Ask Me Help Desk - Trespassing and maintenance

Since some laws are different depending on where you live, I'll start by saying that I currently live in Baltimore County, MD. My question is if a maintenance worker lets himself into my apartment to find out if I'm home because he saw someone knocking on my door, is this considered trespassing? To clarify, he was on my floor to work on something but when he came in to see if we were home he wasn't actually ready to start working in my apartment. He didn't do that for at least another 20 minutes.

Hello captn:

You betcha it's trespassing.

But, you're the same guy who's landlord is badmouthing him on the phone, aren't you? Dude! Move!

excon

I don't get it. Are you saying that you knew that he had plans to work in your apartment that day? If so, what's the concern? Did he not knock, but just opened your door? Were you there?

No and the police won't treat it as such... most apt leases allow for routine maintenance without notice * the NOTICE is in the lease * in the absence of your being there to allow entry, the maintenance person has authorization to enter through the lease document with your signature.

Man I want a copy of that lease to use on all of my rentals

He did not enter to do maintenance as allowed in the lease, he merely entered to see if you were home for some visitor. But this depends on what type of place you live, for example all of the older people who live in assisted living or a elderly apartments have where maintenance can go in plus it is common for people to enter to see if you are home or just to see if you are OK.

What type of place do you live in,

Hello again:

What's written in the lease matters not. State landlord tenant laws trump leases every time. Indeed, from the state of Virginia, you can see that a landlord is required to give notice.

§ 55-248.18. Access; consent; correction of nonemergency conditions; relocation of tenant.
A. The tenant shall not unreasonably withhold consent to the landlord to enter into the dwelling unit in order to inspect the premises, make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations or improvements, supply necessary or agreed services or exhibit the dwelling unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workmen or contractors. The landlord may enter the dwelling unit without consent of the tenant in case of emergency. The landlord shall not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant. Except in case of emergency or if it is impractical to do so, the landlord shall give the tenant notice of his intent to enter and may enter only at reasonable times. Unless impractical to do so, the landlord shall give the tenant at least 24-hours' notice of routine maintenance to be performed that has not been requested by the tenant.

There are some landlords who feel that THEY are THE homeowner, and that landlord tenant laws are nothing more than an impediment to business written by pesky liberals, who are only interested in protecting dead beat tenants against God fearing, Nascar loving, good old American homeowners. These landlords typically believe they are only letting the tenant stay in their property as a matter of courtesy – a “license”, if you will.

Then there are landlords who understand the nature of the “lease”.

Below are excerpts from Barrons Law Dictionary. “…. The difference between a lease and a license (or permit, privilege, limited custodial use) is that a lease gives exclusive possession of the premises against all the world, including the owner, while a license confers a privilege to occupy under the owner….. ”

Every landlord I've ever known falls into one of these two categories – those who believe it's the tenant's home, and those who believe it's the landlord's home.

Fortunately, the law spells out clearly, just whose home it is.

excon

When the maintenance worker came in, it was specifically to see if I was home. He did not know the woman who was knocking on the door, nor did he know for sure she actually knew me. He offered to let her in and when she declined he came in himself. He then left when I came out to talk to her and did not enter my apartment to do work for at least another 20 minutes. And yes, I was home but I was asleep and didn't hear them knocking at first.

Ex - you are quoting VRLTA statutes which I don't use for the properties I manage... I also don't have to provide pay or quit notices and can file evictions the day after my grace period expires.

If OP did not answer the door when original person knocked, how would the maintenance person know that they were/were not home unless he went in?

OP is in a multi-unit building where many services are mutual to units - water, sewer, HVAC... going into repair an item in 1 unit may require entry into another unit or several other units.

Frankly OP should be PLEASED that the maintenance person checked to see if someone was home or he may have just turned off water or AC thinking no one would be effected.

Quote:

Originally Posted by captnjac

When the maintenance worker came in, it was specifically to see if I was home. He did not know the woman who was knocking on the door, nor did he know for sure she actually knew me. He offered to let her in and when she declined he came in himself. He then left when I came out to talk to her and did not enter my apartment to do work for at least another 20 minutes. And yes, I was home but I was asleep and didn't hear them knocking at first.

Based on this I would not call it trespassing since the visit was expected. Remember, not everything falls under landlord-tenant laws... from your frustration here - and apparently with other issues - I'm sensing you're just dealing with either rudeness, unprofessionalism, poor communications, etc.

... these sorts of issues aren't going to win you anything in court.

The same is true about landlords as it is about other service providers: Some are nice, friendly, professional, perform their service well and really care about you and others are none of the above.

Live and learn: continue using ones you like and discontinue using ones you don't.

Move when you can if you don't like the service these people are giving you.