Notice to Enter Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Michigan law says, what's specific to Detroit - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- § 125.526(11): "Before entering a leasehold regulated by this act, the owner of the leasehold shall request and obtain permission to enter the leasehold." The test is a request and a yes, not a count.
- The same subsection lifts the rule in an emergency, "including, but not limited to, fire, flood, or other threat of serious injury or death", when the owner "may enter at any time."
- Whether your home is a regulated leasehold turns on § 125.401(2), which ties the act to census figures of 10,000 and 100,000, and on § 125.526(20), which reads a lease as covering a dwelling not occupied by the owner of record.
- A separate statute prices a bad entry. § 600.2918(2) gives a tenant whose possession is unlawfully interfered with by the owner the greater of actual damages or $200.00 for each occurrence, and § 600.2918(7) says it "may not be waived."
- Detroit's bed bug rule, § 22-7-5(4), has the occupant grant reasonable access for inspection, control and treatment, with no hour figure. Read the current text of § 125.526 yourself before relying on any of this.
Understanding the Notice to Enter Clause
Your landlord may hold a key to your home. An entry clause is the part of the lease that says when that key may be used, for what, and what has to happen first.
Michigan answers the last question with a request rather than a clock.
Michigan Compiled Laws § 125.526(11), in the Housing Law of Michigan, says the owner of a regulated leasehold "shall request and obtain permission to enter". The sections our Michigan record read state no number of hours of notice, which is why the comparison on this page shows Detroit as a row without a bar.
Two limits shape the rule. It lifts in an emergency such as fire or flood, and it reaches a leasehold the act regulates, a question settled by the scope rule in § 125.401(2).
The official page behind this guide is an archived copy dated December 22, 2025, so read the current text before you rely on it.
What renters assume
Michigan must set a number of hours, like 24 or 48, and a landlord who gives that much warning may come in whether or not you agree.
What is actually true
The sections our Michigan record read state no number of hours. For a leasehold the Housing Law regulates, § 125.526(11) asks the owner to "request and obtain permission to enter", with an exception for an emergency such as fire, flood, or other threat of serious injury or death.
Eighteen rows sit on this chart, and Detroit's is one of seven with no bar. The other six are Austin, Atlanta, Nashville, Denver and Boston, which read no requirement, and Philadelphia, which reads no statute.
Detroit's label is worded differently from all six: Permission required (no hours).
Eleven rows carry a figure. Seven of those sit at 24 hours: Miami, Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, Las Vegas, Columbus and Newark. Four sit at 48 hours: Seattle, Phoenix, Chicago and Washington.
A bar can carry hours, and Michigan's rule is not written in hours. § 125.526(11) asks the owner of a regulated leasehold to request and obtain permission before entering, so a blank Detroit row means a rule of a different shape, not an empty one. Read the label before the bar.
Plain English Version
If the Housing Law of Michigan covers your Detroit home, your landlord is supposed to ask and get your permission before coming in, not just warn you. The exception is an emergency, such as a fire, a flood or another threat of serious injury or death.
The sections we read set no number of hours. Whether the act covers your home depends on a population test in the statute and on the owner of record not living there.
Separately, Michigan lets a tenant recover damages when an owner unlawfully interferes with possession, and that right cannot be signed away.
Entry Notice Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Detroit, MI
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.
“Landlord reserves the right to enter”
Reserving a right to enter is the opposite starting point from Michigan's Housing Law. Here a key and these words were enough to show a legal right to come in without asking. For a regulated leasehold, Mich. Comp. Laws § 125.526(11) says that before entering, the owner “shall request and obtain permission to enter the leasehold”. It lifts that duty in an emergency, including fire, flood, or other threat of serious injury or death.
“at all reasonable hours”
A limit on the hour, and nothing about asking. Michigan's Housing Law uses the same idea, reasonable hours, but aims it elsewhere: subsections (8) and (9) of § 125.526 apply it to access for the enforcing agency's inspections, and the section states no number of hours for anyone. For the owner's own entry, subsection (11) speaks of a request and a yes rather than a time of day.
