Check your lease first. My lease just repeats what local laws state. In my state, they’re required to give “reasonable notice” for non-urgent matters. A few hours wouldn’t be considered reasonable by anyone, honestly.
yup, if you're home lock your deadbolt and if they say anything to you about it say "Oh I mustve been sleeping or in the shower, I always leave my deadbolt on during those times for my own safety and I was never given confirmation that my unit would be required entry or made aware of any consequences if you were unable to enter. If I had been given reasonable notice I would've made sure my unit was accessible. Did you need to check my unit for a safety reason? Feel free to give me a call and we an schedule a time that i'll be available for you to check on that safety hazard for me"
Is it a state program looking at your place? Fireman would come and checkout the codes alarms etc.They don't schedule but will give you the week they will come. The day of management knows for sure they are coming that day and those hours. I learned it happened every year in July so I planned accordingly. Like I did my big spring cleaning before the month before. So everything was cleaned recently. Ask who it is and if they do this yearly or biyearly. I got lucky and my state stopped requiring it.
We get 2-3 days notice where I am which is plenty. I keep things clean enough. I get annoyed when it’s multiple weeks in a row I feel like everything needs to be museum quality though
Indiana law doesn't specify a number of hours, but instead
"
(2) shall give a tenant reasonable written or oral notice of the landlord's intent to enter the dwelling unit; and
"
A few hours notice, generally I'm assuming that being sent this morning I think an average person wouldn't consider that reasonable, so you could theoretically tell them to go away, or just not answer the door as without your consent they're not allowed to enter your apartment unless there's an emergency.
However, this sounds like a inspection for either insurance or just the sale of the property entirely. Realistically do with that information what you will. What I will say myself, is just ask yourself is it worth pissing off your landlord over what might be 5 minutes maximum?
Some people may work from home and need to be on zoom calls when come in do an inspection, OR someone could have a pet they need to make arrangements to have somewhere else.
Are some of these apartments Section 8? They can and do perform surprise inspections usually due to so many people having more occupants than they were supposed to or other violations .
Most states do have an amount of time required such as 24-48 hours. But some are like your state and vague at best. If your lease also has no information on how long notice should be given in advance then you’ll have to get used to it. You might find a private landlord next time who’s willing to write that into a lease. Never go by someone’s ‘word’ about real estate transactions - have it in writing.
How competent is your pm? Any possibility the mortgage company is coming out and someone forgot to send out the notifications?
I only ask because I have literally asked; what do you mean you didn’t do the notifications?
It happens here all the time. Some one came for inspection and I found the notice stuck on my door when I opened to see who knocking. Wasn't on the door when I came in an hour earlier. Not saying it's right, but someone's FU usualy rason.
Easiest way to lose tenants next lease. Who wants to have random inspections with no real notice and no time to prepare for visitors? Too much unnecessary stress I would complain.
Had this happen today except it was 8:50am and they told us they would be coming to inspect by the end of the day (not a random search). Our lease states 24-hour notice would be given. I’m at work and can’t “not let them in.” What can I do?
A couple hours is definitely not "reasonable" but as mentioned they would have to follow state guidelines. Also, the randomness might not be above board either. I would think they would HAVE to tell you they are coming into your unit, not they "might". I wonder if maybe they have had some complaints of illegal activity in some of the units and are trying to catch people in the act to try and build a case for eviction. Could be using this to pass it off as random, versus targeting certain people for plausible deniability. I have never heard of a "random" inspection. If it's a state compliance thing, they need to go through every unit and if it's a maintainence thing, they would also check every unit. Something seems off with the whole "Random" aspect of this.
From what I can remember, in Texas they don’t have to give you notice. I once had a random inspection and got a email 30 minutes before they inspected it. That was more of a “courtesy” heads up.
Is your property privately-owned? If so, unless otherwise stipulated by your lease, they don’t have to give much notice at all if they deem entry urgent. It’s frustrating and weird but legal
The company dictates urgency. Plus, it could indicate objective urgency if there were a complaint of infestation from another tenant, for example, and they are using this as a rouse to enter surrounding units to find a cause. Or if they have a bank inspector enteri- this doesn’t matter, point is there are reasons they can give to validate their entry.
They'd need to inspect all the units if there was suspicion of infestation, to see where it has or has not spread.
If they were having a bank inspection, they'd absolutely have more than 24 hours notice.
