Illegal Apartment inspections

[printman31]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois

My town Schiller Park has passed an ordinance compelling all tenants to permitting the village inspector into their apartments. If they don't comply they're issued tickets & dragged into court. Well I know I have a constitutional right to request any inspector for a warrant to enter my apartment. The issue of whether a village has the right to warrantless searches has already been decided in see vs seattle & Camara vs municipal cout of san fransico. Also in Black vs park forest in the circuit court of cook county,illinois. What I don't get is how despite court ruling against villages & cities. How these places still continue to disregard peoples 4th amendment rights. Yes I know many will say that If I have nothing to hide then I'd let them in. Whether I have something to hide or not is not the question. The question is if a Government agency has the right to conduct warrantless searches?. I say they don't, The constitution say's they don't. & the U.S, Supreme Court say's they don't. But yet they still continue. WHY???

 

[FarmerJ]

Print first off when cities institute these kinds of inspection ords for the first time they are only going to be able to do so many any given week. So in some cities it can take years before city inspectors are going to come. Second I kind of think they would have a hard time ticketing a tenant and making the fines stick because ultimately all they have to do is send the LL proper notice and require the LL to be available to give them access. So again a tenant could not block the inspection. I would suggest if your that curious about the possibility of being ticketed and city getting a fine from a tenant that you have a atty review the city ord for potential flaws. Many areas in the last couple years have instituted so called rental housing related ords due to the number of previously owner occupied properties being used as rentals because of foreclosures being bought and used as rentals. As far as a tenant restricting inspections it may not be a good thing since there really can be small things that inspections might find such as a furnace or hot water heater that is not vented properly or a unit not having fire safety equipment that a tenant just didnt know was required. Last I would suggest your forgetting that a LL or LLs agent can enter a unit when it is not a emergency as long as proper notice is given and blocking entry can lead to a tenant being evicted. So seriously if you really think the ord is badly written hire a atty to review it for you and give you the odds of being able to win / fight any ticket given. ( personally I think your city is going after the wrong party , because all they have to do is notify the LL to be present to give them access) but again this is something you can discuss with a atty.

 

[Baranov]

Get together with a landlord association and file suit against the village. The more landlords get involved the better.

 

[printman31]

FarmeJ

I can understand the reasoning behind these type of inspections. I have a problem with being ordered that I MUST comply or else. The towns reasoning is basicly this. Our intentions are good. We're trying to protect the tenents of these apartments. I don't need big brother protecting me. If I have a problem with my landlord. I will work it out with him. We have a pretty good relationship. And if there was a problem that he refused to fix. Then the village get's involved. This is the procedure that has already been laid for tenents. Now let's go back to the villages good intentions. Let's see what our fore fathers have to say about them.

Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters. – Daniel Webster (1782-1852)

I do hold the right to refuse village inspectors into my apartment. I have refused them entry into my apartment. I have received my ticket & I am happy to go to court & defend my rights. so there are no if's on whether this town would do this or not. As I've said in my org post. This issue has been decided already in the case's that have already been citied. Tenents are afforded the 4th amendment protections of the U. S. Constitution from village inspections. Whether they are saftey,fire,health or building codes. They have been deemed as unreasonable searches when they are not wanted(as per the U.S. Supreme Court).

My landlord & I are in agreement that this ordinance is illegal & unjust. We will stand together in court & defend our rights. Why should my landlord get a ticket for my actions?? Is that right??? No it isn't. This ordinance is designed to create a division between land owner & tenant & punishing the land owner if the tenent refuses entry. Sorry but the 4th amendment trumps the 24 hour notice.

 

[Hot Topic]

Hire an attorney. Making speeches on a forum that it's highly unlikely the "guilty parties" will ever see is not a remedy for the situation.

 

[printman31]

Hire an attorney. Making speeches on a forum that it's highly unlikely the "guilty parties" will ever see is not a remedy for the situation.

Yes I'm searching for an attorney. I got my ticket today & have started my search today. I have contacted the Attorney generals office of Illinois to file a complaint against the village. It is their job to protect the citizens rights. I got their number from my state house representative who agrees that these inspections are going beyond the scope. I have filed a complaint with the ACLU. And have issued complaints to my senators & congressman. I hoping the old phrase of the squeeking wheel gets the greese will hold true. My problem is that these type of inspections can lead to the degradation of the 4th amendment. First it's tenents that don't have the right. then it's your single family homes. Yes I'm ranting. It ticks me off that towns get away with actions such as this because there are so many lemmings in this country that just want to comply. I don't want to be a lemming. I want what our fore fathers wanted for all of us. I hear people saying that villages & cities can legally do this. I guess I just want to inform people that they can fight against these type of practices. No I didn't expect any village officials of this town to see this. If they didn't care what the people said @ the village meetings.I doubt they'll care if they see it on some website. But they might care if they see it on the evening news. I've been contacting the local media & they're interested in the story.

