Notice to Enter Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Missouri law says, what's specific to Kansas City - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Kansas City's row in the comparison on this page reads 24 hrs (city rule). The figure comes from § 34-848.1(c) in the city's Healthy Rental Homes article, and the Missouri statutes we read in Chapters 441 and 535 set no notice period for a landlord's entry.
- The notice must state the date and time of the entry, who will enter and the reason, and the owner must attempt to coordinate a mutually acceptable time. Entry is limited to listed purposes, such as inspection, repairs, services and showing the unit.
- No notice is needed in an extreme hazard involving the potential loss of life, property damage or ongoing criminal activity, or in a case of tenant abandonment as determined by state law. The owner “shall not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant.”
- The rule has a scope. Under § 34-831 and § 34-832(b), the article leaves out an owner-occupied duplex, units within an owner-occupied single-family home, a structure whose tenants are owners or their direct family, and housing rented for periods of less than 30 consecutive days.
- Two city sections treat the lease differently: § 50-109(g) yields to “a written lease that provides otherwise”, while § 34-848(e) bars a permit holder's lease term waiving the article's protections. A violation of the article carries a fine of not more than $1,000.00 under § 34-864(b).
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 how much warning comes first.
In Kansas City the warning question has a number, and the number comes from the city.
The Missouri statutes we read in Chapters 441 and 535 set no notice period for a landlord's entry. Kansas City's Healthy Rental Homes ordinance does: § 34-848.1(c) bars an owner from entering unless the tenant gives written consent, or the owner gives notice not less than 24 hours in advance, during reasonable hours, and tries to agree a time with the tenant.
Because it is a city rule, it has a city scope. An owner-occupied duplex, a unit inside an owner-occupied single-family home and a rental of less than 30 consecutive days sit outside the article, so check which kind of home you rent before relying on the 24 hours.
What renters assume
Missouri law gives every Kansas City renter 24 hours' notice before the landlord comes in, and no lease can change that.
What is actually true
The 24 hours is a Kansas City rule in § 34-848.1(c), and the Missouri statutes we read set no entry notice period. The rule does not reach an owner-occupied duplex, a unit in an owner-occupied single-family home or a rental of less than 30 consecutive days.
On the lease, § 34-848(e) bars waiver terms, while § 50-109(g) yields to a written lease that provides otherwise.
23 rows sit in the comparison on this page. Ten of the 23 rows read 24 hours: Miami, Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, Las Vegas, Columbus, Newark, Baltimore, Minneapolis and Kansas City.
Four read 48 hours, in Seattle, Phoenix, Chicago and Washington, and Milwaukee's bar stands at 12 hours.
Eight rows draw no bar. Austin, Atlanta, Nashville, Denver and Boston read no requirement, Philadelphia reads no statute, Detroit reads permission required and Charlotte reads no hours set.
Kansas City's label says city rule because the 24 hours comes from § 34-848.1(c), an ordinance, and the Missouri statutes we read set no entry notice period. New York City, Chicago and Newark carry a city-rule label too.
The bar also has a scope it cannot draw: the article leaves out owner-occupied duplexes, units within owner-occupied single-family homes and rentals of less than 30 consecutive days.
Plain English Version
In Kansas City, the city's Healthy Rental Homes ordinance says your landlord may come in with your written consent, or after giving you at least 24 hours' notice during reasonable hours and trying to agree a time with you. The notice must say when, who and why, and entry is limited to purposes such as inspection, repairs, services and showings.
Emergencies and abandonment are exceptions. The rule does not cover an owner-occupied duplex, a unit in an owner-occupied house or a rental of less than 30 consecutive days. The Missouri statutes we read set no hours of their own.
Notice to Enter Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Kansas City, MO
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”
A reserved right, and Kansas City writes its rule from the opposite end. Kansas City Code § 34-848.1(c) opens “An owner shall not enter the tenant's premises unless” the tenant gives written consent, or the owner gives notice not less than 24 hours in advance and attempts to coordinate a mutually acceptable time. The lease reserves a right; inside the article's scope, the ordinance attaches conditions to using it. The court in this case read the very same reservation against the landlord.
