Census workers can enter your apartment in your absence
Thousands of census workers, including many temporary employees, are fanning out across America to gather information on the citizenry. This is a process that takes place not only every decade in order to complete the constitutionally-mandated census; but also as part of the continuing “American Community Survey” conducted by the Census Bureau on a regular basis year in and year out.
What many Americans don’t realize, is that census workers — from the head of the Bureau and the Secretary of Commerce (its parent agency) down to the lowliest and newest Census employee — are empowered under federal law to actually demand access to any apartment or any other type of home or room that is rented out, in order to count persons in the abode and for “the collection of statistics.” If the landlord of such apartment or other leased premises refuses to grant the government worker access to your living quarters, whether you are present or not, the landlord can be fined $500.00.
That’s right — not only can citizens be fined if they fail to answer the increasingly intrusive questions asked of them by the federal government under the guise of simply counting the number of people in the country; but a landlord must give them access to your apartment whether you’re there or not, in order to gather whatever “statistics” the law permits.
In fact, some census workers apparently are going even further and demanding — and receiving — private cell phone numbers from landlords in order to call tenants and obtain information from them. Isn’t it great to live in a “free” country?
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1,749 comments Add your comment
Kelia
May 30th, 2010
3:42 pm
It may be somewhere on the obscure books but it is NOT what census workers are taught. I am a census worker and have done it twice now. We are taught not even to go into a persons home if they are there and invite you. It is difficult enough to gather the information without someone creating a fear or distrust where there is no need to be one. Get real for heavens sake. We are not there to spy on anyone in fact much of the time I just get a head count when people resist and then I go on. We have big things to worry about in this country and the cenus us not one of them!
Marvin LeGay
May 30th, 2010
3:48 pm
I think Linda is a public relations employee of the Census Bureau. My guess is, they hired people to cruise the web looking for web sites like this where discussion of the census occurs. They put out the “official message” in an attempt to get people to comply with the census. Linda is the “good cop”. I think she’s posted using different names over the last few days. Other posters appear to play the bad cop role, threatening you with tax audits if you do not comply. The Census Bureau has quite an operation at work to get the job done. The ultimate goal is to get the numbers inflated so that more dead people and more illegals can fly under the radar in upcoming elections.
Linda
May 30th, 2010
3:49 pm
Mike, if you use the roads, the schools, the public water/sewer system, the park system, the library system, the emergency services system, you are dependent on government, like it or not. Cities and states use the numbers from the U.S. census in order to do their long-term planning. If you doubt this, find the website for your state’s demographer’s office and see for yourself. The CDC uses statistics so they can help prevent communicable diseases, as do many other agencies with specialties like that. If you go to any website that quotes statistics for the make-up of the population, those statistics came from the national census. Every civilized country does one so they have a planning mechanism.
I don’t know why this is so hard for some of you to understand.
Linda
May 30th, 2010
3:52 pm
Sure, Marvin, we’re all in cahoots, me and my 101 aliases. (rolling eyes)
Mike Mahoney
May 30th, 2010
4:05 pm
Linda,
I am well aware of what services the government provides and that these are paid for by tax dollars. Most of what you named is funded primarily by city, county and state taxes with Federal subsidies that do not pay the bulk of the bill. Federal subsidies are just the sugared coating to give the Feds control over what they want to control.
Which services I use is not your business. I pay my taxes and obey the laws. You do not need to know whether I rent or own my own home to determine which services are in need of funding and which are not. A city knows when more red lights are needed and where. A library knows what kind of demand they have and what their needs are. The operators of a public water / sewer system meter demand and know where expansion will be needed. None of this has anything to do with some of the questions on the census.
You are not as smart as you think, and I am not as dumb as you think. But that’s why you a government employee, a non-producer free-riding the backs of the public, and why I am a private citizen, a producer and a tax payer.
Perhaps a case could be made for each question on the census. Apparently you aren’t the one who can make it, so quit pretending you are such a genius. The questions are apparently above your pay-grade.
Mike Mahoney
May 30th, 2010
4:17 pm
Linda,
Who do you work for? Please give me an honest answer.
Mike Mahoney
May 30th, 2010
4:23 pm
Oh, and while we are at it, let’s agree that the Census radio ad which uses the idea of the census helping to determine when new stop lights are needed in your area is progandistic cr*p. While one might argue that theoretically the census numbers could be used for future projections, I can probably count on one hand the number of city planners that turned to census data to determine when a new stop light was needed. Drivers alone can see when a new stop light is needed. To think a city has to be polled to make this determination is assinine.
Marvin LeGay
May 30th, 2010
4:44 pm
Linda the eye-roll is not convincing.
