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A landlord grants the police the right to search to apartment of his/her tendant. Is this legal?

this question came to my Government class and now I'm really curious. This has never happened to me by the way.

Public Comments

  1. The police shouldn't even have too ask
  2. Absolutely...it's the landlords property.
  3. Nope. Your landlord is not entitled to let the police enter your home without a warrant. The police would have to point to exigent circumstances (hearing a huge fight, smelling pot, etc.). Unfortunately, some leases have small print granting access, saying something like "Landlord reserves the right to allow entry of law enforcement officials, upon request." Edit: Amazing the amount of people who don't know the law.
  4. Yes it is legal, since the landlord is the owner of the place. The police may search the apartment but not any closed or locked things as in: duffel-bags, safes, or anything of that nature
  5. It is legal when the police have been presented with probable cause to do the search or were there a judge's order to enter the apartment. The police can not enter the tenant's apartment without probable cause to do so, and were they to do so, they may be charged with breaking and entering.
  6. No. BUT.... if it was reasonable for the officer to believe that the person who gave them permission to search had the authority to do so, then the results of the search will remain admissible. For example.... "John" owns an apartment complex. He lets himself into an apartment without the tenants permission, while he's not there. This is illegal. He sees what appears to be bags of Cocaine, a scale, and smaller baggies on the table, so he calls the police and asks them to come over. The police knock on the door, and John opens it and invites the officers in. John has no legal right to do this, but it is perfectly reasonable for the officers to assume that the person who answers the door when they knock is a resident, so the "search" that they carry out when the walk in is legal, and the results are admissible in court. The tenant, "Bob" comes home and is arrested for assorted felony drug charges. At the police station, though, Bob tells the cops that he's a homeopathic medicine provider, and that the white powder is homeopathic medicine, and perfectly legal. Lab tests show that he's telling the truth, and he's released. Bob has no case against the police - they acted legally and reasonably, in good faith. He does, however, have a good solid lawsuit against John for all his financial damages arising from John's illegal entry into the apartment. Richard
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