Barbara Lickness wrote:
> If they scheduled a rental licensing inspection on > this property, the property owner would have to let > them in and unsuspecting tenants might not get taken > like this. This is actually a somewhat interesting issue among some landlords, tenants, and the inspections division. There is nothing in the law that allows a property owner to let an inspector into a tenant's unit absent an administrative search warrant That is, the general thought among folks in inspections (and among constitutional scholars) is that a landlord cannot constitutionally consent to let an inspector into a tenant's apartment on behalf of a tenant, and for this reason inspectors have been using "consent" cards that the tenants use to provide such consent. Those cards have generally been sent directly to the tenants, who fill them out and return them (or, if the need for an inspection is a result of the tenant's complaint, the tenant signs a consent form when the inspector comes out for the inspection). There is talk that the ordinance may be amended (it could have already been amended, I'm just not up to speed but I'll find out) to do the following: the city sends a notice to the landlord for the need for an inspection, and the owner/landlord must respond to the notice by scheduling an inspection. Once scheduled, the owner/landlord is responsible for informing the tenant of the inspection date, requesting permission from the tenants, and providing the "consent" cards to the tenants. The landlord is then responsible for obtaining the tenant's signatures on the consent cards and returning them to inspections. In most cases consent is not an issue. I have, however, been involved in one situation where a landlord intercepted and forged tenants' signatures on cards to NOT let an inspection occur, and I'm generally aware of other similar situations. The thought is that the landlord then avoids an inspection (unless the city gets a warrant), and a tenant is too afraid at times to press forward with getting a needed inspection. The proposed ordinance that shifts the responsiblity to the landlord to distribute and obtain consent cards may increase the abuses in which a landlord makes no effort to obtain consent or, in giving the cards to the tenant, discourages consent to an inspection. As Barb noted, many tenants are too afraid to do anything that is perceived to negatively affect the landlord-tenant relationship (the landlord generally has economic power over the tenant unless tenants in the building are organized) and everyone loses-- the tenant, the city, and the neighbors who are tired of a rundown property next to them. To be fair to inspections, they are dealing with a very difficult issue and one in which they are often threatened with (or already on the other end of) lawsuits. Gregory Luce N.Phillips _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
