Q: What time notice do I give to enter my occupied rental property?

First, when a property is rented, the landlord does not have an absolute right to enter the rental property unannounced – with reasonable allowances made for emergency situations.

As is generally the case with landlord/tenant issues, state law governs this one, in conjunction with the lease or rental agreement itself, but there are a few generalities.

Reasons why a property owner wants to enter an occupied rental:

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To address an emergency situation, such as frozen or broken pipes or put out a fire
To inspect for cleanliness and safety
To inspect and test fire alarms
To perform maintenance – either routine or at tenants’ request
To address a security problem, like a broken or wide-open window in your absence
To show the property to prospective renters or buyers

For most non-emergency situations, however, here’s the state-by-state breakdown for the minimum notice required for a landlord to enter a rented or leased property:

Alabama – 2 days
Alaska – 24 hours
Arizona – 2 days
Arkansas – no notice specified..
California – 24 hours, or 48 hours for initial moveout inspection
Colorado – no statute
Delaware- 2 days
District of Columbia – no statute
Florida – 12 hours
Georgia – no statute
Hawaii – 2 days
Idaho – no statute
Illinois – no statute
Indiana – “reasonable notice”
Iowa – 24 hours
Kansas – “reasonable notice”
Kentucky – 2 days
Louisiana –No notice specified
Maine – 24 hours
Maryland – no statute
Massachusetts – no notice specified
Michigan – No statute
Minnesota – Reasonable notice
Mississippi – no statute
Missouri – no statute
Montana – 24 hours
Nebraska – 1 day
Nevada -24 hours
New Hampshire – “Notice that is adequate under the circumstances”
New Jersey – One day for inspections and repairs – “reasonable” notice for other reasons
New Mexico – 24 hours
New York – No statute
North Carolina – no statute
North Dakota – “reasonable notice”
Ohio – 24 hours
Oklahoma – 1 day
Oregon – 24 hours
Pennsylvania – No statute
Rhode Island - 2 days
South Carolina – 24 hours
South Dakota – no statute
Tennessee -24 hours (applies only to show to prospective renters)
Texas – No Statute
Utah – 24 hours, unless rental agreement specifies otherwise
Vermont – 48 hours
Virginia – 24 hours for routine maintenance, no notice for requested maintenance
Washington – 2 days. 1 day if to show property to prospective tenants or buyers
West Virginia – no statute
Wisconsin – “advance notice”
Wyoming – no statute

You can find an updated state-by state breakdown

here,

with specific statutes to look up the language yourself if need be. You can find another one

here,

in a different format with a bit more explanation.

A few notes:

Generally, laws require landlords to enter at reasonable times. That means they shouldn’t be waking you up in the middle of the night to conduct their property inspection or maintenance. The usual expectation is that these visits will occur during bankers’ hours: 9AM to 6PM or so.

Landlords should not place “lockboxes” on doors when the property is rented. These are boxes with security combinations containing a key. If there’s a lockbox on the door with the key in it, realtors can show up any time, day or night. And they will!

Author Bio
Writing about personal finance and investments since 1999, Jason Van Steenwyk started as a reporter with Mutual Funds Magazine and served as editor of Investors’ Digest. He now publishes feature articles in many publications including Annuity Selling Guide, Bankrate.com, and more.