Legal Question on Showing Apartments

Check your lease - in a regulated apartment, landlord only needs to give 24 hours notice that he (or an agent of his choosing, so yes, the doorman or super if they really felt it necessary) is going to enter.

You have to give 24 hours notice prior to showing.

Regardless of what your lease says, don't assume it will be adhered to, and don't take any chances. Lock up any important papers or possessions you don't want others rifling through or potentially stealing. If you don't have a filing cabinet or drawer that locks, see if you can leave some belongings with a trusted friend.

Many years ago, I had prospective tenants let into my apartment presumably unsupervised, and let me tell you it was no fun having a bunch of account numbers changed after I found a stack of papers that had obviously been rifled through. It was probably just someone being nosy, but I didn't take any chances. The next time I moved, I locked all of my papers in a filing cabinet and moved some important possessions to storage.

When looking for an apartment this year, a broker repeatedly let me into several occupied apartments unsupervised for at least 5 full minutes while he went outside to take a phone call. These tenants had jewelry, account statements, and many other valuables that could have been easily lifted.

What recourse fo you have if the landlord dosent give the 24 notice. I came home the other day and he was showing my apartment w/o notice. I was furious.

It all depends on whether you have a regulated or unregulated apartment.

If you have a regulated apartment, you can file a complaint and petition for a rent decrease - though you will be hard pressed to prove any sort of damages incurred.

If you have a market rate apartment, you are probably SOL unless damages are explicitly laid out in your lease. Best case scenario, you can probably declare your landlord in violation of the lease and move out if you wanted to.

Again, if its not in the lease and you have an unregulated apartment - there is no limitation on landlords right to entry.

You can get a pitbull and treat all unannounced visitors as trespassers.

You have little practical legal recourse. The more you alienate the landlord, the more difficult it is going to be to get your deposit back at the end. Concentrate on moving, prepare for the worst in terms of showings, and get this all behind you.

If you must act, try letter to the landlord, attorney's letter to landlord, changing lock cylinder...or perhaps a polite phone call to agent or conversation with super to work out any "miscommunications." Terms of lease should be honored by all.