Notice to Enter Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Illinois law says, what's specific to Chicago - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Chicago's RLTO, § 5-12-050, requires at least two days' (48 hours') notice before a non-emergency entry.
- Entry between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. is presumed reasonable.
- A genuine emergency needs no advance notice. Under the RLTO, the landlord must tell you within two days after entering.
- Our Illinois record finds no statewide entry-notice statute, only common-law reasonable notice at reasonable times.
- The RLTO does not cover every Chicago building, so confirm yours is covered first.
Understanding the Notice to Enter Clause
This page is for Chicago renters whose landlord wants to come in, or already came in without warning. The two-day figure comes from the city's ordinance, not from a state statute in our Illinois record, so where your building sits decides what you can ask for.
Your strongest ground is an entry with short notice, outside daytime hours, or called an emergency when it was not. Keep every notice with the time it reached you, so you can show how much warning you got.
What renters assume
Illinois law gives every renter a day or two of warning before the landlord walks in.
What is actually true
Our Illinois record finds no statewide entry-notice statute. The two-day rule Chicago renters rely on is a city rule, from the RLTO, § 5-12-050, and it does not reach every building in town.
Notice how Illinois sits at the bottom of the state column and Chicago sits near the top of the city column. That gap is the whole story: renters in Peoria or Joliet may have nothing but their lease, while a renter in a covered Chicago building gets roughly two days - same state, completely different door.
Entry Notice Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Chicago, IL
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
“Landlord reserves the right to enter upon the leased premises at all reasonable hours”
Statewide, “reasonable” is all our Illinois record finds - no entry-notice statute, only the common-law covenant of quiet enjoyment. Chicago replaces that vagueness with a number: RLTO § 5-12-050 requires at least two days' (48 hours') notice before non-emergency entry.
“for the purpose of inspecting the same, or of making repairs”
Chicago also fixes the hours, which most ordinances do not. Entry between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. is presumed reasonable - so a 7 a.m. visit is not just inconvenient, it is outside the presumption and the landlord has to justify it.
“additions or alterations”
The emergency exception in Chicago comes with a duty attached, and it is the part landlords forget. A landlord who enters without notice in a genuine emergency must notify you within two days afterwards. Silence after an unannounced entry is itself a breach.
See the example
“in which the leased premises are located”
Building-wide work is where the two-day rule gets tested, because a landlord doing work on the building may treat your unit as incidental to it. Under the RLTO it is not - entry into your home needs your notice, whatever the work is for.
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.
Illinois Law on Notice to Enter Clause
- No advance-notice statute in our record. Our Illinois record finds no minimum notice before entry.
- Our Illinois record finds no statewide entry-notice statute; landlords may enter at reasonable times with reasonable notice under common-law quiet enjoyment, unless a local ordinance sets a rule.
- In a genuine emergency a landlord may enter with no advance notice; under Chicago's RLTO the landlord must then notify the tenant within two days after the entry.
- Chicago adds a real requirement beyond state law: RLTO section 5-12-050 of the Municipal Code mandates at least two days' (48 hours') notice before non-emergency entry, with entry between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. presumed reasonable; Evanston, Oak Park, and suburban Cook County also require two days, and Urbana requires 24 hours.
Verify the current text in your state's landlord-tenant statutes.
Step by step
How it plays out
- Notice arrivesLandlord says they will enterNotice is required before any non-emergency entry, including repairs, inspections and showings (RLTO § 5-12-050).
- 48 hours laterEarliest the entry may happenAt least two days' (48 hours') notice before a non-emergency entry (RLTO § 5-12-050).
- The visitEntry during daytime hoursEntry between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. is presumed reasonable (RLTO § 5-12-050).
- After an emergencyLandlord tells you within two daysA genuine emergency allows entry with no advance notice, but the landlord must notify you within two days after entering (RLTO).
Count it for your dates
48 hours: when does it end?
What it means: The landlord may not enter before 48 hours (two days) have passed. Entry between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. is presumed reasonable. Applies to a landlord of a Chicago unit the RLTO covers (small owner-occupied buildings and some other categories sit outside it); not in an emergency (Chicago RLTO § 5-12-050). Calendar arithmetic only; check how the section counts days before you rely on a date.
