Your Privacy Rights: When Can Your Landlord Enter?

Your landlord can enter your rental only for a reason the law or your lease allows, such as repairs or a showing, and in most of the states this guide covers only after advance notice. Maryland requires 24 hours' written notice, California treats 24 hours' written notice as reasonable, Florida requires 24 hours before a repair visit, Massachusetts requires 48 hours before repairs, and Washington requires 2 days in writing. In an emergency such as a fire, gas leak, or burst pipe, a landlord can come in without notice, and in Texas and Pennsylvania, where no statute sets a notice period, your lease decides how much warning you get.

How much notice does your landlord have to give?

The rules below cover ordinary, non-emergency entry. Entry limits are one part of the basic rights every tenant has, and your lease can add its own notice terms on top of them.

Notice also has to reach you in an allowed way. In California, a landlord can hand you the notice, leave it at the unit with a person of suitable age such as a roommate, leave it at the entry door where you will find it, or mail it, in which case six days ahead is presumed reasonable. A California landlord who is selling can arrange showings by phone or in person instead, once it has told you in writing within the past 120 days that the unit is for sale, and it must leave written evidence of the entry inside. Maryland allows first-class mail with a certificate of mailing or a notice posted on your door, and email, text, or a tenant portal only if you chose electronic delivery. A Washington notice must give the date and either an exact time or an earliest and latest time, plus a phone number you can call to object or reschedule.

What reasons can a landlord give for entering?

State laws list similar purposes: necessary or agreed repairs and services, and showing the unit to buyers, lenders, new renters, or contractors. Maryland, New Jersey, and Washington also allow inspections, but California does not allow a general inspection; its list covers specific checks, such as the pre-move-out inspection you request. Maryland's list adds work a government agency ordered, protecting the property and its occupants, and responding to a written request from you, and California also allows entry under a court order.

Two states narrow what you have to allow. New Jersey's rules require access only for inspection, maintenance, and repair, so whether a landlord can show your unit to buyers or new renters depends on your lease. In Texas, the lease usually lists the landlord's reasons for entry; if it says nothing, entry is limited to purposes such as repairs you asked for, routine inspections, emergencies inside the unit, and posting an eviction notice.

California, Florida, and Washington bar a landlord from abusing the right of access or using it to harass a tenant. Cameras and recording devices fall under separate rules, which our guide to security cameras in rentals explains.

When can a landlord enter without notice?

Every state in the table allows entry without advance notice in an emergency. New York's Attorney General gives a fire or a water leak as examples, and in New York City an owner making urgent repairs can skip written notice but must still contact you another way. Maryland's law covers emergencies that threaten the property, the people living there, or other tenants and staff.

California also drops the notice requirement when you are present and agree to the entry at that moment, and after you have moved out or abandoned the unit. Florida's rule is broader. A Florida landlord may enter at any time to protect or preserve the premises, and may enter without your consent if you have been away for half a rental period (about two weeks on a monthly lease), unless your rent is current and you told the landlord you would be gone.

Entry for repairs, including ones you requested

A repair you asked for still usually requires notice, though some states allow shortcuts. In California, you and the landlord can agree orally on a date and approximate time within one week, and no written notice is needed for that visit. Maryland still requires written notice, but you can agree in writing to shorter notice, and once you report a housing code violation you must give the landlord access within 24 hours.

Massachusetts tenants, in turn, must give reasonable access, by appointment if possible, for repairs the State Sanitary Code requires.

Can you refuse entry?

You can ask for a different time, but an unreasonable refusal gives the landlord legal options. Florida and Washington law say a tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent, and Florida lets the landlord enter anyway when you do. In New York, a landlord facing an unreasonable refusal can ask a court for an order allowing entry, and in New York City, refusing access for required repairs can be grounds for an eviction case.

If the proposed time does not work, offer the landlord specific alternatives. In Texas, where notice depends on the lease, you can ask the landlord in writing to give advance notice, such as 24 hours, before entering.

What to do about repeated or improper entry

1. Log each entry. Write down the date, time, who came in, the reason given, and whether and how you got notice. Keep the notices, texts, and emails.
2. Object in writing. Name your state's rule, list the dates and times of the entries that broke it, and ask the landlord to follow it. In Washington, this letter matters: a landlord who keeps violating the entry rules after one written notice of violations can owe up to $100 for each later violation, and the winner in court can recover costs and attorney's fees.
3. Use your state's remedy. In Maryland, a tenant can sue for an injunction (a court order to stop) and for damages when a landlord enters illegally or keeps demanding entry that breaks the rules. In California, a landlord who significantly and intentionally violates the entry rules to push you to move out can owe a civil penalty of up to $2,000 per violation, which you can seek in small claims court. New Jersey's housing agency treats a landlord's entry while you are out and without your permission, apart from emergencies, as forcible entry, an unlawful entry you can take to court, and you can also file a trespass complaint with local police. In Texas, send a written demand with a deadline first; for a serious or continuing violation, you can sue for damages or ask the court to release you from the lease.
4. Check the other rights involved. Repeated entries can also breach your right to quiet enjoyment, the right to use your home without substantial interference from the landlord. If a landlord answers your objection with a rent increase, a service cut, or an eviction notice, retaliation protections may apply.

Changing the locks to keep a landlord out raises its own lease and legal questions, so read our guide to changing locks before you do it.