“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism!” – Howard Zinn, communist sympathizer and American textbook publisher
Dissent is patriotic – Nancy Pelosi, big real estate developer, communist sympathizer and speaker of the House
Kacie
May 30th, 2010
4:46 pm
It appears that Linda is checking with her supervisors. When she took the job she assumed everyone in the general public was an idiot.
Harumphhh
May 30th, 2010
5:04 pm
Kacie and her other aliases are obviously some zealot working out of Michelle Bachmann’s office. How much is Michelle paying you, Kacie?
Harumphh
May 30th, 2010
6:23 pm
I am a pedophile. Let me in your home please for important government business.
Liz
May 30th, 2010
6:46 pm
My husband works for the census (we’re in Bedford, Texas) – no one goes into your home, flat out NO ONE CAN GO INTO YOUR HOMES whether you’re there or not. If you refuse to answer they may see if your land lord can answer any of the questions, but they do not ask the land lord for access to your home. Seriously, what would it accomplish to go inside? Count how many beds there are? No one does this, you’re making it up. And come ON how “intrusive” is it to ask someone their age and race? Have you READ the form? There is nothing invasive there at all. Communities loose BILLIONS in funding when residents don’t answer, and the results are also used to gauge fair redistricting lines, so you’re only hurting your own demographic when you don’t answer. Republicans- by not answering you are literally making it easier for democrats to get elected through redistricting.
Let me repeat: NO ONE CAN GO INTO YOUR HOMES. This entire article is a direct lie.
Jan Brady
May 30th, 2010
7:15 pm
I wonder what name acorn is under now, anyone know?
Harumphhh
May 30th, 2010
7:22 pm
It’s easier to post disinformation than go door to door.
I started as a census flunkie and worked my way up to disinformation computer poster.
G. Nienaber
May 30th, 2010
7:35 pm
For those of you complaining. you should have just filled out the form and sent it back, If you don’t like your government being involved, do us all a favor and leave!
Harumphhh
May 30th, 2010
7:39 pm
HaHAHA! I rest my case.
seanmom
May 30th, 2010
8:00 pm
Don’t forget the facts: The BUSH Administration designed this census. The current Administration will only get to do a census if the Current Occupant of the White House is re-elected in 2016.
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May 30th, 2010
8:02 pm
[...] is being reported that census workers are now permitted under federal law to actually demand access to any apartment or any other type of home or room that is rented out, in order to count persons [...]
seanmom
May 30th, 2010
8:10 pm
“President Lincoln, a Republican delivered freedom to slaves.”
Absolutely right. And President Bush, a REPUBLICAN, delivered this 2010 census to YOU.
Not allowing yourself to be counted just deprives you of Congressional representation. Ironically, if you do this right, you could fix it so that every conservative ends up counting as 3/5 of a person, because the rest of the people needed to GET representation are hiding in their closets or resting in prison for shooting census workers. Oh, wait–guess what? If you go to prison, you DO get counted, whether you like it or not! So I guess all you trigger-happy illiterates will be counted NEXT TIME.
Paranoia is unbecoming
May 30th, 2010
10:01 pm
What is the deal with the census this year? I don’t remember all this paranoia during the last census. Really, people, census workers do not need to come into your house/apartment. They’ll just observe you via the government cameras that have been installed in everyone’s places of residence.
k13kunz
May 30th, 2010
10:56 pm
a census worker can ask questions about who’s living in the apartment, but they CANNOT
k13kunz
May 30th, 2010
10:59 pm
census workers can ask questions about who lived in the home or apartment on April 1st (census day) but they CANNOT enter your apartment without your consent. Check out Title 13. Don’t believe what everyone tells you. Do your homework.
scratch
May 31st, 2010
6:47 am
and they shall be delt with as any other home invader, courtesy of the 2nd amendment
Jake
May 31st, 2010
8:23 am
Would have been great to have a “source” quoted in this article. It’s easy to say things without quoting a source!
Linda
May 31st, 2010
10:08 am
Mike: “I am well aware of what services the government provides and that these are paid for by tax dollars. Most of what you named is funded primarily by city, county and state taxes with Federal subsidies that do not pay the bulk of the bill.”
Mike, from how you’ve responded here, it appears that you still don’t get it. Cities, counties and states use federal census date for their long range planning. Maybe a picture would help you see this. Here’s the long-range planning page for Georgegtown, Texas:
Georgetown planning and development
I have served on a city planning board. They do long-range planning based in part on projections from federal census data. Counties and states do the same thing. I’m not questioning how smart you are, Mike, I’m just sayin’ maybe you’re basing your opinions on limited experience. AND I don’t PERSONALLY care what government services you use (or may use in the future based on the age of the people in your household). But your local planning boards want to know. That’s just the reality, and it’s not just because they’re out to get you. Really.
