Landlord Entry Notice Requirements in West Virginia
At a glance
| Governing law | No general entry-notice section in W. Va. Code article 37-6. The official article index runs §§ 37-6-1 through -31 and identifies § 37-6-6 as desertion/abandonment and § 37-6-30 as habitability and maintenance; neither creates a routine occupied-unit notice rule |
|---|---|
| Advance notice required | No statutory period or numeric default in article 37-6. Any routine-entry notice period comes from the lease or another applicable rule |
| Reasons a landlord may enter | No statutory routine-entry purpose list in article 37-6. Section 37-6-30 regulates property condition and maintenance, not landlord access |
| Permitted hours | No statutory entry-hours limit in article 37-6. Any stated window comes from the lease or another applicable rule |
| When no notice is needed | No general statutory emergency or no-notice formula, because article 37-6 creates no routine entry-notice requirement to excuse |
| Form and delivery of the notice | No statutory form, content, or delivery rule for entry. The lease governs how any notice of a routine entry is given |
| Special rules for showings | None. West Virginia has no statute addressing entry to show an occupied unit to buyers or new renters; whether and how a landlord may do so is governed entirely by the lease. See the advance-notice column |
| Tenant's remedies for unlawful entry | No entry-notice penalty is stated in article 37-6. Section 37-6-30 imposes maintenance duties but does not create an entry-specific remedy |
How entry works in West Virginia without an entry statute
The current official article 37-6 index lists §§ 37-6-1 through -31. It covers tenancy termination, desertion and abandonment, rent remedies, reentry and unlawful detainer, property destruction, habitability, and exclusions, but it has no general section setting notice before routine entry into an occupied unit.
Section 37-6-30 requires the landlord to deliver and maintain residential premises in a fit and habitable condition, comply with applicable housing and safety codes, make necessary repairs, and maintain supplied systems. It regulates property condition, not a routine entry notice period, notice form, permitted-purpose list, or hours window.
What trips people up
Do not convert the landlord's duty to make repairs into an unstated right to enter on a particular schedule. Section 37-6-30 creates maintenance duties but does not say how much notice precedes access. A lease can supply those missing operational terms.
Common questions
Does article 37-6 prescribe written entry notice? No. The article index contains no general routine-access section, and § 37-6-30 states no notice form or delivery method.
Does § 37-6-6 supply the routine rule? No. The official index identifies it as the desertion and abandonment section, not an occupied-unit access provision.
Where would a numeric routine-entry term appear? In the lease or another applicable rule, because article 37-6 supplies no number.
Statutes and sources
- W. Va. Code § 37-6-1 — the article begins with rights following a transfer of leased land or the reversion, including the successor's "like advantage by action or entry" on a lease condition, forfeiture, covenant, or promise. https://code.wvlegislature.gov/37-6-1/ (accessed 2026-08-17)
- W. Va. Code § 37-6-6 — when a tenant in rent arrears abandons the property, the landlord must post the statutory one-month notice before becoming entitled to possession and entry under subsection (a). https://code.wvlegislature.gov/37-6-6/ (accessed 2026-08-17)
- W. Va. Code § 37-6-30 — "A landlord shall ... [a]t the commencement of a tenancy, deliver the dwelling unit and surrounding premises in a fit and habitable condition, and shall thereafter maintain the leased property in such condition." The section lists maintenance duties but no routine entry notice rule. https://code.wvlegislature.gov/37-6-30/ (accessed 2026-08-17)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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