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Can a landlord enter without notice in North Carolina?

On Behalf of | Jun 16, 2020 | Landlord/tenant Matters |

You love living where you do, but the one thing that you’re not enjoying is the landlord that you have. Your landlord often breaks rules that are meant to be there to help you stay safe and to maintain your privacy.

One day, you came home from work to find your landlord standing in your kitchen. She said she was doing a routine walk-through, but she had given you no notice. She complained that you had some dishes in your sink and were “messy.”

The next time you were concerned about your landlord was when you were sleeping and suddenly heard someone walking down your stairs. You were actually on the phone with the emergency operator when the landlord walked into your living room.

This kind of regular invasion of your privacy is not usually allowed. Except for emergencies, landlords should be providing you with at least some notice. While it’s not necessarily required in North Carolina, it is the polite thing to do.

North Carolina’s laws allow for the “quiet enjoyment” of your apartment. Landlords are allowed to enter a home without notice to make necessary repairs, for example, but they aren’t supposed to come in unexpectedly so often that it violates their tenants’ right to quiet enjoyment.

At the same time, your landlord does not have the right to go through your personal possessions or to disturb your property. If your landlord comes in and goes through your drawers or damages your personal property, then that could be a different issue completely.

It can be troublesome to deal with this kind of situation, but if you continue to have issues, you may want to look into your legal options.

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