Notice to Enter Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what District of Columbia law says, what's specific to Washington - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- District housing providers must give at least 48 hours' written notice before entering a rental unit, under D.C. Code § 42-3505.51(a)(1).
- The visit itself has to fall between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and not on a Sunday or federal holiday, unless you agree to another time (§ 42-3505.51(a)(3)).
- The reason has to come from a closed list. § 42-3505.51(a)(2) limits reasonable purpose to six listed items.
- Written notice can arrive electronically. § 42-3505.51(a)(1) says it "may include electronic communication, including email and mobile text messaging".
- An emergency lifts all three conditions under § 42-3505.51(b)(1), and § 42-3505.51(b)(2) lets any court of competent jurisdiction enjoin the housing provider and assess damages for breach of your right to quiet enjoyment.
Understanding the Notice to Enter Clause
A notice-to-enter clause settles two things: how much warning you get before someone with a key opens your door, and what limits sit on that key once they have it. The District answers the first with a number - at least 48 hours' written notice before a non-emergency entry, under D.C. Code § 42-3505.51.
The section does not stop at the notice. § 42-3505.51(a)(3) also fixes when the visit may happen - between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and not on a Sunday or federal holiday, unless you agree to another time.
Read the current text of § 42-3505.51 on the Council's own published Code before you rely on the 48 hours or the daytime window in a dispute. The section stacks several conditions into one sentence, and the exact wording is what a court reads.
What renters assume
The instinct is to treat the 48 hours as the whole rule, so once a notice has landed two days ahead the housing provider picks the hour - an evening, a Saturday, a holiday morning.
What is actually true
Notice is the last of three conditions in a single sentence. § 42-3505.51(b)(1) permits entry "only for a reasonable purpose, at a reasonable time, and after having provided the tenant with reasonable notice", and § 42-3505.51(a)(3) fixes that reasonable time as "a time between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and not on a Sunday or federal holiday, or at another time agreed upon by the tenant".
Four of the twenty-two rows on that chart read 48 hours: Seattle, Phoenix, Chicago and Washington. Seattle's and Phoenix's come from a state statute and Chicago's from a city ordinance, while the District's is both at once, because the Council writes both. Nine more rows sit at 24 hours - Miami, Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, Las Vegas, Columbus, Newark, Baltimore and Minneapolis - and Milwaukee sits alone at 12 hours.
Five of the remaining eight rows show no required entry notice - Austin, Atlanta, Nashville, Denver and Boston - for Philadelphia the record shows no statute on the question, Detroit's row reads permission required (no hours), and Charlotte's reads no hours set. The bar draws the hour count and nothing else, so the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. window, the Sunday and federal-holiday exclusion and the six listed purposes sit in § 42-3505.51 without appearing on the chart at all.
Plain English Version
An entry in the District has to clear three things rather than one: 48 hours of written warning, a slot between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on a day that is not a Sunday or a federal holiday, and a reason drawn from the six the section lists. The word the statute uses is "only", so all three have to be true at the same time. An emergency is what lifts all three together.
Notice to Enter Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Washington, DC
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.
“Entry of Premises”
A heading like this promises a rule and then leaves the lease to write it. In the District the rule is already written, and it is written once. § 42-3505.51 is a section of the Rental Housing Act rather than a regulation: the section index of Title 14, Chapter 3 of the Housing Regulations runs from § 14-300 to § 14-399 and names no access or entry section, so the 48 hours lives in the Code. It reaches units outside rent stabilization too: § 42-3502.05(a) names exactly which sections an exempt unit escapes, and this section is not among them.
“at all reasonable hours”
"All reasonable hours" is a phrase the lease leaves for a landlord to define. The District defines it. § 42-3505.51(a)(3) fixes a reasonable time as "a time between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and not on a Sunday or federal holiday, or at another time agreed upon by the tenant". The notice that has to precede it is fixed the same way: under § 42-3505.51(a)(1) reasonable notice means "written notice provided to the tenant at least 48 hours before the time the housing provider wishes to enter the unit or a shorter period of time as agreed to by the tenant in writing", and that written notice "may include electronic communication, including email and mobile text messaging", with a paper notice to follow if the tenant gives no written acknowledgement.
“or of making repairs”
Repairs are one purpose; the lease adds inspection, additions and alterations and leaves the list open. The District closes it. § 42-3505.51(a)(2) limits a reasonable purpose to six listed items, among them the provider's duty to inspect the premises, to make repairs, and the need to show the unit to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workmen or contractors. § 42-3505.51(b)(1) then makes purpose one of three conditions rather than the whole test: entry is permitted "only for a reasonable purpose, at a reasonable time, and after having provided the tenant with reasonable notice".
