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Original poster

Someone was in our house last night.

470 replies

worried91 · 10/04/2022 10:59

Am so worried and confused about what happened.
1am- DH and I go upto bed, dd1 has popped out to pick up her boyfriend from the pub and bring him back here and dd2 has just arrived home from work. Younger dc have been asleep for hours.
5am- I hear a phone vibrating in the house and what sounds like an alarm, dh puts his ears to the older dc's doors but thinks it's coming from downstairs. Goes down past the (closed?) front door and locates the phone down the back of the couch. Knocks on oldest dd's door and throws the phone to her sleeping boyfriend saying he'd left it downstairs.
8am dd2 goes downstairs for a drink and the front door is wide open. I hear her coming up to check on the little two who are still asleep in bed.
At this point I start getting concerned so go into dd1s room and her boyfriend says the phone isn't his! He thought dh had got confused about who he was giving it to at 5am so just put it under the bed and went back to sleep.
Dh insists the door was closed when he walked past it at 5am (Yale lock no handle so when it's not clicked closed it swings wide open so I believe it was closed)
Back door is locked with the key in the door and the conservatory has an added locking system over the original lock that hasn't been moved.
We live in a nice area, we are on the edge of town with fields all around so you wouldn't walk past our house going anywhere else iyswim, you'd have to be deliberately coming this way.
We rent our house (moved in 18 months ago) so we don't know who all had keys before us which stupidly never crossed my mind until this morning 😕
Nothing seems to have been touched, my bag is over the end of the stairs, the cars and keys are all there and no laptops etc are missing.
I've no idea why anyone would have come in, lost their phone on the couch then left again without us hearing anything.
I'm worried that the person must have still been in the house when dh went downstairs then left the door open when he went out.
The only other thing to add is one night a few weeks ago dd2 came in at 1am then I went out at 5am and the door was wide open. I told her to be more careful when she came in and she insisted that she had closed the door properly but now I'm wondering if someone has done this before.
We've phoned the police who are coming out at some point to talk to us and pick up the phone (phones locked with a gaming picture on the Lock Screen) and will be going to B&Q to get new locks but I feel so on edge wondering what's been going on 😔

OP posts:
Mckmck · 11/04/2022 01:28

Hopefully OP is hiding behind the couch now, ready to snare

felulageller · 11/04/2022 01:37

I'd say the phone is a secret second phone of someone's.

M0RVEN · 11/04/2022 02:10

@Gwenhwyfar

" Even in rented properties we have done this and then just put back the landlord's original barrel when we move out."

Possibly a breach of contract as your landlord may need access in an emergency.
I'm surprised to hear changing a lock is cheap. When I locked myself out with the keys in the door, it cost me 70E, but I'm not good with my hands so could never have done it myself.

Of course you have to give a copy of the new key to the landlord or letting agent.

I just bought a new lock for the front door, it cost £12 and came with three keys. That’s a euro lock for a standard UPVC front door.

TigerLilyTail · 11/04/2022 02:23

@WhackingPhoenix

The poor BF being labelled a drug dealer 😂 MN putting two and two together and coming up with five yet again!
At least he hasn't been accused of being a peadophile, yet!

Many years ago, my then husband lost his house key and sometimes I would get a strange feeling that someone had been in the house.

One time, I knew it was going to rain, so I made sure the cat was locked in the house before I left for work and when I got home the cat was hiding in a bush in the garden crying out.

I suspect it might have been the landlord or maybe a nosy neighbor found the key. I was very glad to move out. Now we have a camera on the front door, so I feel safer about things.

OnlyClothes · 11/04/2022 02:36

@M0RVEN
Of course you have to give a copy of the new key to the landlord or letting agent.

I thought you didn’t have to do this, you just have to put the old lock back when you leave?

kateandme · 11/04/2022 02:51

I would try and keep on police for a result of phone.to help settle your mind.
Also get a ring and or security cam.

BrokenNHS · 11/04/2022 02:59

My first thought re. the open door was someone sleepwalking.

Doesn’t explain the phone though.

Pixiedust1234 · 11/04/2022 03:03

I can give no reason for the phone unless someone accidently thought it was theirs (from the pub etc) and it slipped down the sofa. Since they could find their real phone when needed it didn't cross their mind to check the sofa.

However an old and worn door lock can open itself for various reasons. A gust of wind outside. Someone opening an upstairs window/shutting an internal door quickly can create a through draught, or just not catching properly. Change the barrel certainly but don't worry too much Flowers

MissMaple82 · 11/04/2022 03:06

I've had a similar experience, turns out it was a drunk who got the wrong house. I called the police, they were adamant this was there house. I'd not been I'm long, I'd assumed he was the previous tenant

RustyShackleford3 · 11/04/2022 04:30

There's a lot of people coming and going in your house. This is probably connected to the children in some way.

I'm confused as to why a PP has said you're nightmare neighbours? Wrong thread?

DropYourSword · 11/04/2022 05:09

@RustyShackleford3

There's a lot of people coming and going in your house. This is probably connected to the children in some way.

I'm confused as to why a PP has said you're nightmare neighbours? Wrong thread?

