Township Assessor Intends To Inspect My Caregivers Home

[lilmiscantberong]

My caregiver just called and told me about a letter he received from the township assessors office stating their intent to visit his home within the next month to do an inspection of both the interior and exterior of his home. It then states another assessor will drive by at a later date to take updated pictures of the homes exterior. Yes, he is planning to check with neighbors to see if they received the same letter.

 

Has anyone ever heard of inside home inspections? Can they be refused? He feels as most do, even though he is compliant in all aspects he does not want anyone to know what he is doing in his home.

 

He said it best, "Even though I'll get off in court, or no charges will be filed, they will still come in and destroy everything I have just because they can."

I don't disagree, I've seen that exact thing happen to many times in the last few years. Any advice would be appreciated.

[lilmiscantberong]

- Nobody can enter the home to inspect it because he is a caregiver. Section 6(G) of the MMMMA prevents inspections. Thanks, bb

 

 

Thank you for your quick reply. In order for him to refuse it looks as if he'll have to quote this rule to the township, which kind of gives him away anyways...Any ideas on that?

 

Thanks

[semicaregiver]

This is one of many little problems that I often wonder about. Others might be, "what if your gas or water meter are in your grow room?" While most now have remote readers, the utility companies often need to access them if only for periodic service.

 

I expect that we can turn them away by quoting the MMMA, but then what do they do? I do not expect they are going to go away.

 

Has anyone on here turned away a city or utility inspector? And if you did, what sort of follow up was there from them?

[Frank R]

Which Twp is doing this?

[lilmiscantberong]

Which Twp is doing this?

 

 

Saginaw Township.

[tooldini]

Someone said on this site that the workers are bound to a confidentiality form or something that they are not supposed to say anything about what they see. Probably unless it is life threatening

[Willy]

my insurance company just did that, said to inspect, i said ok outside fine, inside go suck a donkey kong.. they said ok took outside pictures and left . 10 mins max.

[+Dizledot]

No you don't have to let them. They are bound by state and county laws to keep the assessment roles up to date. If you or anyone else notified them of a home occupied business they do have the right to inspect. All businesses are subject to personal property tax. They are all looking for additional revenue right now. I have to let them into my commercial buildings every 5 years.....but not my home.

[lilmiscantberong]

No you don't have to let them. They are bound by state and county laws to keep the assessment roles up to date. If you or anyone else notified them of a home occupied business they do have the right to inspect. All businesses are subject to personal property tax. They are all looking for additional revenue right now. I have to let them into my commercial buildings every 5 years.....but not my home.

 

I agree that they are looking to increase revenue any way they can. I just can't see how they can just walk into any home on demand. Just doesn't seem right somehow, but from almost everyone I've talked to today it seems you can just say no and that's good enough.

[lilmiscantberong]

Someone said on this site that the workers are bound to a confidentiality form or something that they are not supposed to say anything about what they see. Probably unless it is life threatening

 

I wouldn't trust anyone in a public service job to maintain quiet when it comes to seeing a private grow room, with or without a contract. Ever.

 

The temptation is just to great to let it slip without realizing they are jeopardizing the lives of patients.

[AmishRnot4ganja]

Get "conveniently" called away before they show up. Leave them a note and go away. If they want to reschedule, just don't be there again. They may tire of it.

[lawyercaregiver]

If the township wants to enforce it's rights to inspect then they have to go to court so yah, you can refuse until they find a judge to agree with their position. The problem is if you don't cooperate they could potentially send in the Nazi's at 5:00 a.m. Friday, shoot the family dog and drag you off to jail for the whole weekend. Seen it happen many times! Just saying.

 

Personally, I think there could be a reasonable and enforceable ordinance that would require CG's to be inspected by the local boys or at least provide private certification that all the electrical etc is up to code. I mean if a CG has 10,000 Watts of sun burning the midnight oil that would be a legitimate city concern.

 

If they want to spend city/township resources insuring the safety of home what is the problem?

 

This is not a case where the man comes in and tears up your grow. I assume they are worried about electrical fires and such.

[SparklyBuds]

I don't know why they need to come inside anyway, if they are just assessing for tax purposes. In my town they just come to the door & ask questions about how many bedrooms, bathrooms, do you have a full basement, stuff like that. They don't even try to come in. I live in a small town though; maybe it's more relaxed here.

[welj31]

http://landrights.com/court_order.htm

 

This link will help you. And showes what happened before when Sagnasty tried come chit.

[Guest Happy Guy]

I wonder.... was someone complaining about their tax bill first? That's usually when this happens. With Saginaw home values falling, the home owner may have complained that their assessed value was too high. The value for tax purposes should have fallen. Another time they do this is after a building permit is bought and the work is finished. Then they might want to see if you added a bathroom. They will give you the specific answer to why they are doing it. All you have to do is ask them.

[Dr. Bob]

Before anyone jumps the gun here, find out the purpose of the inspection 1st, is it simply a general property inspection? If so ask yourself what they would look for and meet them with the information on the front porch. Have coffee and donuts ready and 'BE NICE' they will go away when they fill out the form. If it is specifically grow related, congratulations, you are now a test case. You can bar the door standing on the righteous wording of the Act and make them fight you in court. Meantime you can sit in the dark.

