The Bonderud Law Firm helps Daytona Beach Landlord Keep the City Accountable

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports...

Suit charges Daytona Beach's rental inspection program violates civil rights

The city has been hit with a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging its 2-year-old residential rental inspection program is unconstitutional.

By Eileen Zaffiro-Keaneileen.zaffiro-kean@news-jrnl.com

DAYTONA BEACH — The city has been hit with a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging its 2-year-old residential rental inspection program is unconstitutional.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court accuses the city of violating local renters’ and landlords’ Fourth Amendment and 14th Amendment rights. The suit argues city inspectors should have probable cause to believe there’s been a violation of law and search warrants before they enter leased homes, and that poor people and minorities are being discriminated against because they most often are renters.

“The potential for perverse abuse of this power the city claims to have is stunning,” said Ponte Vedra Beach attorney Andrew M. Bonderud, the plaintiffs’ lawyer in the legal action.