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Does my landlord have the right to enter my apartment unannounced
basically, my heater hasn't been working, so I went in the afternoon to my landlords office to see if I could have it fixed. he wasn't there and his wife said he would drop by sometime in the evening.
later on at about 9 o clock at night, I'm laying in bed. I've been sick so I was asleep, and I sleep nude btw. Anyways I heard a knocking on the door, but the door is locked, so I decided to ignore it and keep sleeping. Next thing I know he is opening the door and letting himself in.
I was just wondering if this is allowed. I'm only 21 so I don't really know, but that seems very wrong to me. I was molested and abused my whole life growing up and because of this I have very specific boundaries. I really need to feel like I have my own safe space, all the time. I feel totally invaded and violated that he could just let himself in at night when its dark because I didn't come to the door. I read online that a landlord can let themselves in without notice if it is an 'emergency'. does my heater being down constitute an emergency? or does me asking him to fix it give him the right to come in whenever? I am genuinely upset with this and I'm honestly going to move if it turns out he has the legal right to do that. I don't care if it is legally permissible, within my own boundaries that doesn't feel okay and I'm seriously really upset by it.
oh yea, I live in Canada, if that helps.
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Where I live when you report a problem that needs to be repaired you are granting the repair people entrance to your apartment. It is generally accepted that this will be during normal working hours.
The fact that your heater was not working and given the time of the year it is. Your landlord may have felt this was an emergency. He did knock first giving you time to answer before letting himself in. It is reasonable to assume, given the hour your landlord felt it was safe to enter your apartment to repair your heater.
It appears you live in a small apartment building, one that may be owned and maintained by the owners who live on site. I would suggest that you speak with the owners regarding entering your apartment. Explain to then how his entering your apartment scared you.
While they have a right to enter your apartment, during normal business hours to make repairs you have requested or after hours for emergencies, at other times they should have to schedule an appointment. Regardless of this you should explain why this scared you and ask if they could call you prior to entering your apartment.
Most of us carry cell phones and if you do that would be the number to give them. That way at home or at work they can reach you and you can grant permission for them to enter and be ready for them if you are home.
I'm sure if you do live in a small building the owners will understand. Once you explain as you have here to us.
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In Canada, tenants rights are different from province to province, but generally speaking, they are required to give you 24 hours notice prior to entering your apartment.
HOWEVER - You can allow them to enter with less notice (i.e., open the door for them, or agree to a same-day visit) and there are a few exceptions but generally speaking, no, they can't just knock and then enter without giving you notice.
But here is the problem: You actually WERE given notice, and it sounds like you consented to the visit. It doesn't seem to me that landlord was wrong to assume you had an appointment.
Sure, it was lousy and not-very-specific notice, but you were told by his wife he would be by that evening to look into the problem. Unless you said "No, this evening is no good." or "Don't come by after 9pm." Or "Don't enter unless I let you in." than your landlord and his wife were not in the wrong to assume they had your permission to enter to address the issue.
When you didn't answer the door, he relied on the permission he fairly felt he had received to enter at that time, and let himself in. He probably assumed you were just out.
Honestly, as much as you might not like to hear it, and even though you were ill and tied, it was a but rude to ignore a knock when you knew your landlord was coming by. You asked him too, and knew it was going to be that night. As much as he may have been in error, simply ignoring his knock was not very courteous. He's got other stuff to do as well. Had he not come in, he'd have to make another trip to your apartment, because you changed your mind about allowing him to look at the heater that evening.
I understand you are upset. It's legitimately upsetting, but this was just a misunderstanding,. You and he had different understandings of the situation. He didn't 'just come in whenever'. He came in at the time he felt you had been informed he would be by, and had consented too.
I always tell my landlords, very specifically, whether I will be home or not when they are planning to come by, and whether they have my permission to enter if I am not there or not. Most good landlords will ASK you to be that specific, but some aren't so aware or courteous. (I also leave them notes about about the problem(s) or details like "Please don't close the windows" or "The dog is sleeping my bedroom, please don't let him out". You can't be too clear or detailed when it comes to communicating with your landlord...)
If you didn't want him to enter your apartment without you letting him in that evening, or after a certain time at night, you do have a lot of power as a tenant to insist on that. Next time, you need to use that power and be very clear about when you are willing to have them enter, and for what reason, and when you are not.
Look up tenants rights in your province (or territory). You can't sign away your tenant's rights, no matter what is in your lease or rental agreement. As a tenant, you need to know your rights and be very clear about when you are giving your landlord permission to enter, and when you are not.
They can't just barge in on you at any time. They have to give you the notice laid out in the laws OR get your permission. That means you need to communicate very clearly with them under what circumstances you've given permission, and under what circumstances you have not.
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I would suggest reading your lease and assessing the situation. I'm from the states, and landlords are not allowed to come in unless an appointment was set up for him/her to do so. I would also suggest speaking to your landlord about this, after reading your lease. Also, as for your heater being down constituting as being an emergency, I highly doubt it, unless you're elderly or with small children... But even then, I don't feel it constitutes as an emergency. I'm not sure how things are in Canada, I'm merely stating my experiences as an American ;/ Read your lease around the intrusion of privacy area I believe it would be under... and if it shows that they are not to enter without proper permission, speak with your landlord, and explain the risks and breach of contract with him/them. Also remember to be firm as you are paying for comfort, safety, and privacy.
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