“at all reasonable hours”
Kansas City keeps the reasonable-hours idea and adds a number and a conversation to it. Under § 34-848.1(c), entry must come “during reasonable hours, after giving notice to the tenant not less than 24 hours in advance and attempting to coordinate with the tenant to schedule a mutually acceptable time.” The notice must also specify the date and time, the person or persons who will enter, and the reason. A clause that stops at reasonable hours leaves out the notice, its contents and the attempt to agree a time.
“or of making repairs, additions or alterations”
Repairs are where Kansas City has two rules, one for each side of the door. For the owner, § 34-848.1(c) lists entry to “make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations or improvements”, alongside inspection, services and showings to purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers or contractors. For the tenant, § 50-109(g) makes it a violation to knowingly refuse the landlord entry to make repairs, after 24 hours' notice of the request, or without advance notice if an emergency condition exists.
“to the building in which the leased premises are located”
The clause reaches the whole building, and in Kansas City the building also decides whether the 24-hour rule applies at all. Article XIX covers “rental property” as § 34-831 defines it. That definition leaves out a structure where the tenants are owners or direct family members of owners, a duplex in which one unit is owner-occupied, and rental units within an owner-occupied single-family dwelling that complies with the city's zoning codes. § 34-832(b) leaves out housing units rented for periods of less than 30 consecutive days.
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.
Missouri Law on Notice to Enter Clause
- The rule is written as a bar on entry with two ways in. Section 34-848.1(c) says "An owner shall not enter the tenant's premises unless: (1) the tenant gives written consent; or (2) during reasonable hours, after giving notice to the tenant not less than 24 hours in advance and attempting to coordinate with the tenant to schedule a mutually acceptable time. Such notice shall specify the date and time of intended entry, the identity of the person or persons to enter, and the reason therefore."
- The reasons for entry are listed and the access may not be misused. Under § 34-848.1(c) the owner may enter "only in order to inspect the premises, make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations or improvements, supply necessary or agreed services, or exhibit the dwelling unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers or contractors", may enter without notice "in case of an extreme hazard involving the potential loss of life, property damage, ongoing criminal activity or in the case of tenant abandonment as determined by state law", and "shall not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant." Section 34-848.1(e) separately bars an owner from harassing a tenant as defined in § 50-159.
- Two Kansas City sections treat the lease differently. Section 50-109(g), the tenant-side rule on refusing entry for repairs after 24 hours' notice, applies "unless there is a written lease that provides otherwise." In the Healthy Rental Homes article, § 34-848(e) makes it a violation "for a permit holder to include in any lease a term which seeks to waive any right or protection furnished to the tenant under this article."
- Breaking the entry rule is an ordinance violation. Section 34-863(a) says any person violating any provision of Article XIX "shall be deemed guilty of an ordinance violation", covering actions or inactions of the owner, permit holder, their agents, designees or employees, and § 34-864(b) sets a fine of not more than $1,000.00, imprisonment of not more than 180 days, or both, with each day on which a violation occurs a separate violation.
- Who the 24-hour rule covers. Article XIX applies to rental property, defined in § 34-831 as a structure of one or more residential rental units where none of the tenants are owners or direct family members of owners, and it excludes a duplex in which one of the rental units is owner-occupied and rental units within an owner-occupied single-family dwelling that complies with the city's zoning codes. Under § 34-832(b) the article does not apply to housing units that are only rented for periods of less than 30 consecutive days.
Sources include Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-848.1(c); Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-848.1(e); Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 50-109(g); Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-848(e); Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-831; Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-832(b); Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-863(a); Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-864(b); Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.043; Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.012 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Start with what our record did not find. We read every section FindLaw lists in Chapters 441 and 535 of the Missouri Revised Statutes, each in an Internet Archive copy of the Revisor of Statutes' page saved in 2025 or 2026.
None of them sets a notice period for a landlord's entry into a tenant's unit.
That describes those two chapters as we read them, not every Missouri law. It is why the 24 hours on this page carries a city label: the figure is Kansas City's, in § 34-848.1(c) of the Code of Ordinances.
The state still appears inside the city rule in two places. The exception for entry without notice covers “tenant abandonment as determined by state law”, so whether a home has been abandoned is a question the ordinance hands to Missouri law.
