Smith v. Ayotte
Federal Lawsuit Seeks to Close Door on New Hampshire’s Unconstitutional Home Inspections

Phil Smith is a homeowner in the town of Hollis, N.H. After he refused to allow searches of his family's home by government-hired inspectors, he lost his right to appeal his assessment—even though he wanted to appeal the assessed value of his land, not his home.

Residents of the Granite State are finding themselves caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to exercising their constitutional rights to exclude unwelcome government employees.  In New Hampshire, government-hired inspectors may enter and search the homes of every person in the state.  Worse yet, the law penalizes anyone who refuses to consent to an inspector’s search.  For these reasons, the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Justice joined today with four New Hampshire residents to file a federal district court challenge to New Hampshire’s property-assessment inspection law.  The goal of the lawsuit is to restore the protections provided by the Fourth Amendment to all New Hampshire homeowners.

According to the “Inspection of Property” statute, local government officials and their employees can obtain warrants that allow them to search the homes of everyone in their city and town for the purpose of property tax assessment.  Because officials don’t have to show that a law is being broken to get the warrant, it’s easy for government-hired inspectors to conduct blanket searches of entire neighborhoods.  If officials would rather not take the time to get a warrant, they don’t have to.  That’s because the statute provides a tool with which to force a person to “consent” to the search: Any person who refuses to allow a warrantless and unconstitutional search of his home automatically loses his right to appeal his property-tax assessment.  Even the mere act of asking an inspector for a warrant can get a homeowner in trouble.