When you’re renting out an apartment or home in Boulder, Colorado, there are plenty of people who may need to access your property. Your landlord may need to come by to perform an inspection and/or take care of repairs; if you’re moving out soon, your landlord or a realtor may need to show the property to help get someone in it as soon as possible after you leave. That doesn’t mean, however, that anyone can just waltz in and out of your property. Here’s what you need to know about who can come to your apartment or home.
Legally, your Boulder, Colorado landlord must give you notice before visiting your home.
That doesn’t mean that your landlord can’t, for example, knock on the door and let you know that the rent is due or that there’s a problem that he or she will need to take care of. Sometimes, an in-person visit just makes sense. Before paying a visit, your landlord must provide you with a 24-hour minimum notice of a pending visit.
Your landlord also cannot simply arbitrarily decide that he wants to visit your apartment for any reason. Instead, he can enter to:
- Take care of an emergency that requires immediate attention such as water leak or electrical problems
- Allow the insurance company or mortgage company to check it out
- Inspect the property
- Handle repairs or let a service tech repair something
- Investigate potential tenant violations
- Show the property to potential renters
If your landlord gives proper notice, you don’t have to be present for your landlord to enter the property.
That means that if you have activities taking place at the University of Colorado at Boulder, from a summit to a career fair, you can go on with your normal business without having to worry about being home. In some cases, however, your landlord may ask you to be present: to let in a service tech who is coming to fix a problem you’ve reported, for example. If you cannot be home at that time due to classes, work, or other commitments, make sure you let your landlord know ahead of time so he can make other arrangements.
You have the right to be present in your home during a visit from your landlord.
Your landlord does have to give 24-hour notice before visiting your apartment, so if you aren’t comfortable with the landlord, a service tech, or another visitor coming by without your presence, you can rearrange your schedule. Talk with your landlord ahead of time if you’re feeling uncomfortable with a specific visitor or if there’s something you’re worried about: often, you can work things out to suit your needs.
There are several types of people who may need access to your Boulder, Colorado apartment throughout your time there.
- Service techs. Any time you report a problem to your landlord, your landlord notices one during an inspection, or it’s time for something on the property to be upgraded – from windows to the HVAC unit–a service tech or team of repairmen may need to access the apartment. As a renter, this is something you may want to prepare for ahead of time: for example, you may want to consider putting down plastic, moving items to make the area that needs repairs easier to access, or potentially locking or hiding away valuables while the service tech is in your apartment.
- Mortgage and insurance representatives. If the owner takes out a new mortgage or insurance policy, the policy changes companies, or the owner makes changes to the policy – or if the value of the apartment changes substantially – the owner may come in with a mortgage or insurance company representative to look over the property.
- The landlord. In some cases, the landlord may choose to take on minor repairs on his own, rather than sending in a service tech to handle the repairs. In others, the landlord may need to check for a violation of your tenant agreement (a pet in an apartment where you aren’t supposed to have pets, for example) or to make sure that something is working as expected. The landlord may also need to inspect the property to check on needed repairs or regular maintenance or come in to evaluate a repair after it’s completed.
- Pest control specialists. It’s your landlord’s job to keep up with pest control on your property. This may include visits from a pest control specialist to handle an infestation or regular visits to maintain your bug-free property. You should receive notice ahead of these visits, and they’ll usually take place on a regular schedule so that you can predict them ahead of time.
- Potential new renters. If you’re planning to move out at the end of the semester, your landlord will probably want to fill the property again as soon as possible. In this case, potential new renters may come in with your landlord–with appropriate notice–to check out the property.
Your landlord can access your apartment without prior notice during an emergency.
Is smoke pouring out of the windows? Is water dripping into the apartment below from your apartment? Does your landlord have reason to suspect a potential health emergency? Under potential emergency circumstances, the landlord does have the right to enter the property without prior notice, whether you are there or not. During an emergency, saving human life and protecting the landlord’s investment may take priority over privacy regulations. That doesn’t give the landlord the right to enter your apartment for no reason, but it does mean that he can check in without penalty or consequences.
Safety Matters
While there are plenty of reasons your landlord or someone associated with your landlord might need to access your home, keep safety at the forefront! Don’t answer your door if you don’t recognize the person or they don’t introduce themselves in a way that triggers your trust. You should also avoid opening your door if someone arrives to perform maintenance that you didn’t know about or that wasn’t previously scheduled with your landlord. When in doubt, feel free to call the maintenance Department at Boulder Property Management to confirm that a service tech is scheduled to be at your apartment/house before letting someone in.
Are you looking for a Boulder, Colorado apartment, close to the University of Colorado and supervised by a landlord who will consider your rights as a tenant? Contact us today to learn more about available properties in the Boulder area.