If you haven't already done so, please read “So. . . .Your Landlord Wants to Show Your Rental Property?  What are YOUR RIGHTS? [HYPERLINK]” to fully understand what a tenant's rights are when a landlord, in general, wants to show a rental property to a new tenant or to a purchaser of the rental property.  In that article, I discussed that a landlord must 1st seek a tenant's permission to show the rental property, but the tenant had to be reasonable in granting or refusing that consent.

However, what happens now that COVID 19 is here?

What changes is:  “what is reasonable refusal of that consent?”  Is it reasonable for unknown persons to have repeated contact in the rental home?  What precautions should be taken before anyone is granted access to the rental home?  What assurances have the landlord made to assure the tenant's safety?  Should tenants be compensated for the extra sterilization methods they have to employ?  Should tenants be compensated for the extra risk?  Are any of the tenants more vulnerable segments of the population?

What is reasonable?  Well, as always, it depends on the circumstances of each case.  Also, again, tenants should be sure that they can afford to exercise such rights.  For example, tenants who are on month to month leases should be especially careful since the landlord may choose not to renew the lease for the next month.

Conclusion

Tenants have rights when a landlord wants to access the rental property.  However, in exercising those rights, tenants must act reasonably.  The Law Offices of Debi Rumph and her Tenant's Clinic charge reasonable fees for strategic solutions for illegal access and for full representation for illegal access.