My property manager recently had someone request entry to a tenant’s unit claiming she was an out of town family member and wanted to wait inside the unit until the tenant came home. The manager refused the woman’s request. The woman left the manager’s office without incident. We later found out that it really was the tenant’s aunt and it would have been okay with the tenant to let the aunt in to the apartment. What should be our policy in case a similar situation was to happen in the future?
A2
Your manager was correct in not allowing a stranger to access a tenant’s apartment without the tenant’s permission for entry. You have no way to determine in fact whether the stranger is a family member, friend, or someone posing as such in order to commit a crime or harm the tenant or the tenant’s family living in the unit. You should require the visitor to provide an appropriate identification document and explain that you will need to contact the tenant for verification and authorized permission for entry.
Your policy should be to call your tenant at the contact number provided on the tenant information sheet, explain the situation, and ask if the tenant wishes to give you authorization to allow the visitor to enter the tenant’s unit. If the tenant grants permission, you should document the details of the conversation for the tenant file. If the tenant is unavailable, the contact number is invalid, or you have no other means to contact the tenant, the visitor’s request must be denied. The visitor should not be given access to the unit. You have a legal responsibility to protect the tenant and the tenant’s possessions. If you were to let a “visitor” in to the tenant’s unit without permission, the tenant could sue for invasion of privacy and/or any loss, damage, or injury suffered as a result of unauthorized entry.