 

Bottom line, be prepared for either contingency, make sure your grow is locked with a lock and clearly posted, and you have a copy of the law, but by the same token have a few photos of your bathrooms, a floor plan written up, etc in case that is all they want when they arrive at the porch. And smile.

 

I've posted this before, time to see it again.....

[lilmiscantberong]

I wonder.... was someone complaining about their tax bill first? That's usually when this happens. With Saginaw home values falling, the home owner may have complained that their assessed value was too high. The value for tax purposes should have fallen. Another time they do this is after a building permit is bought and the work is finished. Then they might want to see if you added a bathroom. They will give you the specific answer to why they are doing it. All you have to do is ask them.

 

 

All good points but we went over everything and he has done nothing to trigger the visit. The home values in his neighborhood have tanked so we believe it's just a fluke and the township is looking for some extra money.

[lilmiscantberong]

Before anyone jumps the gun here, find out the purpose of the inspection 1st, is it simply a general property inspection? If so ask yourself what they would look for and meet them with the information on the front porch. Have coffee and donuts ready and 'BE NICE' they will go away when they fill out the form. If it is specifically grow related, congratulations, you are now a test case. You can bar the door standing on the righteous wording of the Act and make them fight you in court. Meantime you can sit in the dark.

 

Bottom line, be prepared for either contingency, make sure your grow is locked with a lock and clearly posted, and you have a copy of the law, but by the same token have a few photos of your bathrooms, a floor plan written up, etc in case that is all they want when they arrive at the porch. And smile.

 

I've posted this before, time to see it again.....

 

Thanks for the advice, I'll pass it along.

[Dr. Bob]

Before anyone jumps the gun here, find out the purpose of the inspection 1st, is it simply a general property inspection? If so ask yourself what they would look for and meet them with the information on the front porch. Have coffee and donuts ready and 'BE NICE' they will go away when they fill out the form. If it is specifically grow related, congratulations, you are now a test case. You can bar the door standing on the righteous wording of the Act and make them fight you in court. Meantime you can sit in the dark.

 

Bottom line, be prepared for either contingency, make sure your grow is locked with a lock and clearly posted, and you have a copy of the law, but by the same token have a few photos of your bathrooms, a floor plan written up, etc in case that is all they want when they arrive at the porch. And smile.

 

I've posted this before, time to see it again.....

 

[lilmiscantberong]

.

[lilmiscantberong]

If the township wants to enforce it's rights to inspect then they have to go to court so yah, you can refuse until they find a judge to agree with their position. The problem is if you don't cooperate they could potentially send in the Nazi's at 5:00 a.m. Friday, shoot the family dog and drag you off to jail for the whole weekend. Seen it happen many times! Just saying.

 

Personally, I think there could be a reasonable and enforceable ordinance that would require CG's to be inspected by the local boys or at least provide private certification that all the electrical etc is up to code. I mean if a CG has 10,000 Watts of sun burning the midnight oil that would be a legitimate city concern.

 

I disagree! The law was not written for anyone to enter or inspect grow rooms. What is medicine to us is still drugs to someone else and as I said up thread...Trust NO ONE to do the right thing, township employee or not, after seeing what is being grown.

 

If they want to spend city/township resources insuring the safety of home what is the problem?

 

The problem is people WILL get hurt. Caregivers and patients. It's being done all over the state day after day, senseless raids with caregivers and patients alike losing everything they had with no charges ever being filed. How do you think these places are being targeted to be raided? People talking about what they have seen and heard...

Screw the city resources. We are smart enough to know around here that as patients we will be messed with if they feel like it. If we're proactive in our movements, there should be no problems. The law provides protections, but our city and township are not abiding by these laws. Always something else to think about in this fight.

 

 

 

 

This is not a case where the man comes in and tears up your grow. I assume they are worried about electrical fires and such.

 

Yes, yes it is. This is exactly how grow rooms get torn up. Caregivers do not want anyone to know that they grow in their homes. They do everything in their power to conceal the sight and smell of the room. Exactly because of this reason. You never know who is coming through that door and what their intent is. They may be an employee of a contracted company, but that doesn't change their personal views of what they may see inside and what they may say when they leave.

 

I can't believe you would find a caregiver on this board who would welcome an inspection of his home/grow room.

 

I can't figure out how to reply to each section, but my answers are in there. Thanks - Lee

[Brad]

Does Saginaw have an ordinance that regulates caregivers? Maybe that's why they want to inspect? A violation of their zoning ordinance could result in a daily fine. In my county it's $500 each day.

 

But how did they find out unless you are public about what you do?

[Guest Happy Guy]

Does Saginaw have an ordinance that regulates caregivers? Maybe that's why they want to inspect? A violation of their zoning ordinance could result in a daily fine. In my county it's $500 each day.

 

But how did they find out unless you are public about what you do?

In the case of an ordinance consideration you would have been contacted by the office of community development, not the assessors office.