Opinion ID: 2613356
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: inspections conducted pursuant to tenant consent

Text: [1] Three of the warrantless inspections challenged were conducted pursuant to tenant consent. If we hold their consent valid, the absence of a warrant is immaterial because consent vitiates the need for a warrant. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 36 L.Ed.2d 854, 93 S.Ct. 2041 (1973). The first and dispositive issue we address with respect to these searches, then, is whether the tenants could consent to a search of their respective dwellings and the common areas leading to those dwellings. Appellants concede that consensual inspections do not require a warrant, Opening Br. of Appellants, at 33, and they do not dispute the inspections were conducted pursuant to tenant consent. Rather, they contend that tenant consent is insufficient to authorize an inspection because landlords have an equal or paramount interest in the property they lease to others, and their consent is therefore required as well.