When Your Landlord Can Enter Your Home

Unless there's an emergency, your landlord must follow these rules:

1. Notify you at least 24 hours before coming to your rental (in writing or by phone, text, email, or in person), 
2. Go in at a reasonable time of day,  
3. Go in for a legitimate reason, like an inspection or service, and 
4. Not go in more times than is reasonable or needed. 

Yes. Your landlord can go in any time if: 

• You give them permission; 
• It’s an emergency (but your landlord must let you know who went in and why within 24 hours); 
• You ask them in writing to go in to make repairs and they do so within seven days of your request. They can keep going in to work on the repairs as long as they are trying to finish in a reasonable time, or 
• They have a court order, a government agency requires it, or you have abandoned the property. 

Yes, your landlord may: 

1. Go into your yard (not your home) at reasonable times to do yard work included in the rental agreement, and  
2. Place a notice on your front door (not in your home) if it is a legal or required notice. 

Yes, but either:   

• Your landlord must give you 24 hours’ notice before showing the property, or  
• You and your landlord can sign a written agreement that allows the landlord to come in without telling you ahead of time to show the property. If you sign an agreement: 
  1. The agreement lasts only for the time that the property is for sale;
  2. The agreement must be separate from your rental agreement; and
  3. The landlord must give you something for signing the agreement. For example, they could pay you for signing the agreement or reduce the rent for the time that the agreement is in effect. 

You have the right to say “no” if you have a good reason, such as: 

• You or someone at home is sick; 
• You need to be there while the landlord is there because of your pets, but you are not available at that time; or 
• You will be out of town on the date the landlord wants to go in. 

If you do not give a good reason for saying “no," your landlord can give you a termination notice that says if you do not let the landlord in, they will end your rental agreement. If you keep saying “no" without a good reason, your landlord can evict you for “unreasonable denial of entry.”  

Yes. If your landlord has given you notice that they are coming in, and you do not want the landlord to come in, you must put something in writing on your door that says the landlord cannot come in. Do this before the time your landlord asked to enter your home.

If you tell your landlord, "no," explain your reason right away and suggest another time and date that work for you. If you say "no," without a good reason, your landlord could use this as a basis to ask you to move out. 

You can sue your landlord for whichever is worth more: 

• The damages the entry caused to your unit, or  
• One month’s rent (or one week’s rent for weekly renters). 

Click here for more on how to sue your landlord.