Once again. Nothing in this text message indicates entry is needed for an urgent matter.
You would not check every single unit in an entire property over one call of infestation, that’s not how any of that works. Also, humans are fallible, it isn’t ideal but if they neglected to communicate properly to the tenants ahead of time, that’s too bad but not illegal. I’m not going to exhaust every possible reason why they are requiring entry, but I promise they’re not that interested in the ongoings of their tenants to enter for fun.
It can absolutely be illegal. In my state a 24 hour notice is mandatory. Unless a real emergency like possible water/fire damage. Nobody thinks they're doing it "for fun" but tenants have rights and landlords frequently overstep them.
Yeah I’m not arguing the latter statement, but that isn’t necessarily what’s happening in OP’s situation. Depends on the type of ownership, and depends why they are doing it. Two factors we don’t know.
Being a mass text is telling imo.
It also depends on the lease. Down below OP said their lease says "reasonable notice" is required and imo, a few hours isn't reasonable. Doesn't matter the reason unless it's an actual emergency.
Yea, fuck that. If they don't have a warrant, they ain't getting in. Pretty sure they can't just inspect shit, unless it's an actual emergency situation. When ever my management decides to "randomly inspect", I straight up ignore the knock at the door.
More often than not, they do the inspection late as fuck into the night for some damn reason. I just faint ignorance and just live my life. That tells me it isn't a emergency.
It's annoying to receive an inspection notice a few hours (I'm assuming this was sent around 8am), but really, just get it over with to not cause yourself extra stress. If you have something to hide, now you know to be vigilant about keeping it hidden or get rid of whatever all together.
Check your lease first. My lease just repeats what local laws state. In my state, they’re required to give “reasonable notice” for non-urgent matters. A few hours wouldn’t be considered reasonable by anyone, honestly.
My lease doesn’t say anything about inspections or notice for entry which is very weird. Online for my state says “reasonable notice, usually 24 hrs.”
You can reach out to them to question the lack of reasonable notice given. A few hours is not reasonable.
I agree, it's unreasonable. If their language is so vague on the lease I'd use that to my advantage and deny entry. Come back tomorrow, sorry!
yup, if you're home lock your deadbolt and if they say anything to you about it say "Oh I mustve been sleeping or in the shower, I always leave my deadbolt on during those times for my own safety and I was never given confirmation that my unit would be required entry or made aware of any consequences if you were unable to enter. If I had been given reasonable notice I would've made sure my unit was accessible. Did you need to check my unit for a safety reason? Feel free to give me a call and we an schedule a time that i'll be available for you to check on that safety hazard for me"
Imagine being asleep because you work night shifts and didn’t get a proper heads up
Is it a state program looking at your place? Fireman would come and checkout the codes alarms etc.They don't schedule but will give you the week they will come. The day of management knows for sure they are coming that day and those hours. I learned it happened every year in July so I planned accordingly. Like I did my big spring cleaning before the month before. So everything was cleaned recently. Ask who it is and if they do this yearly or biyearly. I got lucky and my state stopped requiring it.
I think it depends on your area, we always had at least a week's notice of fire alarm and code inspections when I rented.
We get 2-3 days notice where I am which is plenty. I keep things clean enough. I get annoyed when it’s multiple weeks in a row I feel like everything needs to be museum quality though
Me too. I put most things away too. Like deodorant make up etc.
Indiana law doesn't specify a number of hours, but instead " (2) shall give a tenant reasonable written or oral notice of the landlord's intent to enter the dwelling unit; and " A few hours notice, generally I'm assuming that being sent this morning I think an average person wouldn't consider that reasonable, so you could theoretically tell them to go away, or just not answer the door as without your consent they're not allowed to enter your apartment unless there's an emergency. However, this sounds like a inspection for either insurance or just the sale of the property entirely. Realistically do with that information what you will. What I will say myself, is just ask yourself is it worth pissing off your landlord over what might be 5 minutes maximum?
Some people may work from home and need to be on zoom calls when come in do an inspection, OR someone could have a pet they need to make arrangements to have somewhere else.
Are some of these apartments Section 8? They can and do perform surprise inspections usually due to so many people having more occupants than they were supposed to or other violations . Most states do have an amount of time required such as 24-48 hours. But some are like your state and vague at best. If your lease also has no information on how long notice should be given in advance then you’ll have to get used to it. You might find a private landlord next time who’s willing to write that into a lease. Never go by someone’s ‘word’ about real estate transactions - have it in writing.
