New things to do is good.

I hope the kerfuffle blows over, Sail.

Surely they aren't allowed to just breeze in if you're a tenant?

No, they're really not. Legally, the bare minimum is that landlords must give tenants 24 hours' notice before entering their apartment.

Obviously there are exceptions for emergencies -- burst pipes, portal to Q'ortoth opened in your bathroom, etc. -- when they can come in without advance notice.

But if they're just showing up to fix non-emergency things, or if they're showing the apartment to a prospective tenant, they really are legally required to give the tenant 24 hours' notice.

And I must be a HUGE bitch, because if I were vw or Emily, the very first time that the landlord violated that, I would have been all over them, citing chapter and verse of whatever law it is in that state.

And the second time, I would have changed the locks or put in a slider chain my own damn self.

But I am, lest we forget, quite a bitch.

Most of my leases have had clauses saying the landlord/property manager had the right to enter in case of emergencies (so don't change the locks was implied, or maybe spelled out, can't remember), but I've never had that abused the way vw and Emily have.

Most of my leases have had clauses saying the landlord/property manager had the right to enter in case of emergencies (so don't change the locks was implied, or maybe spelled out, can't remember)

Right, but if you have a chain-slider lock, it can only be locked from the inside, meaning the tenant would be home, meaning if there was an emergency, the tenant could unlock it. And if there was an emergency when the tenant wasn't home, the chain wouldn't be locked, so the landlord could still get in.

I know that here landlords have to have access in case of an emergency, so changing the locks means you have to give them keys. But I know that they're supposed to give notice in advance for non-emergency access. I also know that this is something that some landlords ignore (I once came home to find muddy bootprints across my bedroom floor - never did find out what someone was doing in there).

Yeah, a chain would do the trick.

I once came home to find muddy bootprints across my bedroom floor

OMG, that would scare me to death.

Actually, that happened to my family once - my parents went out of town and my sister went to stay with a friend (she was in high school, I was away at cillege, my brother had moved out). She stopped by the house to get some clothing just before the folks came back, noticed the VCR was missing and wondered why mom & dad had taken it with them. When they got home they noticed the muddy footprints coming in from the garage. Apparently, someone had squeezed through the cat door into the garage, picked or broken the lock on the door between the garage and the house, and after all that work only taken the VCR.

Definately a chain lock for when you are home.

And if you put in a full lock for when you were out and didn't give them the key... you'd be in violation of your lease but so what? You're moving. And even though it likely says you can't use your deposit as your final month's rent I'd suggest you do... or half of it, or something.

They're breaking the rules. Go ahead and break a few back.

Grrrr. Intrusive landlords make my skin crawl. Go get 'em, VW!

What Kristin and Trudy said, vw!

And even though it likely says you can't use your deposit as your final month's rent I'd suggest you do

I've never understood the logic behind this rule.

Because then if you've trashed the place they lose the hold over you that the security was for.