Copy and send: In a Chicago unit the RLTO covers, after an entry or a request to enter came with short notice or outside 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Ask for two days' notice before entry
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
Our Illinois record finds no statute that sets a minimum notice before entry. What it describes instead:
- Quiet enjoyment. Under common law, a landlord may enter at reasonable times with reasonable notice, unless a local ordinance sets a rule. No statute in our record puts a number of days or hours on those words.
- Local rules. Illinois does not preempt local landlord-tenant ordinances, and a city rule like Chicago's RLTO is enforceable on top of your lease.
- Nearby numbers. Evanston, Oak Park and suburban Cook County also require two days. Urbana requires 24 hours.
- Your lease. A lease that promises notice is a contract. A landlord who ignores it is in breach, and you can say so in writing.
What's Specific to Chicago
How Illinois 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.
Chicago sets the clock in § 5-12-050 of the Municipal Code: at least two days before a non-emergency entry, with visits between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. treated as reasonable. The catch is coverage.
Small owner-occupied buildings and some other categories sit outside the RLTO, which matters in a city full of two-flats and three-flats. Ask your landlord for the plain-language RLTO summary that is meant to come with a Chicago lease, and check the current ordinance text, since Chicago amends it.
That matches the RLTO's two days. Notice by text or email also gives you a timestamp you can show later.
A lease that mirrors 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. matches the window the RLTO treats as reasonable.
Entry "at any time" or "at landlord's discretion" conflicts with the RLTO's advance-notice, daytime standard. Raise it before you sign.
A "consent to entry without notice" line is a red flag. Do not treat it as proof the RLTO stopped applying; ask a tenant attorney.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
-
Entry at landlord's convenience
Wording like "as needed" or "at any reasonable time" with no day count is built to survive a dispute, not to warn you.
-
Blanket consent buried in the lease
A pre-signed paragraph consenting to all future entries is worth less than it looks where the RLTO applies. Flag it before you sign.
-
Unlimited showings near move-out
Showings "without further notice" once you give notice to vacate strip the two-day rule just as the May 1 and October 1 turnover rush hits.
-
Every visit called an emergency
A burst pipe is an emergency. A filter swap, a photo shoot or a routine inspection is not, and only the real thing skips advance notice.
-
Contractors with their own keys
Staff and vendors with keys still enter on your landlord's behalf. The two-day rule does not disappear because the person at your door works for someone else.
Your Rights as a Chicago Tenant
-
Advance notice inside Chicago
Where the RLTO applies, you get at least two days' warning before any non-emergency entry, including repairs, inspections and showings.
-
Daytime entry only
Visits belong between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. A 6:30 a.m. knock is not something you have to quietly accept.
-
Notice after an emergency entry
An emergency allows entry with no warning, but under the RLTO the landlord must tell you within two days afterward that someone was inside.
-
Reasonable notice anywhere in Illinois
Outside a city rule, common-law quiet enjoyment still applies: entry at reasonable times, with reasonable notice.
What To Do - Step by Step
Confirm the RLTO covers you
Small owner-occupied buildings sit outside it. Check the RLTO summary meant to come with your lease before you argue from the ordinance.
Reread your entry clause
A lease promising two days' written notice is a contract term and easier to enforce. Use it first if it is there.
Ask in writing, politely
One text or email: please give me two days' notice and come between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Written beats spoken.
Log every entry
Date, time, who came in and what notice you got. A pattern of zero-notice entries persuades more than one bad day told from memory.
Send a formal demand
Name § 5-12-050, list your logged entries and say what you want going forward. Keep it to one page and keep a copy.
Escalate to help
Call 311, a Chicago tenant-rights hotline or legal aid. Repeated unnoticed entries can support a harassment or breach claim, so get an attorney's read on your facts.
Why renters trust LeaseDecoded
Frequently Asked Questions
Notice to Enter rules near Illinois
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
Was this guide helpful?Your answer is anonymous and helps us fix what is unclear.