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The question:

Maybe you’ve decided to move or maybe your landlord has decided to sell.

Either way, you’re likely about to have a whole lot of strangers in your home.

Dealing with apartment viewings can be stressful. Can your landlord show up unannounced with prospective tenants in tow? What if there are constant knocks on your door and a stream of potential buyers looking in your fridge and opening your closets day and night?

When it comes to apartment viewings, what rights do tenants have?

The answer:

In most cases, a tenant can’t bar their landlord from showing their apartment, but there are limitations and rules both landlords and tenants have to follow — and that depends on the context of the viewing, says Caryma Sa’d, a lawyer who specializes in criminal and landlord/tenant law.

“If the tenant has provided written notice of termination (of their lease), the landlord needs to make a reasonable effort to provide notice to the tenant (for viewings),” she says. The landlord isn’t required to give written notice of entry in this case, she says, but may only enter the unit between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

On the other hand, if your landlord is selling the property and showing your unit to potential buyers, 24 hours’ written notice is required in addition to the 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. time restriction, says Cole Webber, a legal clinic worker at Parkdale Community Legal Services.

A landlord may also give a broker or real estate agent written permission to enter the unit on their behalf, so long as they have given proper notice to the tenant. Landlords must also accompany prospective renters during all showings, says Sa’d.

In both instances, there is also no restriction on how frequently the landlord can schedule showings, she says, so long as the landlord complies with restrictions surrounding written notice or time of day.

“That can be a source of contention, especially where there’s a high volume of viewings over a long period of time,” she says. “It can stop feeling like home.”

That said, you might have a case if you think the showings are excessive, Webber says.

“The landlord is expected to be generally reasonable,” Webber says. “If there were repeated viewings late in the evening, the tenant may have grounds to complain about that.”

Tenants who feel their rights are being infringed on, or their reasonable enjoyment of the unit is being affected, may lodge a complaint with the Landlord and Tenant Board.

“It’s very important to document things ... for both landlords and tenants, because if it comes to a hearing you want to be prepared,” Sa’d says.

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The LTB is the arbiter for most disputes between landlords and tenants, she says, and can enforce things such as compensation or orders on how either party should behave going forward.

But overall, Sa’d says the laws governing showings often call for give and take between landlords and tenants.

For example, a landlord may enter the unit to take photographs for real estate listings if the tenancy agreement authorizes entry for that purpose, Sa’d says, but a tenant’s “reasonable right to privacy” still entitles them to ask that pictures not contain their personal belongings, and 24 hours’ written notice is required.

A landlord also cannot force a tenant to leave for a showing, but if a tenant is present during the showing, they should not be obstructing the event in any way, she says.

Tenants are also supposed to keep their unit in a state of “ordinary cleanliness” for showings, Sa’d says. That’s a vague term that leaves room for interpretation, and some landlords might have a stricter idea of what it means than the people actually living in the space.

Regardless of interpretation, tenants shouldn’t be expected to make their place look as if it’s been staged or maintained in “magazine-page” perfection, Sa’d says.

“Common sense and decency goes a long way,” she says.

With files from Ilya Bañares and Emma Sandri

Rhianna Jackson-Kelso is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star’s radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @RhiannaJK

Correction — Sept. 7, 2019: This article has been updated from an earlier version to clarify that the 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. time restriction applies if your landlord is selling the property and showing your unit to potential buyers. In addition, the article clarifies that a landlord may enter the unit to take photographs for real estate listings if the tenancy agreement authorizes entry for that purpose.