“for the purpose of inspecting the same, or of making repairs”
Inspection and repairs are the two purposes Michigan's interference statute names. Under § 600.2918(3)(b), an owner who interferes temporarily with possession, limited to what needed repairs or inspection require and within what the law provides, is not interfering unlawfully. Code inspections run on consent too: under § 125.526(6) an inspector must request and receive the lessee's consent, and § 125.526(7) has the owner notify the lessee and try in good faith to obtain it.
“additions or alterations to the building”
Additions and alterations reach past the unit to the building, and they are not words the carve-out in § 600.2918(3)(b) uses: as our record quotes it, that subsection speaks of needed repairs or inspection. Outside its carve-outs, § 600.2918(2) gives a tenant whose possession is unlawfully interfered with by the owner the greater of actual damages or $200.00 for each occurrence. § 600.2918(7) says the section “may not be waived”.
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.
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.
Michigan Law on Notice to Enter Clause
- The rule is framed as permission. Section 125.526(11) says: "Before entering a leasehold regulated by this act, the owner of the leasehold shall request and obtain permission to enter the leasehold. However, in the case of an emergency, including, but not limited to, fire, flood, or other threat of serious injury or death, the owner may enter at any time." Elsewhere the section uses "reasonable hours" for access by the enforcing agency in subsections (8) and (9), and it states no number of hours.
- The Housing Law has its own scope rule. Section 125.401(2) says the act "applies to each city, village, and township that, according to the last regular or special federal census, has a population of 10,000 or more", but "does not apply to private dwellings and 2-family dwellings in any city, village, or township having a population of less than 100,000 unless the legislative body of the local governmental unit adopts the provisions". Section 125.526(20) defines a lease as covering a dwelling "that is not occupied by the owner of record."
- City code inspections run on consent too. Under § 125.526(6) an inspector "must request and receive consent from the lessee to enter", and § 125.526(7) requires the owner to notify the lessee of the inspection request and make a good-faith effort to obtain consent. Section 125.526(9) obliges the lessee to give the enforcing agency access during reasonable hours where the lease authorizes it, the lessee complained, an administrative warrant is served, or the lessee consented, and § 125.526(14) bars discrimination against a lessee for refusing an inspection.
- Entry for repairs is carved out of Michigan's interference statute only when it is limited and lawful. Section 600.2918(3)(b) says an owner does not unlawfully interfere with possession where the owner "interferes temporarily with possession only as necessary to make needed repairs or inspection and only as provided by law." Outside that and the other listed exceptions, § 600.2918(2) gives a tenant whose possessory interest is unlawfully interfered with by the owner the greater of actual damages or $200.00 for each occurrence, and § 600.2918(7) says the section "may not be waived."
Sources include Mich. Comp. Laws § 125.526(11); Mich. Comp. Laws § 125.401(2); Mich. Comp. Laws § 125.526(6)-(9); Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.2918(3)(b); Detroit City Code § 22-7-5(4) - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
The rule sits in the Housing Law of Michigan, at Michigan Compiled Laws § 125.526(11): "Before entering a leasehold regulated by this act, the owner of the leasehold shall request and obtain permission to enter the leasehold." The next sentence is the exception: "However, in the case of an emergency, including, but not limited to, fire, flood, or other threat of serious injury or death, the owner may enter at any time."
Read the verbs first. Request and obtain is a two-part duty: asking is one half, and a yes is the other. The subsection attaches no number of hours to either half, and the sections our Michigan record read state none elsewhere.
The phrase reasonable hours does appear in the same section, in subsections (8) and (9), and both concern access for the enforcing agency's inspections. Under § 125.526(6) an inspector "must request and receive consent from the lessee to enter", and § 125.526(7) has the owner notify the lessee of the request and make a good-faith effort to obtain consent.
