I had a landlord put something like that in the lease. But there's a law here in New York that even if it's in the lease, you can't do anything illegal. It is, in fact, illegal to enter a tenant's rented property without 48 hours written notice. It's called breaking and entering even if you own the property. You can imagine when we came home to find her in the apartment and called the police she wasn't too happy...

At least you had enough sense to call the cops- I'm sure a lot of people don't. In Arizona, it's generally the same rule, 48 hours notice- unless otherwise stipulated.

20- hahaha. Ah, people amaze me with their stupidity sometimes. (meaning your landlord..)

It has to be an emergency for them to go in without notice and the burden of proof is on them to prove it was an emergency. She was a nosey old Canadian woman and her son was the maintenance guy. We just found out last week that her son was arrested last month for felony 2nd degree strangulation and 3rd degree assault on our old downstairs neighbors for not letting him in without notice. I told my husband we were lucky we left when we did. We had so many problems with those people it's unreal.

41- Yikes, that's crazy. You're definitely lucky to have gotten out of that mess. Kudos to you for knowing your rights. :)

I lend and I can't imagine doing and expecting something so stupid! Nice treating your customers is a basic rule. OP get the hell out of there and find normal people not some assholes..

Still like the bear trap idea better though..

the bear trap would be appropriate, but also illegal. Google mantrap legality

35- The image I got in my mind of this situation was super funny. This could backfire though; if the landlord is so lonely that they want to invade OP's privacy, maybe they would like the nudity... eesh.

It is not OP's fault. The landlord is being an ass. Most of the time, breaking the lease results in thousands of dollars that needs to be paid. That's why I suggested checking the lease contract; if these "rights" are not stated explicitly, OP can get out without having to pay any fees.

While it might not be OP's fault that the landlord is being an ass, it IS OP's fault that they put up with it and don't stand their ground. OP is entitled to privacy, and there are indeed laws that protect them from abuse of LLs right of entry (which is for the purpose of repairs, showing the property to prospective buyers/tenants, inspections, etc., and NOT just for coming in and snooping around whenever they want). And no, if they are in a lease, you can't normally break the lease for this reason without stiff penalties.

48- I agree with you, and I wish OP would realize what their rights are; but you have to remember that paying large fees for breaking a lease isn't an option for most people in the current state of the economy.

The only loophole I can think of is; If the landlord was smart enough to put it in the lease, then SHE can enter the property without warning. But her children are minors, and cannot enter without her being with them. In a sense, she broke her own contract.