Entry without permission (apartment, lease, insurance)

[ditoz]

Question. Son rents house with 3 other roommates. Was away for two days for holidays. Was house sitting for a cat.

Landlord entered home with out notice , saw cat and is now stating they lose security.

Lease says 24-48 notice upon entry.

Landlords reason for entry was to have home inspected.

Not one of the 4 roommate received a text, email or call from the owner informing them of entry.

What can be done about the situation.

Thank you.

[Wells5]

Was there a provision in the lease prohibiting pets in the house? FYI cat urine is very difficult to eliminate and I can't fault a landlord for getting angry over the keeping of a cat by the tenants.

If the landlord goes to court for an eviction, then you have a case against the landlord for breaking the entry notice provision since there was no emergency. If the landlord waits until the lease is up and then confiscates the security deposit, you can take the landlord to court at that time.

If the landlord sends the tenants a letter demanding that the cat be removed from the house and that the landlord be allowed to inspect the house for damages, you would have to comply even though the landlord found out about the cat in an unlawful way.

Of course, you could hire an attorney if you feel that you were unjustly treated but be prepared to shell out a contingency fee of at least $1,000.

[ditoz]

Yes there is a provision for pets, under "Other" Looped in with visitors etc allowed with out permission. Son tried to contact landlord, due to emergency of family member hospitalized and needing to house sit for cat over night. ( cat was literately in home one night , two days)

Landlord is not threatening to evict, how ever he is insisting that they hire a professional company to clean all carpets in the home (cat was only in my sons room) in order for him to even consider giving them back their security in May.

( by the way. these kids had the entire house professionally carpet cleaned when they moved in, because the carpets were filthy) Landlord would not pay for it.

I am totally in agreement that the landlord has a point about the pet being there , even if only for one night, when the lease says no pets.

However, I believe he was being sneaky. Who enters a house of college students on Christmas day, ( he knew they were all gone for the day) claiming he was having an insurance inspection done. (something seems to unrealistic about that to me)
This is the second time he has entered the home with out notice.
First time they kids were home, they were upstairs, and one of the female roommates came down stairs and he popped out of their basement. No notice what so ever. What if she was unclothed.

this guys is freaky and sneaky.

thanks for the advice.

[SteelCityRising]

My landlady is the same way. She consistently tries entering the premises without providing advanced notice. The last time she was here she showed up to do some bogus landscaping and immediately knocked on the door saying she was "having a bathroom emergency". When I refused to let her inside because my roommate/partner was in the shower (wasn't lying) she flipped out on me. Another time she left me a voicemail at 8 PM while I was working informing me she was coming inside first thing in the morning to take pictures of the interior of the apartment for a property tax reassessment. I had to quickly tidy up in the wee hours of the morning before she showed up, and even then she proceeded to inspect the bathroom and complained the shower wasn't clean (it wasn't, but who cleans their shower daily?) We also suspect she enters when we're not home since it's not uncommon to find things rearranged.

If I wasn't poor I'd have already filed a lawsuit against her. What is with landlords who think they can do this to their tenants?

[Wells5]

Originally Posted by ditoz

Landlord is not threatening to evict, how ever he is insisting that they hire a professional company to clean all carpets in the home (cat was only in my sons room) in order for him to even consider giving them back their security in May.

Look up PA Title 68 Section 250.512 (Recovery of improperly held escrow funds). If the landlord refuses to return the full security deposit at the end of the lease even though the carpets were professionally cleaned, your son and his roomates can take him to court and demand double the security deposit.

[Wells5]

Originally Posted by ditoz

However, I believe he was being sneaky. Who enters a house of college students on Christmas day, ( he knew they were all gone for the day) claiming he was having an insurance inspection done. (something seems to unrealistic about that to me)

This is the second time he has entered the home with out notice.

First time they kids were home, they were upstairs, and one of the female roommates came down stairs and he popped out of their basement. No notice what so ever. What if she was unclothed.

this guys is freaky and sneaky.

A landlord has no right to enter a leased property unless he gives advanced notice or there is an emergency. Even though he owns the property, a violation of the lease provision can be considered as trespassing (criminal or otherwise). Your son and his roomates should send the landlord a certified letter telling him that if they find him on the premises again without prior notice, they will file a complaint with the police. Better to have a lawyer do it.

[bigh110]

call the cops and tell them you would like to file harassment and/or trespassing charges against the landlord. its considered harassment/tresspassing when you find a stranger in your house without your permission even if its the landlord! tell the police you want to press charges and they will issue him a citation to go to court or you could have the police tell him he needs to give 24 hrs notice or next time he will be arrested and charged with trespassing. I doubt he would ever enter again without notice. he may be afraid and then deny that he was there at all to the police. thus he couldn't have seen a cat. trust me it will work it just happened to me in NJ. just show the cops your lease and they will take care of the rest.