§ 125.526(9) lists when the lessee must give the enforcing agency access during reasonable hours: the lease authorizes it, the lessee complained, an administrative warrant is served, or the lessee consented. § 125.526(14) bars discrimination against a lessee for refusing an inspection.
Scope comes next, because subsection (11) speaks of "a leasehold regulated by this act". § 125.401(2) says the act "applies to each city, village, and township that, according to the last regular or special federal census, has a population of 10,000 or more". It "does not apply to private dwellings and 2-family dwellings" in a place under 100,000 unless the local legislative body adopts it. § 125.526(20) reads a lease as covering a dwelling "that is not occupied by the owner of record."
A second statute governs what an entry may do. Under § 600.2918(3)(b), an owner who interferes temporarily with possession, limited to what needed repairs or inspection require and within what the law provides, is not interfering unlawfully.
Outside that and the other carve-outs, § 600.2918(2) gives the tenant actual damages or $200.00 for each occurrence, whichever is greater, and § 600.2918(7) says the section "may not be waived."
The page for § 125.526 was read as an archived copy of the Legislature's site dated December 22, 2025, and an official PDF marked complete through Public Act 275 of 2024 carries the same subsection (11). Read the current text before you rely on it.
Michigan Tenant Protections
Under Michigan Compiled Laws § 125.526(11), before entering a leasehold regulated by the Housing Law, the owner shall request and obtain permission to enter. In an emergency, including fire, flood, or other threat of serious injury or death, the owner may enter at any time.
The sections our Michigan record read state no number of hours of notice.
Whether a home is a regulated leasehold turns on § 125.401(2), which applies the act to each city, village and township of 10,000 or more by the last federal census. It excludes private dwellings and 2-family dwellings in a place under 100,000 unless locally adopted.
It also turns on § 125.526(20), which covers a dwelling not occupied by the owner of record.
For enforcing-agency inspections, § 125.526(6) requires the inspector to request and receive the lessee's consent, and § 125.526(7) requires the owner to notify the lessee and make a good-faith effort to obtain it. § 125.526(9) lists when the lessee must give access during reasonable hours, and § 125.526(14) bars discrimination against a lessee for refusing. Under § 600.2918(3)(b), temporary interference limited to what needed repairs or inspection require, and within what the law provides, is not unlawful.
Otherwise § 600.2918(2) gives the tenant actual damages or $200.00 for each occurrence, whichever is greater, and § 600.2918(7) bars waiver. In Detroit, § 22-7-5(4) requires the occupant to grant the landlord and the landlord's pest management professional reasonable access for bed bug inspection, control and treatment, with no hour figure.
What's Specific to Detroit
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.
Detroit is a city inside a state, so a renter here reads Michigan's statutes first and the city code second. On entry, the state layer carries the rule, and the city sections we read add one narrow access duty.
The timing question first. Our Michigan record read Detroit City Code Chapter 22, Chapter 8 Article XV and Ordinance No. 2024-47, and none of those sections states a number of hours of notice before a landlord enters a home.
That is a statement about those texts, not about every Detroit ordinance.
The city rule that does reach a landlord's access concerns bed bugs. Detroit City Code § 22-7-5(4) requires an occupant to "Grant reasonable access of the rental property to the landlord and the landlord's pest management professional for inspection, control, and treatment". It attaches no hour figure, so reasonable is the working word.
That duty sits in a list of the occupant's own obligations, beside others such as telling the landlord about a suspected infestation. For a bed bug visit, a Detroit tenant has a written duty to allow reasonable access.
For other visits to a regulated leasehold, § 125.526(11) and its request-and-permission wording is the text to read.
Another Detroit entry rule is easy to mistake for the landlord's. § 8-15-48 of the Property Maintenance Code covers city employees, agents and contractors entering to abate a public nuisance. It speaks to the City's entry, which is a different question from your landlord's.
The kind of home you rent decides which question comes first. A flat in a large building, a single-family house and a two-family flat all need the Housing Law to reach them before § 125.526(11) does.
