Legality of No Spare Key

Hello,

I live in California and am just curious about the legality of this situation.

I moved in on 12/15/25 and requested a spare key on 12/29/25, they said no, only one per tenant as I live in a 1-bedroom apartment.

The main entry you can be buzzed in via phone but the unit requires the fob access which cannot be replicated by 3rd parties. My back door which overlooks the patio can only be locked from the inside and has no other option for entry.

I am traveling on Thursday 1/15 and I have a cat who needs care over those 5 days of travel. They are not allowing a fob for my cat sitter to come in and say he will have to go without care.

If I give my fob to my sitter, he is then traveling on Monday to the east coast, so I won't have a chance to retrieve it. The office staff says as long as I come

Before 6 pm someone will be able to let me into my unit before my cat sitter returns from their travels.

My question is- is this legal? It sounds absurd. Limiting entry sure, but is a spare fob an unreasonable request? It seems more unreasonable that I would have to adjust my schedule to be allowed access to my own apartment.

And yes, I could have my sitter hide the fob somewhere within the building...I understand that...or put it under a welcome mat or something (however the building is fairly empty so I don't necessarily want to advertise that my unit is occupied as I'm on ground level).

Just curious, currently I'm making sure to get their refusal on the subject in writing. Thanks for any help.