“alterations to the building in which the leased premises are”
The sweep at the end reaches work anywhere in the building, and it is the phrase that let this landlord's control of the unit be put in issue. The District writes a duty on the other side of the door as well. § 42-3505.51(b)(3) requires a tenant who has alleged a housing code violation to provide access "within 48 hours of the written request by the housing provider" so the violation can be assessed and abated. The same number runs both ways: 48 hours for the provider to give before an ordinary entry, and 48 hours for the tenant to allow after raising a violation.
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.
District of Columbia Law on Notice to Enter Clause
- 48 hours of advance notice is required before a non-emergency entry.
- D.C. Code § 42-3505.51(a)(1) defines the "reasonable notice" the statute demands as "written notice provided to the tenant at least 48 hours before the time the housing provider wishes to enter the unit or a shorter period of time as agreed to by the tenant in writing", and that written notice "may include electronic communication, including email and mobile text messaging", with a paper notice to follow if the tenant furnishes no written acknowledgement.
- The 48 hours is one of three conditions, not the only one: § 42-3505.51(b)(1) permits entry "only for a reasonable purpose, at a reasonable time, and after having provided the tenant with reasonable notice", § 42-3505.51(a)(3) fixes a reasonable time as "a time between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and not on a Sunday or federal holiday, or at another time agreed upon by the tenant", and § 42-3505.51(a)(2) limits reasonable purpose to six listed items, among them the provider's duty to inspect the premises, to make repairs, and the need to show the unit to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workmen or contractors.
- All three conditions fall away "in the event of an emergency for the protection or preservation of the premises, or for the protection and safety of the tenants or other persons" (§ 42-3505.51(b)(1)); running the other way, § 42-3505.51(b)(3) requires a tenant who has alleged a housing code violation to provide access "within 48 hours of the written request by the housing provider" so the violation can be assessed and abated.
- A unit exempt from rent stabilisation still carries the 48-hour rule. D.C. Code § 42-3502.05(a) names exactly which sections an exempt unit escapes - '§§ 42-3502.06 through 42-3502.16, 42-3502.18, and 42-3502.19' - and § 42-3505.51 is not among them. A renter in an exempt unit is therefore still covered by the 48-hour rule.
Sources include D.C. Code § 42-3505.51 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
The figure is statutory, which is why a lease cannot quietly set it lower. § 42-3505.51(a)(1) defines the "reasonable notice" the section demands as "written notice provided to the tenant at least 48 hours before the time the housing provider wishes to enter the unit or a shorter period of time as agreed to by the tenant in writing".
What counts as written is spelled out in the same paragraph. The notice "may include electronic communication, including email and mobile text messaging", with a paper notice to follow if the tenant furnishes no written acknowledgement.
The 48 hours is one of three conditions rather than the only one. § 42-3505.51(b)(1) permits entry "only for a reasonable purpose, at a reasonable time, and after having provided the tenant with reasonable notice". A properly noticed visit can still fail on one of the other two.
The hour of the visit is written down rather than left to argument. § 42-3505.51(a)(3) fixes a reasonable time as "a time between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and not on a Sunday or federal holiday, or at another time agreed upon by the tenant".
The purpose is defined too. § 42-3505.51(a)(2) limits reasonable purpose to six listed items, among them the provider's duty to inspect the premises, the duty to make repairs, and the need to show the unit to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workmen or contractors.
An emergency suspends the whole list. All three conditions fall away "in the event of an emergency for the protection or preservation of the premises, or for the protection and safety of the tenants or other persons", under § 42-3505.51(b)(1).
The same section carries a second 48 hours, and that one runs against the tenant. § 42-3505.51(b)(3) requires a tenant who has alleged a housing code violation to provide access "within 48 hours of the written request by the housing provider" so the violation can be assessed and abated. Same number, pointed at the opposite party.
Enforcement is a court matter rather than an agency one. § 42-3505.51(b)(2) lets any court of competent jurisdiction enjoin the housing provider and assess damages for breach of the tenant's right to quiet enjoyment.
Read the current text of § 42-3505.51 at the Council's own published Code before you send a demand letter or file anything. Every figure on this page comes out of that one section, and the subsection letters are what an argument turns on.
District of Columbia Tenant Protections
In the District the notice period is set by statute rather than negotiated: at least 48 hours' written notice before a non-emergency entry, under D.C. Code § 42-3505.51(a)(1), and a shorter period only where you agree to it in writing. That notice is one of three conditions the section imposes at the same time.
The entry has to fall between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and not on a Sunday or federal holiday, unless you agree to another time, and it has to be for one of the six purposes § 42-3505.51(a)(2) lists. All three fall away in an emergency for the protection or preservation of the premises, or for the protection and safety of the tenants or other persons.
Where a housing provider has broken the section, § 42-3505.51(b)(2) lets any court of competent jurisdiction enjoin them and assess damages for breach of your right to quiet enjoyment. One part of the same section runs the other way: § 42-3505.51(b)(3) requires a tenant who has alleged a housing code violation to give access within 48 hours of the housing provider's written request so the violation can be assessed and abated.