For private dwellings and 2-family dwellings, § 125.401(2) carries its own population test, so that is the part of the statute to check.
Inspections run on consent at the state level as well. When the enforcing agency asks to inspect, § 125.526(7) has the owner tell you and make a good-faith effort to get your consent, and § 125.526(14) bars discrimination against you for refusing.
Check whether your lease authorizes an inspector to enter, because § 125.526(9) then obliges you to give access during reasonable hours.
What makes any of this usable is a written file. Keep the landlord's request, your answer, and the date and time of each visit.
If an entry went past what repairs or inspection needed, § 600.2918(2) sets $200.00 per occurrence as the least a tenant recovers when actual damages are lower.
We read the Detroit code on Municode. Check the sections as they read today before quoting one to your landlord.
It should, for a leasehold the Housing Law regulates. § 125.526(11) says the owner "shall request and obtain permission to enter". A clause saying the same puts the rule in a document you both signed.
The carve-out in § 600.2918(3)(b) speaks of needed repairs or inspection. A clause listing purposes gives you a fixed list to hold each request against.
§ 125.526(11) asks for a request and permission before entering a regulated leasehold. Read blanket consent collected at signing against those words before you sign.
The emergency in § 125.526(11) includes fire, flood, or other threat of serious injury or death. Wording that leaves the label to the landlord alone reaches past those examples.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Entry after a warning, with no asking
A clause letting the landlord enter on notice alone reads differently from the request-and-obtain wording of § 125.526(11) for a regulated leasehold. Raise it before you sign.
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A waiver of the interference statute
§ 600.2918(7) says the section "may not be waived." Read any clause giving up damages for unlawful interference against those words.
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Visits that run past the repair
§ 600.2918(3)(b) covers temporary interference limited to what needed repairs or inspection require. Log who came in, for how long, and why.
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A penalty for refusing an inspection
§ 125.526(14) bars discrimination against a lessee for refusing an enforcing-agency inspection. A lease term that punishes that refusal is worth questioning.
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Pest visits at any hour
Detroit § 22-7-5(4) asks for reasonable access for bed bug inspection, control and treatment. Reasonable is the word to hold a clause or a request against.
Your Rights as a Detroit Tenant
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Asked before entry
§ 125.526(11) says the owner of a regulated leasehold "shall request and obtain permission to enter", outside an emergency such as fire or flood.
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Consent before a code inspection
Under § 125.526(6) an inspector must request and receive your consent, and § 125.526(7) has the owner notify you and seek it in good faith.
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No penalty for saying no
§ 125.526(14) bars the enforcing agency or the owner from discriminating against a lessee for refusing entry for an inspection.
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$200.00 per unlawful interference
§ 600.2918(2) gives actual damages or $200.00 for each occurrence, whichever is greater, and § 600.2918(7) says that right may not be waived.
What To Do - Step by Step
Check whether the Housing Law reaches your home
§ 125.401(2) ties the act to census figures of 10,000 and 100,000, with a separate rule for private dwellings and 2-family dwellings. § 125.526(20) covers a dwelling not occupied by the owner of record.
Read your entry clause beside § 125.526(11)
Search the lease for enter, entry or access. Note whether the clause asks for your permission, names purposes, and defines an emergency, and compare it with the subsection's own words.
Answer every request in writing
The rule turns on a request and a yes, so keep the request and your reply with their dates. A written yes for a set day and time protects both sides.
Log each visit
Record the date, the time, who came in, what they did and how long it took. § 600.2918(3)(b) covers temporary interference limited to needed repairs or inspection, and a log shows where a visit went past that.
Keep a code inspection separate from a landlord visit
§ 125.526(6), (7) and (14) run on your consent and bar discrimination for refusing. Check first whether your lease authorizes an inspector to enter, since § 125.526(9) then requires access during reasonable hours.
Read the current text, then get help
The page for § 125.526 was read as an archived copy dated December 22, 2025. Pull the current text, then take your lease and your log to a Detroit legal aid office or tenant attorney.