How many hours' notice must a landlord give before entering in California?

24 hours. The standard is reasonable written notice, and 24 hours is presumed reasonable. The notice must state the date, the approximate time, and the purpose of the entry.

What reasons allow a landlord to enter a rental in California?

A landlord may enter only for an emergency; to make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations, or improvements, or to supply necessary or agreed services; to show the unit; for a pre-move-out inspection; under a court order; after abandonment or surrender; for the purposes of the Civil Code chapter on water submeters; or for the inspection of balconies and other exterior elevated elements the Health and Safety Code requires.

Can a landlord enter without notice in an emergency in California?

Yes — California recognizes an emergency exception to the entry-notice requirement.

Are there time-of-day limits on when a landlord can enter in California?

Entry must be during normal business hours unless the tenant consents, at the time of entry, to an entry outside them. The rule does not apply in an emergency or after the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the unit.

How much notice must a landlord give before entering in California?

Verified October 1, 2026 Correction October 2, 2026 All California topics →

Check your municipality. California does not preempt local rent regulation — city or county ordinances may impose rent caps, notice periods, and fee limits that are stricter than the state law on this page. Verify your municipality's ordinances before relying on any figure below. Verified local pages: Berkeley, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Hayward, Inglewood, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County (unincorporated), Mountain View, Oakland, Oxnard, Pasadena, Pomona, Richmond, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, West Hollywood.

What the state record says

California has a statewide rent cap. The Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482) limits annual increases on covered units to the lesser of 5% plus regional CPI or 10%, with at most two increases per 12 months. Many units are exempt, and stricter local rent-control ordinances control where they exist. The cap is codified at Civ. Code § 1947.12. It is measured against the lowest gross rent charged in the prior 12 months, and rent discounts, incentives, concessions or credits the owner offered and the tenant accepted are left out of that figure, so the cap is worked out from the undiscounted rent. The gross monthly rate and any owner-offered discounts, incentives, concessions or credits must be listed and identified separately in the lease or rental agreement, or in any amendment to an existing one. The cap remains in effect until January 1, 2030, when the section is repealed. Exempt: housing with a certificate of occupancy issued within the previous 15 years (a rolling window), unless it is a mobilehome; single-family homes, condos and other units that can be sold separately, where the owner is not a REIT, a corporation, an LLC with a corporate member or mobilehome park management, and the tenants have been given the statutory written exemption notice; a duplex where the owner lived in one unit at the start of the tenancy and still does, and neither unit is an accessory or junior accessory dwelling unit; deed-restricted or subsidized affordable housing; school and college dormitories; and housing under a local rent-control law that limits annual increases to less than the state cap.

California landlords must give reasonable written notice before entering an occupied unit — 24 hours is presumed reasonable — stating the date, approximate time, and purpose, and entry must happen during normal business hours unless the tenant consents at the time of entry.

Cited to Cal. Civ. Code § 1954 and 2 more cited sources · Verified October 1, 2026

Entry without notice is allowed only in emergencies, with the tenant's at-the-door consent, or after the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the unit.

California entry notice at a glance

Advance notice required	24 hours
Notice standard	The standard is reasonable written notice, and 24 hours is presumed reasonable. The notice must state the date, the approximate time, and the purpose of the entry. Entry must be during normal business hours unless the tenant consents, at the time of entry, to an entry outside them; the hours rule does not apply in an emergency or after the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the unit. Six days' mailed notice is presumed reasonable when notice is mailed. Two exceptions to written notice: to show the unit to prospective or actual buyers, notice may be given orally, in person or by telephone (24 hours presumed reasonable), if the landlord told the tenant in writing within the previous 120 days that the property is for sale, and the landlord must leave written evidence of the entry inside the unit; and the tenant and landlord may agree orally to an entry to make agreed repairs or supply agreed services, on a date within one week of the agreement.
Permitted reasons	A landlord may enter only for an emergency; to make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations, or improvements, or to supply necessary or agreed services; to show the unit; for a pre-move-out inspection; under a court order; after abandonment or surrender; for the purposes of the Civil Code chapter on water submeters; or for the inspection of balconies and other exterior elevated elements the Health and Safety Code requires. The showing category covers showings to prospective or actual tenants, buyers, lenders, workers, or contractors.
Emergency exception	Yes
Time-of-day restrictions	Entry must be during normal business hours unless the tenant consents, at the time of entry, to an entry outside them. The rule does not apply in an emergency or after the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the unit.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, California Landlord Entry Notice Laws (verified October 1, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/entry-notice/california/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Notes and caveats

