The 24 Hour Myth
said on May 16th, 2008 categorized under: Legal Stuff, Selling A Duplex
It’s commonly believed tenants must receive a 24 hour notice before the landlord enters their unit. There’s just one problem with that: it’s not true.
In Minnesota, a landlord must make a good faith effort to notify the tenant he/she will be entering. Reasonable notice may be a knock on the door, 24 hours, 48 hours — the definition of reasonable notice is open for interpretation.
The landlord, however, must have a reasonable business purpose for doing this. Valid reasons include:
- Showing the unit (for sale or lease)
- Doing maintenance
- Inspections
- Tenant disturbance coming from within the unit
- A reasonable belief that a tenant is violating the lease. (I.E. a barking dog inside a unit in a no pet building)
- Reasonable belief of unauthorized occupancy
- Belief that the tenant vacated the premises
- Pre-arranged housekeeping in a senior housing property
- Well-check (to make sure a tenant is still alive and well if there is reason to believe otherwise)
If a landlord enters the unit without the tenant’s knowledge or presence, he is required to leave a notice that he was there and for what purpose. Of course, once again, that purpose must be a reasonable business practice.
The only exceptions to notice requirements are to prevent injury to people or property, tenant safety, or to comply with local ordinances regarding unlawful activity.
