Notice to Enter Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Oregon law says, what's specific to Portland - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Oregon landlords must give at least 24 hours' actual notice of an intent to enter (ORS 90.322(1)(f)).
- Entry is limited to reasonable times, and you and your landlord may agree otherwise for one specific entry.
- A real emergency needs no notice, but if you were away the landlord must tell you within 24 hours what happened and who entered.
- You may deny entry, as long as you give actual notice of the denial before or at the time entry is attempted.
- Portland City Code Chapter 30.01 adds renter protections on rent increases, relocation assistance and screening, but no entry-notice rule beyond state law.
Understanding the Notice to Enter Clause
A notice-to-enter clause decides how much warning you get before someone with a key opens your door, and which reasons count. In Oregon the answer starts with a number: 24 hours' actual notice before a non-emergency entry, under ORS 90.322(1)(f).
Portland does not appear to move that number. Our record checked Portland City Code Chapter 30.01, the city's main renter-protection chapter, and found nothing on landlord entry, which leaves the state's 24-hour standard as the rule your lease has to live with.
Not high, because the statute text we read was a reproduction rather than the state's own publication. Confirm the current wording of ORS 90.322 before you rely on it in a dispute.
What renters assume
That a landlord who owns the building can walk in whenever they like, and that a tenant who objects is being difficult.
What is actually true
Oregon writes the opposite into statute. Non-emergency entry needs 24 hours' actual notice at a reasonable time, and you may deny an entry outright if you give actual notice of the denial first.
Portland's 24 hours puts Oregon with Los Angeles, Miami and New York City. Seattle and Phoenix renters get 48. For Austin, Atlanta, Nashville and Denver the record shows no statutory entry notice, which is why the lease wording does all the work there.
Plain English Version
You handed over a key for repairs and emergencies, not a standing invitation. Oregon put a clock on that key - 24 hours - and your lease can make it friendlier, not shorter, unless you agree to a specific visit.
Entry Notice Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Portland, OR
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.
Lessor hereby reserves, and the Lessee hereby grants to the Lessor or his agents, the right to enter said leased premises at reasonable times, for the purpose of making repairs or to inspect the premises, to show the dwelling to prospective tenants after notice of termination.
Quoted from the published opinion in Kalmas v. Wagner, 133 Wn.2d 210 (Wash. 1997) (en banc). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“the Lessee hereby grants to the Lessor”
Read the direction this sentence travels: the lease says you gave the landlord this right. Oregon does let your agreement matter, but it fixes what kind counts. The landlord must give at least 24 hours' actual notice of intent to enter, and that duty lifts only where the tenant agrees otherwise for a specific entry. A signature on a standing access paragraph is not agreement to a particular visit.
“or his agents, the right to enter”
This extends the right to whoever the landlord sends, and it describes entry in one direction only. Oregon writes the other direction into the statute: a tenant may deny entry. The condition is that you give actual notice of the denial before or at the time of the attempted entry, so a refusal has to reach the landlord by the moment someone is at the door. This paragraph does not mention that right.
“for the purpose of making repairs”
Repairs are where the 24 hours goes quiet, and the two exceptions our Oregon record names are an emergency and a repair you requested. Reporting a leak is therefore also granting the access that fixing it needs. In an emergency the landlord may enter with no notice and at any time. A repair the landlord scheduled itself sits outside both of those.
“to inspect the premises, to show the dwelling”
Inspections and showings are the entries most likely to become routine, and Oregon answers them with time rather than purpose: reasonable times only, on the same 24 hours. Our Oregon record gives that one figure and applies it to entry generally, where Washington sets a shorter one day for showings and our Tennessee record's only entry-notice figure is 24 hours for showings in a lease's final 30 days.
The clause held - because the landlord followed the statute. The agent gave the notice the state's landlord-tenant act requires before entering to show the unit, so the tenants “had no reasonable expectation other than that entry for inspection would occur” and the brief entry was not unreasonable. The court was careful about what the clause bought: it and the statute together grant only a limited right to inspect.
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.
Oregon Law on Notice to Enter Clause
- 24 hours of advance notice is required before a non-emergency entry (ORS 90.322(1)(f)).
- Entry is allowed only at reasonable times, and a landlord and tenant may agree otherwise for a specific entry.
- In an emergency the landlord may enter with no notice and at any time; if the tenant was absent, the landlord must give actual notice within 24 hours stating the date, time, nature of the emergency and who entered.
- A tenant may deny entry, but must give actual notice of the denial to the landlord before or at the time of the attempted entry.
- Portland City Code Chapter 30.01 adds renter protections on rent increases, relocation assistance and screening, but no entry-notice rule beyond state law.
