A new legal fight in Pennsylvania is putting renter privacy and housing stability in the spotlight. Tenants Dottie and Eddy Rivera and their landlord, Steve Camburn, are again suing Pottstown after the borough adopted a rental inspection rule that they say pressures people to open their homes to government-backed searches.
Here's what to know
According to the Institute for Justice, the lawsuit says Pottstown responded to a court loss by adopting a policy meant to keep searches going even though judges said warrants for occupied rental homes require individualized probable cause.
Under the new ordinance, a tenant who turns away a borough inspector triggers a requirement for the landlord: getting that tenant's written consent for an inspection by an outside inspector approved by the borough.
Bringing in a third party does not make the search meaningfully private, according to the lawsuit, because the borough still requires it, controls the conditions, and keeps the power to enforce compliance.
Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Jeffrey Redfern said the borough's revised policy did not fix the underlying constitutional issue.
"The borough's new law is nothing more than an attempt to circumvent the Commonwealth Court's decision holding that Pottstown must establish individualized probable cause before obtaining a warrant to search an occupied rental home," Redfern said. "The government cannot get around the Constitution by outsourcing warrantless searches to third parties or coercing people into opening their doors."
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Pottstown said the Riveras' property and 14 others were operating illegally after tenants at those addresses declined inspections, then directed Camburn to start the third-party inspection process by Wednesday.
The borough said failure to do so could lead to enforcement actions, including placards, injunctions, license revocation, fines, and other penalties.
Documents cited in the case say the financial consequences could reach at least $600 per unit each month, and tenants in unlicensed homes could be required to leave.
More background
This lawsuit stems from a dispute over Pottstown's rental inspection program, which has been going on for nearly a decade.
For years, the borough has required inspections of occupied rental homes every two years for landlords to maintain a rental license.
In inspection standoffs, when tenants would not allow inspectors inside, borough officials responded by seeking administrative warrants despite having no probable cause, according to the Institute for Justice. Those warrants permitted comprehensive inspections of the homes.
The clash led to a unanimous Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania decision saying Pottstown could not obtain warrants to inspect occupied rentals without individualized probable cause.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to hear the matter, but instead of waiting for that outcome, the borough adopted its new ordinance.
What's being done?
The Institute for Justice is representing the Riveras and Camburn in the pending state court matter and in the new federal suit, which asks whether the borough can avoid normal warrant requirements by threatening fines, license loss, and displacement to push tenants into borough-directed outside inspections.
The original case turns on the standard Pottstown must meet to obtain an inspection warrant under the Pennsylvania Constitution.
The federal lawsuit, by contrast, focuses on whether the borough can reach the same result through third-party inspections enforced by monetary pressure and the possibility that tenants could lose their homes.
Camburn said the case is about refusing to let those protections erode.
"For years, the borough has been trying to force me to betray my tenants' constitutional rights, and the new threats are just the latest attempt to do so," he said. "We are ready to keep fighting for as long as it takes to make sure nobody in Pottstown is forced to open their doors without a warrant based on probable cause."
Where can I learn more?
Pottstown isn't the only place where housing rules and enforcement have pressured residents.
• After tenants faced eviction for doing laundry, lawmakers advanced a landmark renter-protection bill.
• In Pittsburgh, a homeowner challenged a property destruction notice tied to a wild native plant garden.
• In Australia, apartment management warned that fines are enforceable for clothes hanging outside.
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