scottsdale cooking up a sham law so messy yard cops can flush the 4th amendment down the toilet and search homes of messy yard criminal with a kangaroo search warrent. Original Article Tougher rules on rentals proposed By Ryan Gabrielson, Tribune October 19, 2005 Scottsdale is crafting a plan to use search warrants to enter rental properties when serious code violations might exist inside. The plan would allow city code inspectors to ask a judge for the authority to enter homes or apartments against the wishes of a tenant or property owner. If approved by the City Council, the rules would represent an expansion of power for the inspectors, who now respond mainly to complaints about weedy lots and rusting cars outside homes. "In some cases, if were looking at conditions that are existing on the exterior of a property, it might be logical to assume that perhaps theres issues on the inside of the property," said Raun Keagy, director of Scottsdales citizen and neighborhood resources department. As part of its effort to revitalize south Scottsdale, city officials have in recent years poured funds into code enforcement to hire new inspectors and launch programs that assist residents in aging neighborhoods to fix up their homes. The officials have also researched measures to force repairs on problem properties when owners refuse to comply with city codes. Rental properties particularly leased single-family homes have proven troublesome because the actual owners sometimes live out of state and are hard to track down, Keagy said. City officials are crafting a criteria to determine when code inspectors would seek a warrant, Keagy said. "This is a new area for us, for Scottsdale," he said. A year ago, code enforcement officials proposed annual internal inspections of rental properties and a new licensing requirement for renters of single family homes. Those ideas were largely scrapped after backlash from the rental community and several City Council members who questioned the proposals legality. Keagy said the warrants would not be part of a regular inspection program under the newest plan, but only for specific cases where there were health risks to tenants or neighbors. This time, Scottsdale has worked with the rental community on the warrant proposal. The Arizona Multi-Housing Association voiced objections to the licensing of single-family homes and annual inspections, but now has no problem with the citys plans, said Terry Feinberg, the associations executive director. "As long as it sticks to that and people have a reasonable opportunity to comply and, you know, theres a reasonable due process, we can support it," Feinberg said. The citys use of warrants would be similar to how code enforcement personnel in Phoenix and Tempe use them, Keagy said. In Scottsdale, inspectors themselves would be granted the warrants and would not automatically involve police officers, who would typically execute such a court order. In Phoenix, police officers always go along when inspectors use warrants to enter a property, said Ken Lynch, a spokesman with Phoenixs Neighborhood Services Department. "Were not law enforcement agents. We dont go to court and seek warrant permission," Lynch said. "There have been occasions where we will work with the police they do their thing, we do our thing." Keagy said the city will merge the countys database of registered rental properties with its own list to track down the owners when problems arise. Scottsdale already requires those who own at least two rental properties to obtain a city business license, and inspectors have a less-formal list of homes they have determined to be rentals. "Right now, we have to do a lot of research to figure out, well, who is responsible for this property?" Keagy said. "When youve got a list of registered rental properties, its going to be real simple for us to go directly from XYZ address, look it up on the list . . . we know how to contact that person directly." It is unclear when the warrant proposal will be formally brought to the council or what kind or reception it will receive, Keagy said. The rental communitys support will depend on what exactly Scottsdale includes in its proposal, Feinberg said. "As with everything else," Feinberg said, "the devils in the details." Contact Ryan Gabrielson by email, or phone (480)-898-2341