Yes, the door was locked...

[another_day]

So, I was home yesterday afternoon and someone knocked on the door. We weren't expecting any packages, and friends were out of town, so I figured it was a solicitor and ignored it. About 10 minutes later, I hear the sound of a key unlocking the door - no big deal, it was around 4:30pm, it must be Mark

Comments

[myschevious]

You know, this almost strikes me as funny. Not "Hahaha!" funny, but "odd" funny. This same thing happened to me this morning, except it was a heater repair. Only, he was supposed to show up on Monday at 11:30 am, not Friday at 9:00 am when I'm trying to sleep.

I was very pissed. I'm going to be dropping by management on my way out of the complex today.

[another_day]

Ugh - yeah, I can't imagine having someone walk in while you're asleep. That's pretty damn creepy. :\

[iaedyene]

You guys may want to check your Renter's Rights in your states. I know in the state of AK and in TN you have to be given 24 hours written notice before they enter your house for any reason. Once the 24 hours notice is given they don't have to wait for you to be there but they do have to give you notice.

I'd be suprised if they can trump any state law about that in a lease.

[another_day]

We talked to the leasing office and they were falling over themselves in apologies. It looks like an agent saw we had signed a new lease and just scheduled the cleaner, thinking we had given the okay. Definitely a gap in communication though. Hope you're doing well!

[warbridge]

Even if the contract states they can enter the premises, it doesn't mean they can do it at their whim. They're supposed to give some degree of warning prior to entering. In this case the guy knocked, but that's not really sufficient in this day and age. A phone call the day before or some sort of message left on or under the door with at least 24 hours notice is often customary.

When we lived in Napa, the apartment management would leave notes on all the doors a week before the driveway was to be painted or trees would be trimmed. With stuff that large, a week or two seems reasonable. For repair or cleaning, a day doesn't seem too much to ask.

Hopefully your management company is willing to put some kind of written note in your file to ward off possible repeats of this happening. Having it obeyed is another matter. You might want to look into local tenant laws concerning notice to be given before entry: it's amazing what they put in those laws that no one bothers to do.

[another_day]

Yep, usually the complex is pretty good about giving notice a few days in advance for people coming in to service fire alarms, installing new air filters, etc. In this instance, it was a leasing agent assuming we wanted a service.

I do like the idea about a phone call 24 hours beforehand though. I'll see about adding that to our file.

[dimfuture]

Just buy a gun and start firing wildly whenever anybody opens the door when you're not expecting them. They'll stop coming in unannounced in a big fucking hurry.

[another_day]

Heh, randomly shooting neighbors... that's only legal in Montana isn't it? :)

[nese]

Oh GOSH! *hugs* In CA they *have* to notify you legally for someone to enter your appartment when you are not there.... even if you are aware.

You need to train Turk how to attack!