Notice to Enter Clause
in Your Lease
How this page is sourced
Statutes verified against primary state sources
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publicationLast updated: October 2026
What it actually means, what Colorado law says, what's specific to Denver - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Our Colorado record finds no general entry-notice law, so check the notice period your lease sets.
- Bed-bug inspections are the exception: your landlord must give 48 hours notice first.
- A genuine emergency, such as fire, flooding or a gas leak, needs no notice at all.
- Denver's Renter's Housing Handbook says to write 24 or 48 hours into the lease.
- A notice period written into your lease is a contract term your landlord must keep.
Step by step
How it plays out
- Before you signWrite the hours into the leaseDenver's Renter's Housing Handbook tells tenants and landlords to negotiate 24 or 48 hours into the lease themselves.
- Bed-bug inspection48 hours notice firstYour landlord must give 48 hours notice before a bed-bug inspection.
- Real emergencyEntry with no noticeFire, flooding or a gas leak that threatens health, safety or the property needs no advance notice.
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.
How Colorado 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.
Understanding the Notice to Enter Clause
This page is for Denver renters whose landlord wants to come in, or already came in, and for anyone reading the lease before signing. Your main tool is the entry clause, so find the paragraph on entry or access.
A clause that names a number of hours, says notice comes in writing and lists the reasons for entry gives you something to quote back. A clause that says nothing leaves you no notice term to point to.
The best time to ask for a number is before you sign.
What renters assume
There is a 24-hour rule in Colorado law, and a landlord who lets himself in without it is breaking the law.
What is actually true
Our Colorado record finds no general notice rule, only 48 hours before a bed-bug inspection. If your lease promises 24 hours, that promise binds your landlord as a contract term.
Denver sits at the bottom of this chart next to Austin, Atlanta, and Nashville. Renters in Seattle and Phoenix get 48 hours by statute; you get whatever you negotiated, which is why this clause matters more here than almost anywhere else.
Entry Notice Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Denver, CO
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”
Colorado leaves this to the lease, which puts the whole weight on the words you signed. The Missouri reasoning travels: a landlord who reserves broad access has reserved control, and that cuts both ways when something in the unit goes wrong.
“at all reasonable hours”
There is one place Colorado does fix a number, and it is unexpectedly narrow: 48 hours for bed-bug inspections. That is the only statutory entry-notice period in the state. For everything else, “reasonable” means whatever your lease made it mean.
“or of making repairs”
Repairs are the ordinary reason for entry and the ordinary source of friction. In a genuine emergency - fire, flood, a gas leak threatening health, safety or the property - Colorado allows entry with no advance notice. Outside that, the notice period is a contract term, not a right.
“additions or alterations to the building”
Read this next to what Denver itself says. The city's own Renter's Housing Handbook tells tenants and landlords to negotiate the notice period - 24 or 48 hours - into the lease themselves. When the city's advice is “write it down yourselves”, that is a clear signal about where the protection actually lives.
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.
Colorado Law on Notice to Enter Clause
- No general advance-notice statute in our record. Our Colorado record finds no minimum notice before entry.
- Our Colorado record finds no general advance-notice requirement for landlord entry; except for 48 hours before bed-bug inspections, check what the lease says.
- A landlord may enter with no advance notice in a genuine emergency such as fire, flood, or a gas leak that threatens health, safety, or the property.
- Denver adds nothing on entry notice - the city's own Renter's Housing Handbook tells tenants and landlords to negotiate the notice period (24 or 48 hours) into the lease themselves.
Verify the current text in your state's landlord-tenant statutes.
What our Colorado record shows on landlord entry:
- No general minimum notice. Our Colorado record finds no general advance-notice requirement for landlord entry.
- Bed bugs. Your landlord must give 48 hours notice before a bed-bug inspection.
- Emergencies. In a genuine emergency such as fire, flooding or a gas leak that threatens health, safety or the property, a landlord may enter with no advance notice.
- Your lease. Once a notice period is written into your lease, it is a binding contract term. A landlord who ignores it is in breach.
- Quiet enjoyment. Colorado recognizes your implied right to quiet enjoyment, so a pattern of unannounced entry can be treated as a breach even when the entry clause is vague.
For every other kind of visit, from repairs to showings, check what your lease says.
What's Specific to Denver
Denver adds nothing on entry notice. The city's own Renter's Housing Handbook tells tenants and landlords to negotiate the notice period, 24 or 48 hours, into the lease themselves.
In a large managed building, entry notices may arrive through a resident app with automated maintenance pings, so ask for notice by text or email as well. With a small owner-landlord who knocks once and uses the key, a written number matters just as much.
It should. Ask for 24 or 48 hours in writing, the figures Denver's handbook suggests.
That gives you a timestamp. Notice posted only to a resident portal is easy to miss.
A fair Denver lease confines non-emergency entry to reasonable daytime hours. Ask for the hours to be written in.
Red flag. That wording leaves you no notice term to point to. Negotiate it out before you sign.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
-
Entry at landlord's sole discretion
Language letting management enter whenever it deems necessary gives you zero notice. Ask for a number of hours instead.
-
No notice period stated at all
A clause that grants access but never says how much warning leaves you no number to hold the landlord to.
-
Blanket contractor and vendor access
Some Denver leases let any vendor, inspector or agent enter on the landlord's authority, with no separate notice to you.
-
Notice deemed given by app
A clause treating notice as delivered the moment it posts to a resident portal means you can be notified without knowing it. Insist on text or email.
-
Emergency defined far too broadly
Watch for leases calling routine inspections or suspected violations emergencies. That turns the no-notice exception into an everyday key privilege.
Your Rights as a Denver Tenant
-
48 hours before a bed-bug inspection
The one entry notice in our Colorado record that you get without negotiating it into your lease first.
-
Your lease binds the landlord too
A written notice promise, such as 24 hours, is a contract term, not a courtesy. A landlord who ignores it is in breach.
-
Quiet enjoyment still applies
Repeated unannounced entry can breach the implied covenant of quiet enjoyment, even where the entry clause is silent or vague.
-
Negotiate the number before signing
Nothing stops you from writing 24 or 48 hours' written notice into the lease, the hours Denver's handbook names.
What To Do - Step by Step
Read the entry clause first
Search your lease for "enter" or "access" before you sign, and check whether it names a number of hours.
Ask for it in writing
Request an addendum requiring 24 or 48 hours' written notice for non-emergency entry, ideally before you sign.
Log every entry
Write down the date, time, who came in and whether you were told beforehand. Save every notice with the time it was sent.
Object in writing
Email the property manager, quote the entry clause and ask that the notice period be honored going forward. Keep the whole thread.
Escalate above the site office
Send the same email and your log to the regional manager or the owner.
Get help or file
Colorado Legal Services and Denver's tenant assistance lines can advise you, and a persistent breach of the entry clause can be raised in county court.
Why renters trust LeaseDecoded
Frequently Asked Questions
Notice to Enter rules near Colorado
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
Was this guide helpful?Your answer is anonymous and helps us fix what is unclear.