Hi, I just want to double check something for my friend. She is currently renting a room in a town house. All the other rooms are also being rented out. All tenants share use of the common areas. One of the rooms is still empty and is being shown to prospective renters.

Her landlord drops by constantly unannounced. She will just walk into the townhouse without knocking or letting anyone know she is coming over. She leaves a tray for rent money in the kitchen, then drops by within the time of a 5 day span to pick it up (w/o notice). One day she dropped by, the kitchen sink was messy and there were ants. She became upset, cleaned up the mess, threw out one of the tenant's bowls because she said it had been there forever without being washed and left a note saying her and the tenants needed to hold a house meeting and if she found any more messes, the culprit would have to pay a fine.

In the case of this being a shared townhouse amongst about 5 people, the California Civil Code 1954 still applies, correct? The landlord needs to give at least one of the tenants advance notice she will be coming over and for what purpose? Does she need to let each tenant know or is just one sufficient? In the case of showing the empty room for potential renters, does she need to give 24 hr. notice or just like a phone call or something to let the tenants know she is coming over? I understand her being upset over the ants. What can be done in that situation? Is she allowed to charge penalty fees for having a mess?

Thanks for your answers in advance! :)