Notice to enter a rental unit: how much notice, what to write, when you can skip it

How much notice

Most states require "reasonable" notice and many define it as 24 hours; a few require 48 hours or two days, and some leave it to the lease. Your lease should state a number; if it does not, 24 hours in writing is the safe default nearly everywhere. "Reasonable time" generally means normal business hours unless the tenant agrees otherwise.

This is a general guide, not legal advice — check your state's landlord-tenant statute for the exact number and whether the notice must be delivered a particular way.

What the notice must say

• The date and a window of time (a two- to four-hour window is normal; "sometime Tuesday" is not).
• Who is entering — you, a vendor, an inspector — and why.
• That the tenant does not need to be present, and how to reschedule if they object.

Text is written notice. Keep the message; it is your proof of the date, the time, and that it was sent more than 24 hours ahead.

When you can enter without notice

An emergency: active water leak, fire, gas smell, a medical situation, or reasonable belief that the unit is being damaged. In those cases enter, then tell the tenant as soon as you can what you did and why. Everything else — a routine inspection, a showing, a non-urgent repair, "just checking" — needs notice.

Tenant-requested repairs are a grey area handled by common sense: if the tenant texted you this morning asking for the plumber, and the plumber can come at 2pm, a reply confirming 2pm is the notice. Get the tenant's "yes" in writing anyway.

What to do when the tenant refuses

Offer two alternative windows in writing. If they refuse all reasonable access for a needed repair, document each refusal and send a formal letter citing the lease clause on access. Do not force entry, do not change the locks, and do not enter while they are refusing — the remedy for repeated refusal is the lease, not the door.

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