And § 34-848.1(f) says no owner shall violate Chapters 441, 534 or 535 of the Missouri Revised Statutes, which writes those state chapters into the city's own list of prohibitions.
Then the state statute that speaks to city ordinances. Missouri Revised Statutes § 441.043, as amended effective 28 August 2025, bars a city ordinance that does any of these:
- regulates the amount of rent;
- prohibits refusing to rent because a tenant's lawful income includes housing assistance;
- restricts a landlord's own screening criteria;
- limits security deposits;
- requires a right of first refusal.
Notice of entry is not among the subjects that section lists.
§ 535.012 separately bars a political subdivision from imposing or enforcing a moratorium on eviction proceedings unless specifically authorized by state law. We describe § 34-848.1 and § 50-109 as enacted and take no position on how § 441.043, § 535.012 or any other state law applies to them.
For a renter, the practical result is a reading order. Start with your lease's entry paragraph, then § 34-848.1 and § 50-109, then the scope sections that say whether the article reaches your home at all.
The state chapters were read on archived copies of the Revisor's pages, so read the current text on revisor.mo.gov, and § 34-848.1 on Municode, before relying on any of this.
Missouri Tenant Protections
Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-848.1(c): an owner shall not enter the tenant's premises unless the tenant gives written consent, or, during reasonable hours, after giving notice not less than 24 hours in advance and attempting to coordinate a mutually acceptable time. The notice must specify the date and time of entry, the identity of the person or persons entering and the reason.
Entry is limited to inspecting, making necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations or improvements, supplying necessary or agreed services, or exhibiting the unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers or contractors. No notice is needed in an extreme hazard involving the potential loss of life, property damage or ongoing criminal activity, or in tenant abandonment as determined by state law.
The owner shall not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant, and § 34-848.1(e) bars harassment as defined in § 50-159. § 34-848(e) makes it a violation for a permit holder to include a lease term seeking to waive any right or protection under the article. Under § 34-863(a) a violation is an ordinance violation, and § 34-864(b) sets a fine of not more than $1,000.00, imprisonment of not more than 180 days, or both, each day a separate violation.
The article covers rental property as § 34-831 defines it and, under § 34-832(b), not units rented for periods of less than 30 consecutive days. Separately, § 50-109(g) makes a tenant's knowing refusal of entry for repairs after 24 hours' notice a violation, unless a written lease provides otherwise.
What's Specific to Kansas City
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.
Kansas City is a city inside a state, so a renter here reads Missouri's statutes first and the city code second. On entry, the city code is where the number lives, and two different sections speak to it.
We read the Kansas City Code of Ordinances on Municode, Supplement 139, codified through Ordinance No. 260342, enacted April 16, 2026. The main rule is § 34-848.1(c), in Chapter 34, Article XIX, the Healthy Rental Homes article.
It is written as a bar: “An owner shall not enter the tenant's premises unless” the tenant gives written consent, or the owner gives notice not less than 24 hours in advance, during reasonable hours, and attempts to coordinate a mutually acceptable time.
Three things follow from that text. The notice has content: the date and time, who will enter, and the reason.
The purposes are listed, from inspection and repairs to showing the unit to purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers or contractors. And the owner “shall not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant.”
Then the scope. Article XIX reaches “rental property” as § 34-831 defines it.
That definition leaves out a structure where the tenants are owners or direct family members of owners, a duplex in which one unit is owner-occupied, and rental units within an owner-occupied single-family dwelling that complies with the city's zoning codes. § 34-832(b) leaves out housing units rented for periods of less than 30 consecutive days.
The older rule points the other way. § 50-109(g) makes it a violation for a tenant to knowingly refuse the landlord entry to make repairs after 24 hours' notice of the request, or without advance notice if an emergency condition exists, “unless there is a written lease that provides otherwise.”
The two sections treat the lease differently. § 34-848(e) makes it a violation “for a permit holder to include in any lease a term which seeks to waive any right or protection furnished to the tenant under this article.” We set both texts out as written and do not say which one controls a given lease.