Maybe the conversation through the window to DD at 1am?
RustyShackleford3 · 11/04/2022 05:28

Maybe the conversation through the window to DD at 1am?

Haha! I missed that on my initial reading. That could certainly be annoying for the neighbours...

CocoWoods · 11/04/2022 06:09

This is awful! I know it seems like nothing was taken but definitely call your bank anyway and explain what happened so they can issue new cards. Your sort code and account number won't get changed, but they can't do anything dodgy with those as long as online banking passwords weren't accessible /visible. Definitely get an indoor motion sensor camera too, even just for a little while. I hope you get answers soon. Please update when you know what happens (this one stuck with me as we are similar in how our home is positioned) xxx

purplesequins · 11/04/2022 06:26

[quote OnlyClothes]@M0RVEN
Of course you have to give a copy of the new key to the landlord or letting agent.

I thought you didn’t have to do this, you just have to put the old lock back when you leave?[/quote]
why would you give a key to the landlord?

the landord can only enter your home with your permission. anyway. you can just let them in.
besides, check your contents insurance, many have a clause about not leaving keys with third parties.

liveforsummer · 11/04/2022 06:32

My agency have keys for workmen etc or for inspections. You have to give your permission for them to use them but if you say no then you have to be there to let them in even if that means taking the day off work to do so. In my contract you aren't even allowed to get the current key cut let alone change the locks without permission.

MrsWidgerysLodger · 11/04/2022 06:38

This is correct
You do not have to provide your landlord with a key and should put the old locks back when you leave.

sashh · 11/04/2022 06:41

Is your house a new, or fairly new build?

When we moved to a new build in the 1970s for some reason I remember the neighbours trying their keys in different doors and them opening.

I would bet it's either a neighbour with a key or a previous resident, wither way I think someone got drunk, went into their home, fell asleep on the sofa, woke up, realised they were not at home and then left.

OverByYer · 11/04/2022 06:42

I doubt the Police will do much more than book the phone into found property.

MortiaAdams · 11/04/2022 07:14

@Youcansaythatagainandagain

You spoke to your DD2 OUT THE WINDOW at 1am when your neighbours are mostly young families and retired people. Why do you think this is appropriate? Voices carry at night. So inconsiderate.
@Youcansaythatagainandagain Agree!! Op even says they're the nightmare neighbours!
TortugaRumCakeQueen · 11/04/2022 07:18

I keep my purse/wallet, keys and mobile in a drawer next to my bed and never downstairs when I'm upstairs

This is terrible advice. I am married to a Police Officer. It is far safer to leave your handbag/purse downstairs, where it could be easily spotted and taken by an intruder. If a burglar can't find your purse then he will likely venture further in to the house, and in to your bedroom trying to find it. Then he encounters you, and has to shut you up/take care of you. Credit cards can be cancelled and replaced. You don't want a burglar in your bedroom.

JoyLurking9to5 · 11/04/2022 07:20

I hope police can tell you whose phone it was!

LittleDiaries · 11/04/2022 07:28

@TortugaRumCakeQueen

I keep my purse/wallet, keys and mobile in a drawer next to my bed and never downstairs when I'm upstairs

This is terrible advice. I am married to a Police Officer. It is far safer to leave your handbag/purse downstairs, where it could be easily spotted and taken by an intruder. If a burglar can't find your purse then he will likely venture further in to the house, and in to your bedroom trying to find it. Then he encounters you, and has to shut you up/take care of you. Credit cards can be cancelled and replaced. You don't want a burglar in your bedroom.

Sensible advice. I always leave mine downstairs. DH leaves his phone downstairs too.
TortugaRumCakeQueen · 11/04/2022 07:42

Sensible advice. I always leave mine downstairs. DH leaves his phone downstairs too

Yep. My handbag is on the ground floor, easily found. As are the car keys. Any burglar making it in to the hallway can take those replaceable things and leave, without ever having to come upstairs. If any guy did make it to the bedroom, my DH would batter him - he's a huge guy. But when DH is on night shift........I'd be screwed.

Fadeout83 · 11/04/2022 07:53

Sadly we may never have an answer to this mystery

NumberTheory · 11/04/2022 08:29

@TortugaRumCakeQueen

I keep my purse/wallet, keys and mobile in a drawer next to my bed and never downstairs when I'm upstairs

This is terrible advice. I am married to a Police Officer. It is far safer to leave your handbag/purse downstairs, where it could be easily spotted and taken by an intruder. If a burglar can't find your purse then he will likely venture further in to the house, and in to your bedroom trying to find it. Then he encounters you, and has to shut you up/take care of you. Credit cards can be cancelled and replaced. You don't want a burglar in your bedroom.

There’s a very slight risk a burglar who is sneaking into a house at night looking for some quick cash is also a psycho. But those ones will probably come into your bedroom anyway whether you leave your wallet downstairs or not. The vast majority of burglars won’t venture somewhere they think a person might be and if they come across someone in the house will leg it asap, not try and “take care of you”.

And I say this as an ex police officer who has been woken up in bed by a burglar (whilst on nights, so asleep during the day).