Notice to Enter Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Georgia law says, what's specific to Atlanta - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Our record of Georgia law finds no entry-notice statute setting a minimum number of hours before entry.
- The lease controls: a landlord may enter only as the lease allows.
- In an emergency such as fire, flooding or a gas leak, a landlord may enter without notice or consent.
- Atlanta adds nothing. Its landlord-tenant ordinance, City Code Chapter 94, Article IX, governs security deposits.
- The 2022 Atlanta Tenant Bill of Rights is a non-binding resolution that does not address entry.
Understanding the Notice to Enter Clause
This page is for Atlanta renters whose landlord wants to come in, or already came in, and for anyone reading the entry clause before signing. Your main tool here is the lease itself, so keep a copy and find the paragraph on entry or access.
A lease that promises 24 hours' written notice gives you a written term to point to. A lease that says nothing gives you no notice term at all, so the best time to ask for a number is before you sign.
What renters assume
Some law must make every landlord give a day's notice before coming in.
What is actually true
Not in our record of Georgia law. It finds no minimum notice before entry, and Atlanta adds nothing. The notice you can count on is the notice your lease promises.
Georgia sits at the bottom of that chart alongside Texas, Tennessee, and Colorado. A Seattle renter gets 48 hours written notice by statute and a Miami renter gets 24 hours before a repair visit, which must fall between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. In Atlanta you get whatever you negotiated, which for most people is nothing.
Entry Notice Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Atlanta, GA
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
11. Entry of Premises: Landlord reserves the right to enter upon the leased premises at all reasonable hours for the purpose of inspecting the same, or of making repairs, additions or alterations to the building in which the leased premises are located...
Quoted from the published opinion in Eickhoff v. Gelbach, 611 S.W.3d 834 (Mo. Ct. App. W.D. 2020). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“Entry of Premises”
In Georgia this heading marks the clause that controls. There is no state notice period to fall back on, so a lease that says nothing about notice leaves you with nothing to point at - and a lease that names a number gives you something enforceable.
“Landlord reserves the right to enter”
Worth borrowing the Missouri court's reasoning here, because Georgia has even less statute behind it. Reserving a broad right of entry is evidence the landlord kept control of the unit - which cuts against them on questions of responsibility for the property's condition.
“for the purpose of inspecting the same”
A standing inspection right is the clause to negotiate in a no-statute state, because it is the one that turns into routine access. Ask what triggers an inspection and how much warning you get - in Georgia nothing else will answer that for you.
“or of making repairs, additions or alterations”
“Additions or alterations” goes well past repair, and that is the phrase to notice. Repairs keep your home working; alterations are improvement work on the landlord's asset, and they can mean contractors in your home for weeks. The emergency exception - fire, flooding, a gas leak - applies to neither.
See the example
The clause was used against the landlord. Because they kept a key and had “reserve[d] the right to enter upon the leased premises at all reasonable hours”, the court held they had reserved the legal right to enter without permission - even though in practice they never did. Read with the clause forbidding the tenants from making their own repairs, that was enough to put the landlord's control of the unit in issue.
How this state's law treats this clause
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Georgia Law on Notice to Enter Clause
- No advance-notice statute in our record. Our Georgia record finds no minimum notice before entry.
- Our Georgia record finds no entry-notice statute; the lease controls, so a landlord may enter only as the lease allows, or without notice in a genuine emergency.
- A landlord may enter without notice or consent in a true emergency such as fire, flooding, a gas leak, or another dangerous condition threatening life or substantial property damage.
- Atlanta adds nothing on entry notice: the landlord-tenant ordinance our record reads (City Code Chapter 94, Article IX) governs security deposits, and the 2022 Tenant Bill of Rights is a non-binding resolution that does not address entry.
Verify the current text in your state's landlord-tenant statutes.
Copy and send: After an entry or a request to enter came with no notice or short notice
Ask for notice before entry
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
Georgia's rules on landlord entry, as our record of Georgia law reads them:
- No minimum notice. No Georgia section we read sets a number of hours before entry.
- The lease controls. A landlord may enter only as the lease allows. A notice period written into it is a contract term that binds both sides.
- Emergencies. A landlord may enter without notice or consent in a true emergency, such as fire, flooding, a gas leak, or another dangerous condition threatening life or substantial property damage.
- Repairs. Georgia puts the duty to keep the property in repair on the landlord, and entry for real maintenance is part of that bargain.
A lease that is silent on notice leaves you no notice term to point to. That is why the wording matters most before you sign.
What's Specific to Atlanta
How Georgia compares
Required entry notice, state by state
12 hrs24 hrs48 hrsNo figureGuide coming soonYou are here
See all 25 cities as a chart
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Atlanta adds nothing on entry notice. The landlord-tenant ordinance in City Code Chapter 94, Article IX governs security deposits, and no city section we read sets a number of hours.
The widely shared 2022 Tenant Bill of Rights is a non-binding resolution that does not address entry. New Midtown and BeltLine buildings lean on smart locks, self-guided tours and vendor crews, so ask the leasing office who can use your door code and whether you can see the access log.
It should name a number, such as 24 hours in writing. No Georgia section we read supplies one.
A fair clause limits it to fire, flooding, a gas leak or similar danger, not routine inspections or repairs.
Wording like "at any time, with or without notice" leaves you no notice term to point to. Ask to strike it before signing.
Blanket advance consent undercuts any later claim that one visit was unauthorized. Ask to remove it.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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"Enter at any time" wording
A clause letting the landlord enter at any time without notice is the term you would be held to once you sign. Raise it first.
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Vague "reasonable notice" language
Reasonable is not a number, and no Georgia section we read defines it. Ask for a written 24-hour minimum instead.
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Blanket vendor and contractor access
Entry for any agent, contractor or vendor means anyone holding a work order can get in. Ask that each visit come with notice.
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Smart lock with no access log
If the lease does not promise you the access log, you cannot show who came in or when.
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Unlimited showings to buyers
Open-ended showing rights let a manager bring strangers through your home on no notice for months while you still pay full rent.
Your Rights as a Atlanta Tenant
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Enforce the notice your lease promises
If the lease says 24 hours, that is a binding term. A landlord who skips it is in breach, and you can say so in writing.
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Decline entry the lease does not allow
Outside a genuine emergency, a visit your lease does not cover is one you can decline. Do it by text or email.
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Negotiate the clause before signing
Entry terms are contract terms. Ask the leasing office to write in 24 hours' written notice, emergencies excepted.
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Stay until a court says otherwise
No entry clause lets a landlord change your locks or remove your things. Ending a tenancy in Georgia requires a court dispossessory case.
What To Do - Step by Step
Read your entry clause
Search the lease for enter or access. In Georgia that paragraph sets the notice you are owed.
Keep every notice with its timestamp
Texts, emails and portal messages show when they were sent. Save them all.
Log each visit
Write down the date, the time, who entered, the reason given and whether anyone told you first.
Put your request in writing
Email or text the property manager asking for notice going forward, quoting the lease clause if it helps you. Keep the whole thread.
Escalate above the on-site office
Send it to the regional manager or the owner named on your lease.
Get free legal help
Atlanta Legal Aid Society and Georgia Legal Services take renter calls at no cost. A breach-of-lease claim can be filed in magistrate court.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Notice to Enter rules near Georgia
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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