Any longer notice period written into your rental agreement binds your housing provider as a contract term as well.
What's Specific to Washington
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.
Washington is the District of Columbia, so the two layers this page keeps apart elsewhere are one layer here. The Council of the District of Columbia writes what would elsewhere be the state statute and what would elsewhere be the city ordinance - no state legislature above the city, and no county in between - so there is no separate municipal code to check once you have read § 42-3505.51.
Where the rule lives matters when you go looking for it. The 48 hours sits in the D.C. Code, inside the Rental Housing Act of 1985, rather than in the District's housing regulations.
Our record checked those regulations for a second entry provision and did not find one. On the Office of Documents' own DCMR site the section index of Title 14, Chapter 3 (Landlord and Tenant) runs from § 14-300 to § 14-399 and names no access or entry section, so treat this page as an account of § 42-3505.51 and that index rather than of every rule the District has written.
Enforcement runs through a court rather than an agency, which is what makes a dated log worth keeping. § 42-3505.51(b)(2) puts the remedy - an injunction against the housing provider, and damages for breach of your right to quiet enjoyment - in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Practically, that puts the weight on your lease and on what you can document. A basement unit in a Petworth rowhouse and a front-desk building downtown answer to the same 48-hour floor and the same daytime window, and a resident-portal timestamp does not change which hours § 42-3505.51(a)(3) allows.
§ 42-3505.51(a)(1) sets 48 hours of written notice as the floor before a non-emergency entry. A clause offering less is offering less than the section already gives you.
§ 42-3505.51(a)(3) fixes a reasonable time as between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and not on a Sunday or federal holiday. A clause echoing that language was drafted against the subsection.
The section does not leave the hour open. Ask for the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. window, and the Sunday and federal-holiday exclusion, in writing before you sign.
§ 42-3505.51(a)(2) limits reasonable purpose to six listed items. A clause reserving entry for anything the provider deems necessary reaches past that.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- D.C. Code § 42-3505.51 on code.dccouncil.gov, District of Columbia's own publication of its statutes.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Shorter notice agreed at signing
§ 42-3505.51(a)(1) allows a shorter period where the tenant agrees in writing. Read any clause collecting that agreement at move-in before you sign it, not after.
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The hour left open
§ 42-3505.51(a)(3) puts entry between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and not on a Sunday or federal holiday. Watch for a clause promising the 48 hours and saying nothing about the hour.
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An emergency the provider defines
§ 42-3505.51(b)(1) lifts all three conditions in an emergency for the protection or preservation of the premises, or the safety of tenants or other persons. Watch for wording that lets the provider decide what counts.
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Purposes written wider than six
§ 42-3505.51(a)(2) limits reasonable purpose to six listed items. A clause adding open-ended reasons asks for more than the subsection gives.
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No entry clause at all
Silence in the lease does not lower § 42-3505.51, but it leaves you citing the Code instead of your own agreement. Ask for the 48 hours and the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. window in writing.
Your Rights as a Washington Tenant
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48 hours of written notice
§ 42-3505.51(a)(1) requires written notice at least 48 hours before the time the housing provider wishes to enter, unless you agree in writing to a shorter period.
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A daytime window, not only a warning
§ 42-3505.51(a)(3) fixes the time at between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and not on a Sunday or federal holiday, unless you agree to another time.
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A reason from a closed list
§ 42-3505.51(a)(2) limits reasonable purpose to six listed items, among them inspecting the premises, making repairs and showing the unit.
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A court can enjoin and award damages
§ 42-3505.51(b)(2) lets any court of competent jurisdiction enjoin the housing provider and assess damages for breach of your right to quiet enjoyment.
What To Do - Step by Step
Find your entry clause
Search the lease for "enter" or "access" and read it now, not mid-dispute. Set it beside § 42-3505.51, and if your lease promises more than 48 hours, that longer figure is the one you hold your provider to.
Read the current section text
Read § 42-3505.51 on the Council's own published Code before you rely on it. The subsection letters carry the detail: (a)(1) holds the 48 hours, (a)(2) the six purposes, (a)(3) the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. window.
Keep the notice itself
§ 42-3505.51(a)(1) allows email and mobile text messaging, so the notice itself is a message you can keep. Screenshot it with its timestamp before the thread scrolls away.
Log every entry in two columns
Write down the date, the time, who came in and the reason given. Then note separately whether the notice arrived 48 hours ahead and whether the visit landed inside the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. window, because those are two different failures.
Put the objection in writing
Send it by email or text so it carries its own timestamp, and name the three conditions § 42-3505.51(b)(1) sets: reasonable purpose, reasonable time, reasonable notice.
Take it to a court, not a complaint desk
§ 42-3505.51(b)(2) puts the remedy with any court of competent jurisdiction rather than an agency. District legal aid and tenant help lines can review your log and your lease before you get there.