Landlord rules on apartment showings? In St. Charles (Normal: renters, insurance)

[darkfrog22]

I am finishing up a lease with an apartment, and my landlord wants to start showing my apartment while I'm still living there. Yesterday, the landlord emailed me that she will begin showing the apartment some time this week, but never told me when she would start. I responded that I was ok with this and asked what times people would be coming.

Then, today: 2 hours before she has scheduled a showing, she emails me about it while I'm at work. I was unprepared (dirty dishes, unmade bed, laundry on the floor . . I was late for work), and I feel like my privacy is being violated. I asked her to reschedule, and she said sorry for the misunderstanding and simply copy-pasted a part of our lease that says they are allowed to come into my apartment for any reason at any time. Her response has only resulted in aggravating me.

Would anyone know what are my rights? Is this ethical or fair to bring strangers into my private living area with only a 2 hour notice? The city I'm in is St. Charles.

[nikitakolata]

Generally a landlord has to give 24 hours notice before showing a place that is being rented. I would look at your lease and see exactly what it says.

Ultimately, I would try not to let it upset you. I know it's kind of embarrassing when you haven't had time to clean, but the people who looked at your place don't know you, so don't let that stress you out. It really is in your landlord's best interest to give you adequate notice, because no place shows well when it's messy and if you aren't given time to prepare, it's going to be messy. I don't know anyone who has their home in showing condition all the time; we all leave laundry out, dishes undone, etc.

Is it possible that this really was a misunderstanding in this particular case? Maybe your landlord thought they told you the specific time somehow? I would respond by saying that you will accommodate showings, but the place will not show its best unless you're given at least 24 hours notice prior to any showings. That shouldn't be too hard for your landlord to understand.

[darkfrog22]

Originally Posted by nikitakolata

Generally a landlord has to give 24 hours notice before showing a place that is being rented. I would look at your lease and see exactly what it says.

Ultimately, I would try not to let it upset you. I know it's kind of embarrassing when you haven't had time to clean, but the people who looked at your place don't know you, so don't let that stress you out. It really is in your landlord's best interest to give you adequate notice, because no place shows well when it's messy and if you aren't given time to prepare, it's going to be messy. I don't know anyone who has their home in showing condition all the time; we all leave laundry out, dishes undone, etc.

Is it possible that this really was a misunderstanding in this particular case? Maybe your landlord thought they told you the specific time somehow? I would respond by saying that you will accommodate showings, but the place will not show its best unless you're given at least 24 hours notice prior to any showings. That shouldn't be too hard for your landlord to understand.

Thank you for the advice. With her cold and impersonal response of copy-pasting the lease section, I was about to give back a much more painful response to her, but I think I'll use your idea instead.

She never told me a specific time until 2 hours before the showing; there was no misunderstanding with that. The misunderstanding was that I assumed that I had any sort of input as to when she can show the apartment or how soon she must inform me that she is planning to do so. I still feel like it is violating my privacy to demand entrance to my apartment at any moment for strangers to walk through it.

When you say they have to give 24 hours notice, is this a law or ordinance? In my lease, there is no time period specified. It just says that the lessor or anyone the lessor authorizes may enter the premise for any reason. I walked into this lease, so I really did not have any leverage to alter the terms of agreement when I signed it, but I feel like a lease is not necessarily legally valid, and that's why I am asking.

[linicx]

You need to ask a lawyer.

Normally landlords cannot just waltz in unless there is an emergency. No doubt your city has some type of landlord laws. I would ask. Be sweet and let the landlord worry about the dirty dishes and unmade bed and the packing boxes.

What you DO WANT TO DO is lock up ALL valuables: iPad, iPhone, laptop, money, check books, jewelry, etc.. And do buy renters insurance if you do NOT have it. Landlors and realtors forget to lock doors on occasion.

[nikitakolata]

Originally Posted by darkfrog22

Thank you for the advice. With her cold and impersonal response of copy-pasting the lease section, I was about to give back a much more painful response to her, but I think I'll use your idea instead.

She never told me a specific time until 2 hours before the showing; there was no misunderstanding with that. The misunderstanding was that I assumed that I had any sort of input as to when she can show the apartment or how soon she must inform me that she is planning to do so. I still feel like it is violating my privacy to demand entrance to my apartment at any moment for strangers to walk through it.

When you say they have to give 24 hours notice, is this a law or ordinance? In my lease, there is no time period specified. It just says that the lessor or anyone the lessor authorizes may enter the premise for any reason. I walked into this lease, so I really did not have any leverage to alter the terms of agreement when I signed it, but I feel like a lease is not necessarily legally valid, and that's why I am asking.

Well, I agree that your landlord being able to enter at any time does seem to be extremely generous to your landlord. I'm not a lawyer though, so I have no idea if that is legal or not. I know that ordinances are different by city and it's possible that it would not be allowed in St. Charles.

That said, IMO, it depends how much time you have on your lease as to whether or not you want to make an issue of this. Most likely, there will be a bunch of showings at first when the place is newly listed, and then they'll slow down a lot. So, while you could contact a lawyer and make an issue of it, it probably isn't worth your effort to do so, unfortunately.

I'm currently trying to sell my house and I know what a hassle it is, believe me. It's super annoying. But, only you know if it's really worth it to make an issue of it or not. Personally, things like that tend to make me really mad, but once I think about it a little, it's much easier for me to just go with the flow, even if it isn't really what's right or fair.

[darkfrog22]

Ok, she has done it again today. I received an email 15 minutes ago (12:22PM) saying she has showings at 2:30PM and 5:15PM today, and again I'm stuck at work. If this continues, I feel like I need to stick up for myself even if I'm leaving in a week or two anyway.

Will cities give information on their resident rights freely, as in what they say in ordinances, or do I need to hire a lawyer if I wanted to get anything done? Does IL law supercede any city laws?

[ChiGuy2.5]

Originally Posted by darkfrog22

Ok, she has done it again today. I received an email 15 minutes ago (12:22PM) saying she has showings at 2:30PM and 5:15PM today, and again I'm stuck at work. If this continues, I feel like I need to stick up for myself even if I'm leaving in a week or two anyway.

Will cities give information on resident rights freely, or do I need to hire a lawyer if I wanted to get anything done?

Try asking in the rental forums. There are a lot of legally affluent people there who can point you in the right direction. Make sure you let them know that you reside in Illinois. I would assume the laws are state based, I doubt St. Charles has its own specific law.

Have you tried telling the landlord to provide you with 24 hour notice? Sometimes its surprising what you can get from just being polite.

[darkfrog22]

Originally Posted by ChiGuy2.5

Try asking in the rental forums. There are a lot of legally affluent people there who can point you in the right direction. Make sure you let them know that you reside in Illinois. I would assume the laws are state based, I doubt St. Charles has its own specific law.

Have you tried telling the landlord to provide you with 24 hour notice? Sometimes its surprising what you can get from just being polite.

Thank you for the advice. I will start a thread there.

I did ask her politely, and she copy-pasted the lease clause that says they can enter as they wish.