Landlord Accused of Secretly Recording Tenant in Bedroom, Sharing Footage with Others

A Southern California tenant is accusing her landlord of secretly recording her in her bedroom. The woman, identified in court papers only as "Jane Doe," claims that her landlord, Bond Nichols, installed hidden cameras in her bedroom's smoke detectors and recorded her while she was "naked and engaging in intimate situations."

According to the complaint, Nichols allegedly shared the unauthorized videos with numerous associates, including a male porn star. Doe claims that Nichols' actions have caused her "severe emotional distress, anxiety, and mental anguish."

Nichols has admitted to everything when confronted by Doe, the complaint states. He did not respond to The Independent's requests for comment. The case against Nichols is a civil one and there is no indication he is facing any criminal action.

Doe's nightmare began in September 2018, when she rented a bedroom with en suite bath from Nichols in his 3,000-square-foot Long Beach residence, via Roomies.com. The complaint describes Nichols as a "real estate mogul" who owns numerous properties and rents out rooms as well as entire homes using the Roomies.com platform.

Doe kept her room locked and had the only set of keys to it, according to the complaint. However, in November 2018, Doe told Nichols she would be leaving for a two-week vacation. Nichols allegedly responded by saying, "You know I would never put a camera in your room, right?"

Unnerved by Nichols's odd statement, Doe changed the lock on her bedroom door before going away. But, while Doe was out of town, Nichols contacted her and said there was a leak in her bathroom. In order to fix it, Nichols told Doe a locksmith would have to unlock her door. Upon her return, Doe found the lock had been changed outright, the complaint alleges.

Doe moved out in December 2018. More than six years later, in February 2024, a friend of Nichols informed Doe that Nichols had "installed smoke detectors with cameras in them in her room," and that "Nichols' cameras recorded Jane Doe naked and engaging in intimate situations with third parties."

The friend told Doe that Nichols had shown him the videos, which were forwarded from the smoke detector cameras to Nichols's phone and email. Nichols also showed the videos to an unknown number of "friends and third parties," the complaint states.

Doe confronted Nichols about his actions, and he admitted to secretly installing the surveillance cameras, taking the videos, and showing them to his friends. Doe also learned that Nichols had sent the videos to a male porn star and tried to arrange a meeting between Doe and the porn star so he could secretly record them.

Doe is asking a judge to hand down an injunction blocking Nichols from further distributing the videos and seeks a minimum of $150,000 for each violation, as well as punitive, actual, and liquidated damages, plus attorneys' fees.