FindLaw | Cases and Codes
See v. City of Seattle
Black v. Village of Park Forest | Institute for Justice: Litigating for Liberty

Off my soapbox..

 

[FarmerJ]

Print one of the ways that cities get away with it is that they require rental lics then require the units to be inspected at some point and they are the ones to force the LLs into compliance, and it is centered around the fear that a LL has a higher risk to the community of not maintaining the structure and the fund raising they can get away with re licensing & inspection fees they go after LLs for. Yet of course they can also enforce ord violation/corrections re the exteriors of owner occupied homes, some cities have gone as far as requiring inspections at the time of sale when a property is sold too, I know of a number of cities in MN that do this as a way to attempt to force upgrades of older housing stock. All I can say is best of wishes to you fighting this and please come back from time to time and post again to this same thread so other site users can see what has happened.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

http://illegalapartmentinspections.org/renters/schiller-park-blows-renters-privacy-rights

You piqued my curiosity here:

Village of Schiller Park (Illinois) housing inspectors want to enter every single apartment in the village at least once a year to make sure safety items, such as smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, remain in place and are working properly.

Once inside, however, inspectors search for other obscure maintenance problems and can issue violations that can lead to fines and fees for re-inspections. In recent apartment inspections in Schiller Park, inspectors cited tenants for basic maintenance issues, such a soap scum on shower tiles or dirty cooking stoves. One tenant was told he could not use a futon as a sleeping bed in the living room.

From what I could find, you might well be served by contacting the ACLU.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-regional/11779099-1.html

Apartment renters and owners contend the annual mandatory inspections without court orders are a violation of constitutional right to privacy and discriminatory. Involuntary inspections do not apply to renters in single-family homes, condominiums, or building with fewer than four units.

Owners and renters also say:

* Schiller Park housing inspectors are issuing citations, threatening fines and fees, and taking owners to court for refusing access for annual inspections without court orders. SCHILLER PARK, Ill. -- More than 150 angry apartment renters and owners from Schiller Park are expected to pack a village board meeting 8 p.m. Tuesday to protest alleged illegal apartment inspections in the Chicago west suburban community.

Apartment renters and owners contend the annual
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mandatory inspections without court orders are a violation of constitutional right to privacy and discriminatory. Involuntary inspections do not apply to renters in single-family homes, condominiums, or building with fewer than four units.

"Everyday, the United States of America puts our young men and women in harms way to fight for democracy in far-away countries. Yet, everyday in Schiller Park, Illinois, officials are trampling all over citizens' basic constitutional right to privacy and treating renters as second rate citizens," said Sal Cinquegrani, a long-time Schiller Park apartment owner and spokesman for the group.

"The U.S. constitution does not stop at Schiller Park boundaries," Cinquegrani charged. "If village officials have good reasons to enter and inspect a person's apartment, they should get a court order before entering someone's home."

Owners and renters also say:

* Schiller Park housing inspectors are issuing citations, threatening fines and fees, and taking owners to court for refusing access for annual inspections without court orders.

* In 2008, Schiller Park collected more than $35,000 in re-inspection fees and fines as part of its multi-dwelling apartment inspection program.

* When owners open apartment doors for inspectors, they expose themselves to other legal risks if tenants are not home at the time of inspections.

* By threatening owners to open apartment doors, Schiller Park officials essentially want owners to waive their renters' constitutional right to privacy. Officials also avert legal expenses to seek warrants for inspections.

"Hauling owners or renters to court and forcing them to incur legal expenses to defend themselves against warrantless inspections is a disgraceful waste of tax payers' dollars and peoples' time," Cinquegrani said.

Schiller Park housing inspectors want to enter every apartment at least once a year to ensure safety items such as smoke and carbon monoxide detectors remain in place and working properly.

"I feel completely safe in my apartment," said Serge Qamar, a Schiller Park apartment renter. "If I ever feel unsafe or my building manager is non-responsive to building repairs and maintenance, I can move or report problems to proper authorities.

"I work long hours everyday and it is a hardship for me to take time off from work to be home for an apartment inspection," Qamar said. "I prefer not to have anyone enter my apartment when I am not there."

For more information and citizens' reactions to apartment inspections, go to www.IllegalApartmentInspections.org.

Different state, but same concept:
caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/indianastatecases/app/11100401.mgr.doc

http://www.ij.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=875&Itemid=165

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

Schiller Park is mentioned in here.
http://www.state.in.us/judiciary/opinions/previous/archive/11100401.mgr.html

Looks like many place in Illinois require it:
http://www.bestreal-estate4u.com/Content/INSPECTIONS.pdf