SAPD Academy 23B Arrest Search & Seizure Practice Exam

Consent to search must come from someone who has actual authority over the space and a reasonable expectation of privacy there. In a rented dwelling, the tenant controls the unit’s privacy, so the tenant is theone who can authorize a search. A landlord’s consent does not automatically give law enforcement permission to search the tenant’s home and does not override the tenant’s Fourth Amendment protections unless the tenant has expressly granted the landlord that authority or the two share occupancy with a recognized right to consent. Without those circumstances, police typically need a warrant or the tenant’s consent, or an exigent situation to justify a search. So, in the usual rental scenario, a landlord may not consent to a search of the rented dwelling.