Walk It Through: The Spare Key
Exclusive possession, advance notice at reasonable times, and no retaliation for a complaint.
A tenant comes home from work to find the landlord inside the apartment, with no notice beforehand.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One apartment and one landlord. Unpaid rent, defects the tenant caused, and the eviction case are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Advance noticeWhat a landlord gives before entering, at reasonable times, to inspect, repair or show the premises.
- Periodic tenancyA month to month or other periodic tenancy, which ends on written notice from either side of at least 28 days, and only at the end of a rental period.
- RetaliationRaising rent, decreasing services, suing for possession or refusing to renew, which would not happen but for a tenant's good faith complaint about a defect or exercise of a legal right.