How competent is your pm? Any possibility the mortgage company is coming out and someone forgot to send out the notifications? I only ask because I have literally asked; what do you mean you didn’t do the notifications?
It happens here all the time. Some one came for inspection and I found the notice stuck on my door when I opened to see who knocking. Wasn't on the door when I came in an hour earlier. Not saying it's right, but someone's FU usualy rason.
24 hour notice in Colorado
Random apartment inspections with less than 24 hours notice, and no emergency is not cool. I'd consult a housing attorney in your area.
They have to give you 24 hr notice unless your lease says otherwise
Easiest way to lose tenants next lease. Who wants to have random inspections with no real notice and no time to prepare for visitors? Too much unnecessary stress I would complain.
Might be the fire marshals?
A text doesnt count as legal written notice it needs to be post on your door or mailbox
Check your lease and state laws.
Check your lease
Chances are it's just so that they can confirm hoarding/unsafe units that they are suspicious of.
Had this happen today except it was 8:50am and they told us they would be coming to inspect by the end of the day (not a random search). Our lease states 24-hour notice would be given. I’m at work and can’t “not let them in.” What can I do?
A couple hours is definitely not "reasonable" but as mentioned they would have to follow state guidelines. Also, the randomness might not be above board either. I would think they would HAVE to tell you they are coming into your unit, not they "might". I wonder if maybe they have had some complaints of illegal activity in some of the units and are trying to catch people in the act to try and build a case for eviction. Could be using this to pass it off as random, versus targeting certain people for plausible deniability. I have never heard of a "random" inspection. If it's a state compliance thing, they need to go through every unit and if it's a maintainence thing, they would also check every unit. Something seems off with the whole "Random" aspect of this.
Nope nope
From what I can remember, in Texas they don’t have to give you notice. I once had a random inspection and got a email 30 minutes before they inspected it. That was more of a “courtesy” heads up.
Either let them in or don’t.
Is your property privately-owned? If so, unless otherwise stipulated by your lease, they don’t have to give much notice at all if they deem entry urgent. It’s frustrating and weird but legal
Randomly choosing apartments to enter doesn't indicate an urgent matter.
The company dictates urgency. Plus, it could indicate objective urgency if there were a complaint of infestation from another tenant, for example, and they are using this as a rouse to enter surrounding units to find a cause. Or if they have a bank inspector enteri- this doesn’t matter, point is there are reasons they can give to validate their entry.
They'd need to inspect all the units if there was suspicion of infestation, to see where it has or has not spread. If they were having a bank inspection, they'd absolutely have more than 24 hours notice. Once again. Nothing in this text message indicates entry is needed for an urgent matter.
You would not check every single unit in an entire property over one call of infestation, that’s not how any of that works. Also, humans are fallible, it isn’t ideal but if they neglected to communicate properly to the tenants ahead of time, that’s too bad but not illegal. I’m not going to exhaust every possible reason why they are requiring entry, but I promise they’re not that interested in the ongoings of their tenants to enter for fun.
It can absolutely be illegal. In my state a 24 hour notice is mandatory. Unless a real emergency like possible water/fire damage. Nobody thinks they're doing it "for fun" but tenants have rights and landlords frequently overstep them.
Yeah I’m not arguing the latter statement, but that isn’t necessarily what’s happening in OP’s situation. Depends on the type of ownership, and depends why they are doing it. Two factors we don’t know.
Being a mass text is telling imo. It also depends on the lease. Down below OP said their lease says "reasonable notice" is required and imo, a few hours isn't reasonable. Doesn't matter the reason unless it's an actual emergency.
Yea, fuck that. If they don't have a warrant, they ain't getting in. Pretty sure they can't just inspect shit, unless it's an actual emergency situation. When ever my management decides to "randomly inspect", I straight up ignore the knock at the door. More often than not, they do the inspection late as fuck into the night for some damn reason. I just faint ignorance and just live my life. That tells me it isn't a emergency.
If your lease states they could do that, then it’s legal. There are low income housing that clearly states this, for obvious reasons.
It's annoying to receive an inspection notice a few hours (I'm assuming this was sent around 8am), but really, just get it over with to not cause yourself extra stress. If you have something to hide, now you know to be vigilant about keeping it hidden or get rid of whatever all together.