Can a landlord enter an apartment twice a year for inspections?

The California Department of Consumer Affairs offers publications online that summarize that state's landlord-tenant laws:

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/consumerpubs_landlord.shtml

One of these publications gives the legitimate reasons that a landlord may inspect a property. These do *not* include periodic inspections - that are simply "inspections," rather than visits to perform necessary work. That may be different - and somewhat more skewed to the rights of the tenant than the landlord - in California than in many other states.

Rather, the most common of these (non-emergency) reasons include:

"* To make necessary or agreed-upon repairs, decorations, alterations, or other improvements."

"* To show the rental unit to prospective tenants, purchasers, or lenders, to provide entry to contractors or workers who are to perform work on the unit, or to conduct an initial inspection before the end of the tenancy ..."

The "initial inspection" is the one where the landlord determines whether there are issues that might cause him/her to retain part or all of your security deposit.

Your lease or rental contract, however, may specify different terms for inspections, including permitting more frequent inspections or inspections for other reasons. Also, your local city or other governmental body might have its own rental codes.

In every case, state law requires that "The landlord or the landlord's agent must give the tenant reasonable advance notice in writing before entering the unit, and can enter only during normal business hours (generally, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays). The notice must state the date, approximate time and purpose of entry. ... The law considers 24 hours' advance written notice to be reasonable in most situations. If the notice is mailed to the tenant, mailing at least six days before the intended entry is presumed to be reasonable, in most situations. The tenant can consent to shorter notice and to entry at times other than during normal business hours."

The bottom line: your landlord may not have the strict right under California law to perform twice-yearly or even annual inspections "just because." However, if those inspections are stated in your contract, which presumably you signed in order to lease or rent your apartment, you'd have to decide whether to make an issue of it. I'd encourage you to think hard and long before doing that. For instance, your landlord or their management company might well have an intent to perform health and safety inspections (smoke detectors, sprinklers, fire extinguishers, in-unit hazard inspections, pest inspections, routine checks for water leaks) that benefit you, as well as other tenants in your apartment complex. To be blunt, these days sometime landlords also need to check for the buildup of huge amounts of trash, and even for hazards such as meth labs, all of which affect not only their large investments in the property but the health and safety of all residents. (Not that *you'd* have those in your apartment, but it could clearly endanger you if the tenant next door did.) Perhaps your landlord believes that these, or other work that is done during those twice-yearly inspections, falls squarely within the state's definition of "necessary repairs." Hopefully your landlord will be straightforward with you about their reasons for these inspections, and you'll be reasonable in turn in permitting them.

Just "feeling" that inspections twice a year is excessive - as important as that may be to you - may not be solid grounds on which to make a case. If there are specific concerns you have, such as inconvenience related to school or work schedules - if you don't want them coming in when you're rushing to get to work at 8 am, for instance - or risks of loss or damage to your personal property, you might find it helpful to write down these concerns in as concrete a manner as you can, and discuss these concerns with your landlord, as well as taking written notes of their responses.

You might recall that as long as you live in that apartment complex, you will have a personal relationship with your landlord and their representatives, completely outside of any legal considerations, and that it needs to be conducted - on both sides - with politeness and respect. When you are a new tenant, in particular, first impressions count.

You could always try negotiating directly with your landlord. Perhaps there are some truly minor adjustments to the inspection terms, schedule or notice period that may help resolve any conflicts. If so, ideally those new terms will then also be reflected in writing, in your contract, so that both of you are protected in case of further dispute. If this is a large complex, rather than, say, a duplex or 4-plex owned by a family, understand that your landlord may understandably be highly reluctant to set individual terms with each tenant.

You could also contact a rental assistance office in your local area - whether at City Hall or a non-profit that may do that work - for some help and advice.

I'm not a lawyer or versed in rental law - I last worked for a few months one summer as a volunteer at a landlord/tenant advice and mediation service many years ago, and laws have changed greatly since then - and so this is just "naive civilian thought": please contact someone who knows this area of law well for more concrete, knowledgeable advice.