Entering rental w/o tenant?

[Kim Parker]

HI all, thank you in advance for your wisdom and experience! My husband and I are new to investing in real estate. We have an SFH rented to a nice couple. There's an issue with the oven and since we are new owners I made a claim with the home warranty policy.

The repair tech was not a good communicator and made the renter feel uncomfortable. They ordered parts and had set a date to come back this weekend. They called recently to asked to reschedule and so I let the renters know that I would come out to meet the repair tech with the tenant if possible or I would be fine dealing with it by myself if they were away from the house.  The tenants agreed to this and said that they would be home. 

The tenants texted this morning and said that she had had a surgery and couldn’t be there because they were staying with family. They did not want anyone entering the house without being present. They requested that we reschedule the service. 

I actually was able to reschedule it very easily but I did warn the tenant that since it was within 24 hours of the service that the website noted there might be communication difficulties in rescheduling  the service. I said that if the repair man came I would meet him and take care of it. The tenant said they were not comfortable with that and wanted to be home and basically refused entry. 

She followed it up by asking if she could install a security system in the house. I told her that as long as there are no holes drilled in the outside of the house or electrical that needed changed and that they were aware that any damage to the windows or doors would come out of their deposit…I have no objections to cameras. 

I am concerned that there might be more difficulty when we need to enter the house later on in their lease (air filter/inspection or who knows what might break 😜). They have been cordial tenants and no late payments etc. but have pushed back on weight/breed restrictions for pets and asked about support animals. 

If the repair man couldn’t reschedule would I be within my rights to enter the premises even without the tenants approval? Do I need their approval even if we’ve discussed it previously and there was more than 24 hours notice? Also our communication was over text. Would that hold up if there was a question about legality?

Any other advice? Learning how to landlord and hoping for another purchase in a year….