A lease cannot sign away the entry protections — A lease clause in which the tenant gives up the rights the entry section provides is void as contrary to public policy. California names that section, together with the security deposit section, as one of the sets of rights a rental agreement may not modify or waive (Civ. Code § 1953(a)(1)).
Entry to inspect for bed bugs follows the entry section — Entry to inspect a tenant's unit for bed bugs must comply with the entry section, so the same written notice and normal business hours requirements apply. Entry to inspect any unit the pest control operator selects, and follow-up inspections of surrounding units until bed bugs are eliminated, count as a necessary service for the purpose of that section. Tenants must cooperate with the inspection, including giving the pest control operator information needed to detect and treat bed bugs. Civ. Code § 1954.604.

Common questions: California entry notice

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How many hours' notice must a landlord give before entering in California?: 24 hours. The standard is reasonable written notice, and 24 hours is presumed reasonable. The notice must state the date, the approximate time, and the purpose of the entry.
What reasons allow a landlord to enter a rental in California?: A landlord may enter only for an emergency; to make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations, or improvements, or to supply necessary or agreed services; to show the unit; for a pre-move-out inspection; under a court order; after abandonment or surrender; for the purposes of the Civil Code chapter on water submeters; or for the inspection of balconies and other exterior elevated elements the Health and Safety Code requires.
Can a landlord enter without notice in an emergency in California?: Yes — California recognizes an emergency exception to the entry-notice requirement.
Are there time-of-day limits on when a landlord can enter in California?: Entry must be during normal business hours unless the tenant consents, at the time of entry, to an entry outside them. The rule does not apply in an emergency or after the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the unit.

Changes since last full verification

The Verified date above (October 1, 2026) marks the last time every figure on this page was verified end-to-end against official sources. The changes below were published since then, each verified against the official source it names (what these dates mean).

Correction, October 2, 2026 — Notice periods now print in the unit each statute uses (correction). Entry notice: the statutes of Alabama, Arizona, Hawaii, Kentucky, Rhode Island and Washington say two days and Oklahoma's says one day, and those pages show days; Delaware's and Vermont's say 48 hours, and their pages, which had shown 2 days, now show 48 hours. Eviction notice for unpaid rent: California, Florida and Utah give three days that leave out Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, and their pages now show 3 business days, as does California's lease-violation notice; Nevada's shows 7 judicial days; Alabama's two notices show 7 business days. Each statute was read on its official site on October 1, 2026. No period changed.

Citations

Cal. Civ. Code § 1954 (verified 2026) Official source
Cal. Civ. Code § 1953 · (a)(1) (verified 2026) Official source
Cal. Civ. Code § 1954.604 (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Web verification against leginfo.legislature.ca.gov (Civ. Code 1950.5, 827; AB 12 bill text) with corroborating county/city government sources (SF.gov, LA County DCBA, San Mateo County) for AB 1482 and Civ. Code 1954 operation. October 1, 2026: every section the security deposit, rent increase, late fee, entry and eviction answers rest on was read again on leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, with its credit line: Civil Code sections 827, 1671, 1942.9, 1946.2, 1946.3, 1947.12, 1950.5, 1954 and 1954.50 to 1954.535 and Code of Civil Procedure sections 12, 12a, 715.010, 1013, 1161, 1162, 1167, 1169, 1170.5, 1174, 1176 and 1179, with rule 8.822 of the California Rules of Court on courts.ca.gov. The newest amendments to these sections are 2025 acts in force since January 1, 2026. All 1,040 chapters of the 2026 statutes were screened, and none amends, adds or repeals any of them.