March 16, 2016 -- The City Attorney's Office filed a lawsuit Friday claiming that a Santa Monica landlord and his attorney tried to harass a tenant by installing video cameras aimed at her apartment.

The suit claims that local landlord Cristofer Garvin and his attorney, Rosario Perry, mounted the cameras after the tenant "spurned" Garvin's requests that she vacate the rent-controlled unit she has occupied since 2012, said Deputy City Attorney Gary Rhoades.

Garvey and Perry then "turned to other tactics which included falsely accusing the tenant of violating the lease, threatening an eviction, and installing two video cameras aimed at her apartment to further harass her," said Rhoades who works for the City's Consumer Protection Division.

Under the City’s Tenant Harassment law landlords are specifically prohibited from interfering with the privacy of a tenant, he said.

“Tenants often become fearful and anxious over such intrusion,” Rhoades said. “They feel spied upon and like they have to duck their head every time they come and go from their own home."

Perry called the allegations "ridiculous" and said that the security cameras are aimed at the building's common areas.

"The cameras that were installed do not target any one tenant but the entire common area of the building," Perry said. "No other tenant has complained.

"Common sense states that at this time, especially with the homeless and crime escalating in Santa Monica," the use of security cameras is often necessary to protect tenants' safety, he said.

Perry called Garvin "a long-time responsible housing provider and resident of Santa Monica."

The City Attorney's office, he said, "is attempting to grab a headline based on unsubstantiated allegations, which is nothing new."