VA tenant is forced to keep her bedroom curtains open because management wants the building to look uniform, despite anyone being able to see inside: ‘Seems insane’

Author image for Cata Holmes
Cata Holmes • Writer
Oct 3, 2026 11:15 AM EDT

When curb appeal starts coming at the cost of privacy…

There's nothing that I like to keep safer the relationship with my landlord. We're not friends or anything like that, but since it's his place and my own, it's key to have a good bond between us. I've read multiple stories, and even heard stories from my friends, in which their landlord is terrible and makes their life awful by wanting things that are not normal.

So, you can imagine how I felt when I read this story about this tenant. This woman lives on the first floor of a building, and her bedroom door faces the parking lot. That means people come in and out all the time, and she doesn't feel safe having her curtains open all the time. She never had an issue with this until management decided to call her attention to the matter.

They told her that they want the building to look "uniform", and for that, she needs to keep her curtains open all the time. There was no question, and of course, they didn't think about why she had to keep her window closed. She was hesitant and didn't take it seriously, but sure it was. She even had to check her lease to see if this was something that they could request, and it didn't mention needing to keep the curtains open.

What would you do in this situation? As far as I'm concerned, no landlord can ask you to close or open anything, especially not for trying to make the building look a certain way. If I were her, I'd tell them that their request doesn't make sense and, for logical reasons, I'm going to keep my curtains closed. And wouldn't expect an answer.

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  • Armadillo_of_doom If it isn't in the lease they can kick rocks. I've worked nights. My is staying closed during the day so I can sleep
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  • Imaginary-Voice1696 I would tell them in no uncertain terms to f off with that BS. right
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