Enforcement runs through the city. Under § 34-863(a), a violation of the article is an ordinance violation, covering the owner, permit holder, their agents, designees or employees. § 34-864(b) sets a fine of not more than $1,000.00, imprisonment of not more than 180 days, or both, and each day is a separate violation.
Our text search of Kansas City's Legistar matter titles introduced since June 2025 found no ordinance amending these sections after the codification date. A title search is not a reading of every ordinance, so check § 34-848.1 as codified on the day you need it.
What makes the rule usable is a written file. Keep each notice, the date and time it arrived, and a note of who came in and why.
It should. For homes inside the article's scope, § 34-848.1(c) requires written consent or notice not less than 24 hours in advance, during reasonable hours. A clause that states the same figure is easier to hold a landlord to.
§ 34-848.1(c) requires the notice to specify the date and time of entry, who will enter and the reason. A clause that matches it gives you something to check each notice against.
§ 34-848(e) makes it a violation for a permit holder to include a lease term seeking to waive any right or protection under the article. § 50-109(g) separately yields to a written lease that provides otherwise.
§ 34-848.1(c) lists the purposes, from inspection and repairs to showings, and allows entry without notice in an extreme hazard or a tenant abandonment as determined by state law.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-848.1(c); Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-848.1(e); Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 50-109(g); Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-848(e); Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-831; Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-832(b); Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-863(a); Kansas City Code of Ordinances § 34-864(b); Mo. Rev. Stat. § 441.043; Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.012, read on library.municode.com. Municode's Kansas City Code of Ordinances, Supplement 139, codified through Ordinance No. 260342 enacted April 16, 2026 and shown as the current version of June 25, 2026, prints this section with the history note Ord. No. 190935, § 2, 12-12-19.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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A same-day knock with no notice
§ 34-848.1(c) requires notice not less than 24 hours in advance unless you consent in writing or there is an extreme hazard or abandonment. Note the time any notice arrived.
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A notice with no reason given
The notice must specify the date and time, the person or persons entering and the reason. A bare “we'll be in tomorrow” leaves out part of what § 34-848.1(c) lists.
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Repeated visits that feel like pressure
The owner “shall not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant”, and § 34-848.1(e) bars harassment as defined in § 50-159. Keep a dated log of each visit.
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A lease term waiving the city rules
§ 34-848(e) makes a waiver term a violation for a permit holder. The lease may still matter under § 50-109(g), which yields to a written lease, so read both.
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Assuming every home is covered
Under § 34-831 and § 34-832(b), the article leaves out owner-occupied duplexes, units within an owner-occupied single-family home and rentals of less than 30 consecutive days. Check your home first.
Your Rights as a Kansas City Tenant
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Written consent or 24 hours' notice
§ 34-848.1(c): entry with your written consent, or during reasonable hours after notice not less than 24 hours in advance and an attempt to agree a time.
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A notice with content
Under § 34-848.1(c), the notice states the date and time of entry, the identity of the person or persons entering, and the reason.
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Listed purposes
§ 34-848.1(c): inspection, necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations or improvements, necessary or agreed services, or showing the unit to purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers or contractors.
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No harassment through access
The owner shall not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant, and § 34-848.1(e) bars harassment as defined in § 50-159.
What To Do - Step by Step
Check that the article reaches your home
Owner-occupied duplexes, units in an owner-occupied single-family home and rentals of less than 30 consecutive days sit outside it under § 34-831 and § 34-832(b).
Read your lease's entry paragraph
Note any notice period, purposes and hours it states, and any term on waiving rights. § 34-848(e) and § 50-109(g) treat lease terms differently.
Hold each notice against the city's list
§ 34-848.1(c): not less than 24 hours ahead, during reasonable hours, with the date and time, who is entering and why.
Answer in writing with a time that works
The rule asks the owner to attempt to coordinate a mutually acceptable time. A written reply proposing one shows you took part.
Log every visit
Record the date, time, person and purpose of each entry. Abuse of access and harassment as defined in § 50-159 are both barred, and a log is how a pattern is shown.
Read the current text, then get help
Read § 34-848.1 on Municode and the state chapters on revisor.mo.gov yourself, then take a disputed entry to a Kansas City legal aid office or tenant attorney.