Landlord right of entry
Updated 2026-09-04 · 7 min read
24 hours
The most common statutory notice for a non-emergency entry — but the number and what counts as notice are set state by state.
A lease transfers possession. From that moment the landlord's right to be inside the unit is a limited statutory permission, not an owner's privilege, and it comes with a notice period attached.
When you may enter at all
- To make agreed or necessary repairs, or to inspect after notice.
- To show the unit to a prospective tenant, buyer, lender or contractor.
- In a genuine emergency — fire, flood, gas, a reasonable belief of danger.
- When the tenant has abandoned the unit, as your statute defines abandonment.
- By court order.
"Just checking" is not a ground
Drive-by inspections without a repair or inspection purpose are the entries that generate complaints, and in several states they are actionable on their own.
Notice, hours and method
The common shape is written notice a set number of hours in advance — 24 hours is the most frequent figure — stating the date, an approximate time window and the purpose, delivered in a way the statute names. Several states restrict entry to normal business hours, and some treat a text message as insufficient unless the tenant agreed to it in writing.
- 01Put the purpose in writing, not just the time.
- 02Give a window, and keep to it.
- 03Knock and announce, even holding a valid notice.
- 04If the tenant objects and it is not an emergency, reschedule and document that you did.
The emergency exception is narrower than it sounds
An emergency is an immediate threat to person or property: a burst pipe, a gas smell, smoke. A tenant not answering the phone is not one. A suspicion about an unauthorised occupant is not one. Using the exception loosely is how a landlord ends up defending a quiet-enjoyment claim they would otherwise have won.
Showings during a notice period
You will want to show the unit while the outgoing tenant is still in it — that is how days-vacant stays low, and days vacant is the biggest line in the turnover cost calculator. Ask early, agree a fixed pattern of windows in writing, and honour it exactly. A tenant who agreed to two windows a week will usually keep agreeing; one who was surprised at the door will not.
Where the tenancy is ending, the notice itself should say showings will be arranged — the notice to vacate template has the line.