Entering a Rented Unit in California: Notice, Showings and Harassment Rules for LA Owners

For Owners · Rent & Compliance · October 2026 · 14 min read

A plumber can come Thursday morning. The unit is listed for sale and a buyer wants to walk through on Saturday. The tenant upstairs reports water coming through her ceiling at 9 p.m. Each of these needs you, or someone you send, inside a unit you have rented to someone else, and California treats each one a little differently.

The rules are in Civil Code section 1954. It is short, it applies to every residential tenancy in the state, and a lease cannot opt out of it. In the City of Los Angeles there is a second layer: the Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance lists abuse of the right of access as harassment and attaches penalties that go well past the state statute. This guide walks through both.

The six reasons you may enter

Section 1954(a) says a landlord may enter the dwelling unit “only” in these cases:

• An emergency.
• Repairs, services and showings. To make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations or improvements, to supply necessary or agreed services, or to show the unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers or contractors. This item also covers the pre-move-out inspection under Civil Code 1950.5(f).
• Abandonment or surrender. When the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the premises.
• A court order.
• Water submeter work under the chapter of the Civil Code that begins at section 1954.201.
• Exterior elevated element inspections under Health and Safety Code section 17973, the balcony and deck law. Our SB 721 guide covers that program.

Other statutes add specific purposes and point back to section 1954 for the notice. Health and Safety Code 13113.7 and 17926.1 let you enter to install, test and maintain smoke alarms and carbon monoxide devices (see our smoke and CO alarm guide). Civil Code 1101.5 does the same for water-conserving plumbing fixtures. Civil Code 1954.604 treats a pest control operator’s inspections as a necessary service, which our bed bug guide explains.

What the list does not include matters as much. There is no general right to drop by and see how the unit looks. If you want a periodic walk-through, tie it to a purpose the statute recognizes, such as checking smoke alarms, servicing equipment, or an inspection the lease or a law requires, and say so in the notice.

What a written notice has to contain

Section 1954(d)(1) is the default rule. You must give the tenant reasonable written notice of your intent to enter, and the notice must include three things:

• The date of the entry
• The approximate time
• The purpose

A notice that says “management will enter sometime this week” fails on the first two. A notice that says “for inspection” with nothing more is thin on the third, and in Los Angeles it can create a separate problem, covered below.

The statute allows four ways to deliver it:

• Handing it to the tenant
• Leaving it with someone of suitable age and discretion at the unit
• Leaving it on, near or under the usual entry door, where a reasonable person would find it
• Mailing it

Text messages and email are not on that list. Use them as a courtesy copy if you like, alongside one of the four methods above.

How much notice: 24 hours, or six days by mail

Section 1954 does not set a fixed minimum. It sets presumptions. Twenty-four hours is presumed reasonable notice “in absence of evidence to the contrary.” If you mail the notice, mailing at least six days before the entry is presumed reasonable.

A presumption can be rebutted. Twenty-four hours is the floor to plan around, not a guarantee that a day’s notice is always enough. If a tenant tells you she works nights and sleeps until 2 p.m., or the work will take the kitchen out of use for a day, more notice and an entry time that works for her are easy ways to keep the presumption on your side.

Count the 24 hours from when the notice is delivered, not from when you wrote it. A notice taped to the door at 5 p.m. Tuesday supports an entry from 5 p.m. Wednesday at the earliest.

Normal business hours

Section 1954(b) limits entry to normal business hours unless there is an emergency, the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the unit, or the tenant consents at the time of entry to a different time. The statute does not define normal business hours. Weekday daytime is the conservative reading. A Saturday showing or an evening repair is safest when the tenant agrees to it, and the statute requires that agreement to be given at the time of entry, so a lease clause agreeing in advance to evening entries does not do the job.

Entering without written notice

Section 1954(e) lists three situations where no notice is required:

• To respond to an emergency. The statute does not define one. A burst pipe flooding the unit below, a smell of gas or smoke, or a report that someone inside needs help are the kind of facts that make the case. A routine repair, an overdue inspection, or a suspicion that the tenant has a pet is not.
• When the tenant is present and consents at the time of entry. Consent given in person, at the door, at that moment. Not consent given last month, and not consent from a houseguest.
• After the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the unit. Whether a unit is legally abandoned is its own question, with its own notice under Civil Code 1951.3. Our guide to belongings left behind and abandoned units covers it.

After an emergency entry, leave a note in the unit saying when you entered, who came in, and what was done. The statute does not require it, but it answers the tenant’s first question before it is asked and leaves you a record.

Agreed repairs: the one-week oral exception

Section 1954(d)(3) lets you skip the written notice when you and the tenant agree orally to an entry for agreed repairs or agreed services. The agreement has to include the date and approximate time, and the entry has to fall within one week of the agreement.

This is the exception you use when a tenant calls about a leaking faucet and you set the plumber’s visit on the same call. Write the agreement down on your side anyway: a short text back to the tenant (“Confirming the plumber Thursday between 9 and 11 for the bathroom faucet”) costs nothing and is the only proof you will have if the visit is later disputed.