ORS 90.322(1)(f) - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Oregon writes the rule down rather than leaving it to the lease. Under ORS 90.322(1)(f) a landlord must give the tenant at least 24 hours' actual notice of the intent to enter, and may enter only at reasonable times.
Two things bend that rule, both narrow. You and your landlord can agree otherwise for one specific entry, which is how a same-day repair you asked for gets done, and a genuine emergency lets a landlord in immediately with no notice at all.
The emergency exception comes with a follow-up duty. If you were absent when the landlord entered, they must give you actual notice within 24 hours stating the date, the time, the nature of the emergency and who went inside.
The statute also gives you a refusal. A tenant may deny entry, provided the denial is given as actual notice to the landlord before or at the time the entry is attempted - silence after the fact is not a denial.
Treat these as the figures to verify rather than quote cold. Read the current text of ORS 90.322 at the state's own source before you send a demand letter or file anything.
Oregon Tenant Protections
Oregon gives you a statutory notice period rather than a negotiated one: at least 24 hours' actual notice before a non-emergency entry, at a reasonable time, under ORS 90.322(1)(f). You keep the power to deny a specific entry so long as you say so before or at the time it is attempted. And when a landlord uses the emergency exception while you are out, the law makes them account for it - date, time, nature of the emergency and who entered, within 24 hours.
Any longer notice period written into your rental agreement is a contract term your landlord is bound by as well.
What's Specific to Portland
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.
Portland adds nothing here, on the record we checked. Chapter 30.01 of the Portland City Code - Affordable Housing Preservation and Portland Renter Protections - covers rent increases, relocation assistance, screening criteria, security deposits and termination notices, and contains no landlord-entry or notice-before-entry provision, so ORS 90.322's 24-hour rule is the one that governs your door.
That is worth knowing precisely because Portland renters are used to the city outdoing the state. The relocation-assistance rules and screening standards are genuinely local, which leads people to assume there is a Portland entry ordinance somewhere too. Our record does not find one, and a landlord who gives you 24 hours is meeting the standard that applies.
Practically, that puts the weight on your lease and on documentation. A Southeast fourplex owner who texts an hour ahead and a downtown building that pushes notices through a resident portal are answering to the same 24-hour statutory floor, and neither app timestamps nor a knock at the door change it.
It should match or beat the statute. ORS 90.322(1)(f) sets 24 hours' actual notice as the floor for non-emergency entry.
Oregon allows entry only at reasonable times. A clause echoing that language is a lease written by someone who read the statute.
That is broader than the statute allows for non-emergency entry. Raise it before you sign rather than after someone has used it.
The no-notice exception is for genuine emergencies. A clause stretching it to routine inspections is trying to erase the 24-hour requirement.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- ORS 90.322(1)(f), read on oregon.public.law. Oregon publishes the official text at www.oregonlegislature.gov.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Blanket advance consent to entry
Oregon lets you agree otherwise for a specific entry. A clause taking that agreement once, for every future visit, is not the same thing.
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Emergency defined far too broadly
Emergencies justify entry with no notice. Watch for wording that folds inspections, showings or suspected violations into that word.
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Notice deemed given by portal post
If notice counts the moment it posts to an app, you can be notified without knowing. Ask for text or email so the 24 hours is real.
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No stated notice period at all
Silence does not lower the statute, but it does leave you quoting law instead of your own lease. Ask for 24 hours in writing.
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Open-ended showings during notice period
Some leases let showings run on demand once you give notice to vacate. Ask that showings keep the same 24 hours' notice.
Your Rights as a Portland Tenant
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24 hours' actual notice
ORS 90.322(1)(f) requires at least 24 hours' actual notice of the landlord's intent to enter for a non-emergency visit.
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Reasonable times only
Entry is allowed at reasonable times. Notice alone does not make a 6 a.m. inspection a reasonable one.
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You can deny an entry
A tenant may deny entry, but must give actual notice of that denial before or at the time entry is attempted.
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Emergency entries get accounted for
If you were absent, the landlord must give actual notice within 24 hours of the date, time, nature of the emergency and who entered.
What To Do - Step by Step
Find your entry clause
Search the lease for "enter" or "access" and read it now, not mid-dispute. Compare it against the 24-hour statutory floor.
Verify the statute text
Read the current ORS 90.322 at the state's own source before you rely on the number.
Log every entry
Date, time, who came in, and whether notice arrived first. A dated log is what turns a complaint into a documented pattern.
Give your denial properly
If you are refusing a non-emergency entry, say so before or at the time it is attempted, in writing you can produce later.
Put the objection in writing
Email or text, never a hallway conversation. Quote the entry clause and the 24-hour requirement and ask for it going forward.
Get advice if it continues
Oregon legal aid and tenant help lines can review your log and the lease. A sustained pattern is a stronger case than a single bad visit.