental properties, began making inappropriate comments about her body within weeks of her moving in. He allegedly suggested she “trade personal favors” for rent. Doe initially dismissed his advances, but after noticing several young women frequenting Nichols’s bedroom, she realized his remarks were not just idle talk.
In November 2018, Nichols made an unsettling comment: “You know I would never put a camera in your room, right?” Concerned, Doe changed the lock on her bedroom door before leaving for a two-week vacation. While she was away, Nichols contacted her, claiming a leak in her bathroom required a locksmith to access her room. When she returned, she discovered that the lock had been changed entirely. She moved out in December 2018 to live closer to work, unaware of the extent of Nichols’s actions.
More than six years later, in February 2024, a friend of Nichols informed Doe that he had installed hidden cameras inside smoke detectors in her bedroom, capturing her in private moments. The friend, named in the complaint but unavailable for comment, alleged that Nichols had shown him the footage, which had been forwarded to his phone and email. Nichols also reportedly shared the videos with an unknown number of third parties.
Upon confronting Nichols, Doe claims he directly admitted to installing the surveillance cameras, recording her, and showing the footage to others. The complaint further alleges that Nichols sent the videos to a male pornographic actor and attempted to set up a secret meeting between Doe and the actor for additional recordings.
The lawsuit describes Nichols’s conduct as “extreme and outrageous,” beyond “the bounds of human decency,” and accuses him of causing Doe severe emotional trauma, including anxiety, humiliation, and loss of self-esteem. She has sought professional counseling to cope with the psychological impact. Doe is requesting a court injunction to prevent Nichols from further distributing the footage and is seeking a minimum of $150,000 for each violation, along with punitive and actual damages, plus attorneys’ fees.
Cases of landlords using hidden cameras to spy on tenants have been increasingly reported nationwide. In recent years, incidents in Indiana, Florida, and Louisiana have resulted in criminal charges against landlords who installed surveillance devices in tenants' bedrooms and bathrooms.
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