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Is a Landlord allowed to search your apartment in New Jersey?

I am new to housing market and want to know if i rent an apartment in New Jersey, can my landlord search my apartment without my consent. I know houses and vehicles have to have consent to search, so is there a law protecting tenants from searches without notice? i know there could be things in a lease allowing the landlord various things, but protective LAWs trump leases in all aspects. So is there a law that will keep them out unless i consent?

Public Comments

1. A landlord has the legal right to access the premises to inspect or make repairs. Unless it is an emergency, they need to give you notice before they are going to do so. (A broken water pipe is an emergency, normal maintenance is not) They are never allowed to go through your personal belongings, they can not touch them unless it is necessary to move something to gain access to inspect or repair something
2. You're confusing the fourth amendment of the US Constitution with contract law. The Constitution gives you protection against police searches unless you consent or the police have probable cause. When you rent an apartment, you are forming a contract with the landlord, and the contract will almost certainly specify that the landlord can enter the premises to do a safety inspection or in response to an emergency, but needs to notify you otherwise. Many landlords stretch this, and send in a repair worker claiming it to be an emergency. The only way to fight it is to go to court, which you're very unlikely to do, and the landlord knows this. If the landlord enters the apartment while you are out, the landlord only needs to claim that there seemed to be an odor of natural gas or smoke. If the landlord is searching your underwear drawer, this will be hard to cover as an emergency, but the police will be likely to consider this a civil contract matter, not a criminal matter.
3. Searches? The landlord never really has the right to come in and go through your things. But, he does have rights to enter the property. NJ law is a bit hazy on this, but it says that for reason of inspection, maintenance, the landlord must give you reasonble notice and you must comply. NJ considers reasonable notice to be 24 hours. The landlord can enter WITHOUT notice or permission in the case of an emergency or if "inspection is desired to implement the policy of the Bureau of Housing Inspection." http://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/codes/publications/pdf_lti/right_of_entry.pdf Now, there are certain contracts that a landlord can draw up that ~does~ give him the right to search your personal items, but you have to agree with that. Halfway houses and drug rehabs are great examples of rental properties that often allow this type of clause. As far as the nolo link, yes, it says that there is no statute, but NJ DCA begs to differ.
4. The landlord has the right to enter the unit for various reasons such as to make repairs. They're required to give you advanced notice unless they have a reason to believe there's an emergency. While they're in the unit, they can enter each room as necessary but they can't "search" through your stuff. That means they can't be opening drawers & closet doors or looking under your bed unless they have a valid reason why they need to do so as part of the repairs/emergency reason that they came into the unit in the first place.
5. Rental laws very in all states. However entering a unit is the same in all states. A owner/landlord must put it in writing with a 24 hour notice to enter. They can enter in an emergency at any time. But most never go through your personal belongings. There are those exceptions to every rule.
6. The landlord cna only search what they own. No one needs a warrant to look at their own stuff. They own the floor, ceilings, walls, cabinets, closets, built in drawers, etc. They can search all of that. Your property can not be searched at all by them, ever, under any circumstances.
7. Landlord does not search your apartment without your permission. But if there is an emergency concern which is considerable, he can search your place without having your consent.