I'm certainly no lawyer, but what does your lease say about her showing the place? On the lease for my apartment if she contacts me 24 hours in advance she has the right to show my apartment to anybody.

 

1: The case you cite is for single family homes, you are in a townhouse. Not applicable.

2: Probably a clause in your lease like knifeboy said. Every lease I ever signed had a clause like that, with 24 - 72 hours notice.

3: IANAL, but you should consult one if you are serious about fighting this. A local legal defense group or renters rights group could also help (usually a local college with a law school offers free assistance to renter legal matters).

4: Unless it is a fire departmetn inspection, in which case I wouldn't stand too close to the door when you tell them "no".

Good luck.

Hey look there, a LEVE List (tm).

 

Lease? What lease? The landlady is my mother, maybe I should have been more clear about that. I've been here over 13 years and any agreement is verbal and states that I treat it like it's mine.

It is considered a single family dwelling. There happen to be 6 units in a common structure, but they are zoned as and considered single family dwellings. I am the only one in the building that rents, the others are owned by the residents. They are only inspecting mine because I rent.

 

As a landlord (I own a 2 unit duplex as well as my own home and some unimproved property) I've never had a govt entity of anytime ask to do an inspection. Though I've had to answer many questionaires Not sure if the laws here would apply there anyhow. Most states though, if the actual landowner (even if they are related to you by blood) gives you 24hr notice you MUST allow them entry. If a govt agent comes to your door and asks to be let in you CAN refuse entry if they don't have a warrant. However if the request comes from the landlord you must allow them entry since they own the actual property.

At least that's how I understand the law.

Good luck with it.

 

Non compliance with their request could result in the place becoming condemed, "uninhabitable." Then it's tons of red tape and inspections to change that status.
Making them get a warrant usually complicates things, after all, if you make them mad they can do all kinds of harrassing things.

I'm no lawyer, but have owned rentals before.

Find out what they are inspecting for, then make it comply. They are probably mostly interested in tax, but they may want to see that it has proper safe heating, working toilets, running water, and free of rodents.

Is it a health department inspection?
Property tax evaluation?
Code enforcement?

She must have told them it was a rental unit - maybe by tax returns etc, rather than just part of the family residence, like a granny house.

 

Warrants are required for a violation of whats know as an area with a "resonable expectation of privacy" (REP). However, this applies only to the suppression of criminal evidence againts someone who has standing to argue that their REP and rights were violated. "Inspections" by a governmental agency, which follow (their) documented guidelines, are exempt from the warrant requirement, as it is not a search for criminal evidence. Such evidence could be found during and inspection, and could be used against the party under the "plain view" exeception to the warrant requirement, but it is totaly legal, unless the "inspection" is just an illegal trick to search for evidence of a crime.

Bottom line is you must allow an inspection of your residence if the inspection is allowed/required under the law.

PS: I have been in federal law enforcement for over 6 years.

 

That is a complicated situation, I would defintely run that past a lawyer.

 

"Unreasonable search and seizure" (4th ammendment) protection applies to law enforcement seizures/searches. A city building inspector, health inspector, fire inspector, or code compliance inspector is not a law enforcement agent or representative and can therefore according to local codes and laws of a particular jurisdiction if so applicable inspect property for insurance of compliance with these cdes. It is considered a safety inspection. The expectation of privacy in a rental property should not be lower according to the Supreme Court, but again those decisions apply to law enforcement action, not code compliance.

As a law enforcement officer I have often been in houses that I have deemed uninhabitable or unsafe and forwarded my findings to our housing department. THe housing department has then made inspections of the property to ensure compliance and in several cases deemed the buildings unihabitable.

A rental property is more prone to inspections by compliance officials due to the nature of transient residents. Typically rental properties suffer more wear and tear and are more prone to violations.

If you are that dead set on attempting to deny entry to the inspector(s) I would certainly follow up with an attorney prior to their arrival to prevent any possible legal action against yourself.

Again, a warrant is not typically needed for this type of inspection. This is not a fourth ammendment issue, but a local code/ordinance issue.

Hope this helps, even though I am sure it is not what you wanted to hear.

Good luck

-web

 

I assume its something similar to here in Canada.

Police officers need a warrent, unless there's a life/death situation.

BUt.. Bylaw, Immigration, Customs, Revenue, and Tax people don't ... neither do animal control or anything..

There was a case in my home town about 2 years ago where someone had dogs in the backyard making noise. Neighbour complained, and said he was "breeding" them. He didn't have a licence, so the Mayor, Bylaw, Animal Control, and a few police officers turned up with a media contingent.

They busted through his gate, into the back yard and took the two neutered male dogs into custody..

The neighbour was wrong and just wanted some thing done about it.. the Mayor was promptly not-reelected and a lot of crap went through the corts with the guy who owned to dogs getting a fat settlement..

So, I think they do have the right, to do so, but they have to watch themselves very carefully.

 

Webjeep pretty much covered it. I am also a cop, and most is covered under the 4th amendment. However, any local (state, county, or municiple) ordinances can superceed the laws of searches and siezures by using outside agencies. Things to keep in mind, most of these ordinances are specific (ie wiring, ventalation, safety equipment, etc...) There is also case law that upholds law enforcement taking part as an assisting agency in such searches. If you denie them access, and they are granted search under local law, they will be back with a warrant in very short order. Let them look, but know your local inspection laws and limit their search to those specific items. If you have something you do not wish for them to see, keep it in a room uneffected by such searches.