Showing the unit to buyers, lenders and new tenants

Showings are allowed. The notice rules depend on who is coming.

Buyers

Section 1954(d)(2) gives you a shortcut for showing the unit to prospective or actual purchasers. If you or your agent have told the tenant in writing, within the past 120 days, that the property is for sale and that you may contact the tenant orally to arrange showings, each later showing can be arranged orally, in person or by phone. Twenty-four hours is presumed reasonable, and the oral notice must still give the date, approximate time and purpose.

There is one more requirement that is easy to miss: at the time of entry, you or your agent must leave written evidence of the entry inside the unit. A business card with the date and time on the back is enough to show what happened.

The 120-day written notice expires. If the property is still on the market four months later, send a new one before you go back to arranging showings by phone.

Lenders, appraisers and prospective tenants

The oral shortcut is for purchasers only. Showings to mortgagees, appraisers, contractors bidding a job, or a prospective tenant during the current tenant’s notice period all go back to the default rule: written notice, date, approximate time, purpose, business hours.

If you will show a unit several times before the current tenant leaves, one notice can list several dates and time windows. Keep the windows narrow enough that the tenant knows when to expect people.

The pre-move-out inspection has its own notice

When either side gives notice to end the tenancy, or before a lease term ends, Civil Code 1950.5(f) requires you to tell the tenant in writing that they may request an initial inspection and be present for it. If the tenant asks, the inspection happens no earlier than two weeks before the end of the tenancy, and you give at least 48 hours’ written notice of the date and time. You and the tenant can both sign a written waiver of the 48 hours. Our security deposit guide covers what the inspection is for and what follows it.

A lease cannot change these rules

Civil Code 1953(a)(1) makes any lease provision void if the tenant agrees in it to modify or waive their rights under section 1954. A clause saying the owner may enter “at any time” or “on two hours’ notice” does not change the law; it just sits in the lease unenforceable. A clause that repeats section 1954 and sets out how you will give notice is fine.

When access becomes harassment

Section 1954(c) says the landlord “may not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant.” Two other laws put money behind that sentence.

State law: Civil Code 1940.2

Section 1940.2(a)(4) makes it unlawful to commit a significant and intentional violation of section 1954 for the purpose of influencing a tenant to vacate. A tenant who wins a civil action, including in small claims court, is entitled to a civil penalty of up to $2,000 for each violation. The same section says a good-faith warning about a lease violation, or an explanation of the lease given in the normal course of business, is not a violation.

City of Los Angeles: the Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance

The City of LA’s ordinance applies to all residential tenants in the city, whether or not the unit is under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Harassment is defined as a landlord’s bad faith conduct directed at a specific tenant or tenants that causes them detriment or harm, and bad faith means willful, reckless or grossly negligent conduct.

Abuse of the right of access is on the ordinance’s list. LAHD says a 24-hour written notice must state the specific reason for entry and a reasonable time window for that purpose, and it lists these as abuse of access, with emergencies the exception:

• Entering or photographing portions of a rental unit beyond the scope of a lawful entry or inspection
• Failing to state the specific justification for entry in the notice
• Failing to coordinate the entry reasonably with the tenant’s schedule
• Misrepresenting the reason for entry in the notice
• Failing to give an approximate time window, or giving one that is unreasonably long for the stated purpose
• Failing to tell the tenant promptly when a noticed entry is canceled
• Requesting entry more often than the stated reason justifies

The penalties, as amended by Ordinance 188416 effective December 29, 2024, include three times compensatory damages for a prevailing tenant, civil penalties of not less than $2,000 and up to $10,000 per violation, and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. Where the tenant is over 65 or disabled, the court may add up to $5,000 per violation. LAHD also lists a criminal misdemeanor of up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine per offense.

For judgments and citations that become final on or after August 20, 2026, there is a further consequence. Under LAMC 16.60 A.6, a beneficial owner with a final court judgment for tenant harassment within five years, three final harassment citations within ten years, one final citation within five years in a high-displacement-risk tract, or a final judgment for unlawful eviction or involuntary vacancy within five years goes on LAHD’s Anti-Harassment Violators Database. For five years the city withholds demolition permits and other approvals for the property, apart from permits needed to comply with a government order. LAHD records a notice on title, and the restriction carries over to a new owner unless that owner is building a publicly financed project with more than half the units affordable. For an owner who may one day sell, add an ADU or redevelop, that is a cost well beyond the penalty itself.

In practice, the ordinance turns two habits into risks. The first is a vague notice: “entry for inspection” with an all-day window. The second is scope creep: entering to fix the dishwasher and then photographing the bedrooms. Name the specific purpose, give a real time window, work with the tenant’s schedule, tell them promptly if the visit is canceled, and keep the visit to that purpose.

This guide covers state law and the City of Los Angeles ordinance. Culver City, Inglewood and Beverly Hills each have their own tenant-protection chapters, and an attorney should check them before you rely on state rules alone in those cities.

