Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Unlawful entry?

Showing a rented home to prospective future tenants is permissible, but the landlord must give you "reasonable notice" and by statute 24 hours is presumed to be reasonable. In some circumstances one side or the other might be able to show that more or less notice was acceptable or required, but 24 hours is considered the standard. If you are not home to received the notice, a bona fide attempt to place the notice where you will get it will generally be accepted as effective notice. Technically it doesn't matter whether you're home or not. Some landlords would prefer you were home so there is less possibility of finger-pointing if property disappears. Others prefer that you not be there so they can discuss the property and the deal more openly. The language in your lease merely recites what's already the law and does little or nothing to increase or limit the landlord's rights.

If the lease says the carpet can be cleaned at your expense when you move out, then it can. Again, the lease only clarifies something the landlord could probably do anyway. Two years is not a short interval between carpet cleanings. It is not important that the carpet wasn't new when you moved in. Whether it was clean or not at that time might have made a difference, but the express language of the lease removes any doubt about the landlord's right to clean it at your expense.