Tenant rights to refuse my access to the property for repair?

[Yannie Ko]

Hi everyone!,

i'm having a situation where i posted a notice to enter for repair in rental unit and the tenant refused to let me in. Can I still let my guy in and make repair? They said they are not home and i'm not allowed to enter? I think they act like that because they are upset that I'm not letting them renew their lease.

Any thoughts how to handle this situation would be greatly appreciated! 

[JD Martin]

What does your lease say? Always go back to the lease. If it doesn't say how access is to be handled, then you need to look at state law (and your lease shouldn't be at odds with your state's laws). Virtually everywhere allows access with reasonable notice and doesn't require the tenant's approval, and virtually everywhere allows immediate access for emergency repairs.