When a tenant refuses entry

A tenant who refuses a properly noticed entry for a lawful purpose is in a weaker position than one who was given a defective notice, so start by checking your own notice. Was it written? Did it state the date, approximate time and purpose? Was it delivered by a method section 1954 allows, with enough time? Was the entry during business hours?

If the notice was good, refusal can become a ground to end the tenancy, but each law states it in its own words:

• State Tenant Protection Act. Civil Code 1946.2(b)(1)(H) lists, as an at-fault just cause, the tenant’s refusal to allow the owner to enter as authorized by Civil Code 1101.5 and 1954 and Health and Safety Code 13113.7 and 17926.1.
• City of LA RSO. LAMC 151.09 A.6 covers a tenant who has refused the landlord reasonable access for repairs or improvements, for an inspection permitted or required by the lease or by law, or to show the unit to a prospective purchaser or mortgagee. Note that prospective tenants are not on that list.
• Beverly Hills. Refusal to provide access is ground (F), covering repairs, improvements, inspections required by the lease or by law, and showings to a prospective buyer or lender. See our Beverly Hills ending-a-tenancy guide.
• Culver City and Inglewood. Both ordinances list refusing reasonable access as an at-fault ground. Our guides to ending a tenancy in Culver City and Inglewood explain the notices each city requires.

Treat one refused visit as a scheduling problem first. Send a second written notice for a new date, offer a time that suits the tenant, and keep copies. If repairs are involved, a record that you tried to get in also matters if the tenant later claims you ignored the problem, which our repair requests and habitability guide covers. Before treating a refusal as grounds to end a tenancy, talk to a landlord-tenant attorney.

Vendors and agents entering for you

A plumber, pest control operator or property manager entering the unit is there on your authority, so the notice rules apply the same way. Give the notice yourself, or have your manager give it, with the vendor’s arrival window, and tell the vendor what the job is. A vendor who wanders into rooms that have nothing to do with the work is the scope problem from the harassment section, and it is your problem.

Keys belong with you or your manager, not with the vendor. Whoever lets the vendor in should be the one who locks up.

A record that holds up

For every non-emergency entry, keep:

• A copy of the written notice, or the text confirming an agreed repair
• How and when it was delivered (a phone photo of the notice on the door, with the timestamp, works)
• Who entered, when they arrived and left, and what they did
• For buyer showings, the 120-day written sale notice and the date of each oral notice
• For emergencies, what you observed that made it one, and the note you left inside

If a dispute ever reaches LAHD, a small claims court or an unlawful detainer, this file is what shows your entries were lawful.

Arranging access for repairs and vendors is part of the maintenance coordination in our flat fee management. For City of LA properties around Mid-City, Pico-Robertson and Palms, see our area page.

Questions owners ask

Do I have to give exactly 24 hours’ notice?

Section 1954 says 24 hours is presumed reasonable unless there is evidence to the contrary, and six days is presumed reasonable for a mailed notice. It is a presumption, not a fixed minimum. Giving more time, and a window that fits the tenant’s schedule, keeps the presumption on your side.

Can I send the entry notice by text or email?

The statute lists personal delivery, leaving it with a suitable person at the unit, leaving it at the entry door, and mail. Text and email are not on the list. If you use them, use them in addition to one of the listed methods.

Does the tenant have to be home when I enter?

No. With a proper written notice and a lawful purpose, you may enter during normal business hours whether or not the tenant is there. If the tenant is home, the visit goes more smoothly when you knock and identify yourself first.

Can I put a clause in the lease allowing entry on shorter notice?

No. Civil Code 1953(a)(1) voids any lease provision that modifies or waives a tenant’s rights under section 1954. A clause that restates the statute is fine; one that cuts the notice period has no effect.

Can I show the unit to prospective tenants on oral notice?

No. The oral-notice shortcut in section 1954(d)(2) is only for showings to purchasers, after a written notice of sale within the past 120 days. Showings to prospective tenants need written notice with the date, approximate time and purpose.

Can I take photos while I am inside?

Photograph what the entry is for: the repair, the alarm you tested, the condition you were there to inspect. In the City of LA, entering or photographing portions of the unit beyond the scope of a lawful entry or inspection is listed as abuse of the right of access under the Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance.

Sources and disclaimer. California Civil Code sections 1101.5, 1940.2, 1946.2, 1950.5, 1953, 1954 and 1954.604, and Health and Safety Code sections 13113.7 and 17926.1, read from the text published by the California Legislature as reproduced at California.Public.Law; Los Angeles Municipal Code section 151.09 A.6; Los Angeles Housing Department, Tenant Anti-Harassment and Tenant Anti-Harassment for property owners (Ordinances 187109 and 188416; Anti-Harassment Violators Database under LAMC 16.60 A.6, operative August 20, 2026). Current as of October 2026. This article is general information for property owners from a California DRE-licensed property management company, not legal advice. Statutes and local ordinances change, so confirm your entry notices, lease language and any termination based on refused access with a real estate attorney.