Tenant refusing to allow entry for showing to prospective renters

[Diane Huetter]

I own a condo in California and have given more than 24 hours notice to tenant to schedule showings - but she has written back stating she does not give consent to my entering her unit.  She has acknowledged in writing that she understand that I have the right to enter with 24 hr notice, but she is making the claim that showing the unit interferes with her right to quiet enjoyment (claims that a prospective tenant took a photo of her unit without her permission, which I know is untrue as I walked each of the 4 prospects through individually).  Even though I know I have the legal right to show the unit, I am now hesitant to try - I worry she might create a scene in front of the prospects, etc.   Do I have any right to hold back a portion of her security deposit for lost rent this will cause? (since I may lose a month's rent if I cannot start showing to prospects until after she vacates unit)?   Or do you recommend I just proceed with the showings? 

[Ned J.]

Is the tenant moving out or are you evicting them? 

You have the legal right to enter the premises with 24 hrs notice... PERIOD.. you don't need a court order- you are the owner of the property and its specifically states that fact in the contract the tenant signed- you just have to decide if its a hill you want to die on.

yes you may get it rented just a tad faster but is it really worth hassle of battling this tenant?

I personally don't like to show units before the previous tenant moves out. I can usually turn them over really fast after tenant move out and I like them clean, empty and any maintenance or improvements done before I show them. 

I also have lot of pictures of the unit empty, so I unless there have been major changes I just use the same pictures for the listing