Linda
May 31st, 2010
10:11 am
Jake, here’s the real scoop on Bob Barr’s fabricated “news”:
Factcheck: More census nonsense
Linda
May 31st, 2010
10:12 am
Don’t worry, scratch, we’re not barging into your home. Bob Barr made this up to scare you silly.
The Constitution
May 31st, 2010
10:25 am
According to the constitution they have the right to count the people. Fill in the first (box) on the census form, let them count the people, and send it in. The rest of the information is set up in such a way that it isn’t really there…. If they come to your door you can say you sent it in, why are they coming to your door?
Linda
May 31st, 2010
10:33 am
seanmom: “Oh, wait–guess what? If you go to prison, you DO get counted, whether you like it or not! So I guess all you trigger-happy illiterates will be counted NEXT TIME.”
That’s the irony of all this, isn’t it? They’d be forced to be counted AND they wouldn’t have voting rights.
I’m waaay on the other side of the political spectrum from you, seanmom, but I think we’d get along just fine because we’re both rational about this. I love that I’m represented by one of the most liberal congressmen in the most liberal district in my state and one of the most liberal in the country. The district next door is represented by the right-wing fringe who most thinking Republicans distance themselves from. I’d like nothing more than for that district to be divvied up among the liberal districts around it so that rep would be out of a job. And that’s a real possibility in our state this year, especially when some GOPers are trying to scare off the count.
Problem is, I have this thing about accuracy, the ability of cities to plan, and most of all to leave our descendants with a complete history of the real people who live here. So I’m doing what I can to make sure my neighborhood gets counted thoroughly. That’ll help us keep our political clout too.
Linda
May 31st, 2010
10:38 am
(To the real) Harumphhh: Isn’t it a hoot what kind of childish distractions people use when they don’t have the facts on their side? They’re the ones who accuse others of hiding behind aliases and, as always, they’re the ones most guilty of it themselves including taking on others’ web names to discredit them. Soooo transparent, and it only makes them look desperate and silly …
Census workers can enter your apartment in your absence - GBQuest Proudly Presents
May 31st, 2010
11:05 am
[...] Read Full Story Here Uncategorized none [...]
trav
May 31st, 2010
11:07 am
ok i work for the census and its websites like this that make it hard for us number one: we do not in any shape form or fashion come in unauthorized, we leave a note to call us back, # 2 its law that you participate its not optional because of the law title 13 and us code 182. here are some webites also. http://www.census.gov and http://www.ask.census.2010.gov
Linda
May 31st, 2010
11:17 am
The Census Bureau does have the authority to ask us more questions than just a headcount. A few days ago somebody posted the legal language, if you care to browse back a few pages. There are reasons for every question they ask. Here’s a link to the interactive web form, where you can scroll over each question to see the purpose behind it:
Interactive Census Form
Linda
May 31st, 2010
11:21 am
Buh-bye, Michele baby:
Minnesota lawmaker vows not to complete census
Paranoia will destroia!
Mary Steele
May 31st, 2010
11:24 am
If you think this is not a plan to Socialism and then Communism, keep watching because health care and other actions that appear to be “helping” citizens will start finishing off what little freedoms we have left. They want to limit what radio and tv programs are allowed, if that’s not Communism, what is? Slowly but surely, we are going in that direction and must stop it!
Ryan
May 31st, 2010
11:55 am
I purposely did not send in my census form just to see the entire process take place. When they did come to my house, I made them wait about 10 minutes. There was no pounding or demanding entry to my home. I understand that some people dont like the idea of gov folks coming to there house and asking questions. Where is the proof of this power the Census workers have. We hear alot of extreme actions on this issue, but no proof. Besides think of this for a moment, the questions asked on the census, I guarantee all of you here have in some way already given, local,state, and feds this info already. If you pay taxes guess what you dont have a problem there when you get a refund right. You apply for a loan to some extend it is very intrusive, no complaints, gotta have the new car, or house. All I ask is think more clearly on this topic, I dont agree with the census deal either but all here have already given this type of info many times our adult life.
Ryan
May 31st, 2010
12:02 pm
I ask Everyone to just quickly do a little home work on the census.’
If you dont like the link use to find other information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census
Jedidiah Bird
May 31st, 2010
1:03 pm
Mike Mahoney
May 30th, 2010
4:05 pm
Linda,
I am well aware of what services the government provides and that these are paid for by tax dollars. Most of what you named is funded primarily by city, county and state taxes with Federal subsidies that do not pay the bulk of the bill. Federal subsidies are just the sugared coating to give the Feds control over what they want to control.
Which services I use is not your business. I pay my taxes and obey the laws. You do not need to know whether I rent or own my own home to determine which services are in need of funding and which are not. A city knows when more red lights are needed and where. A library knows what kind of demand they have and what their needs are. The operators of a public water / sewer system meter demand and know where expansion will be needed. None of this has anything to do with some of the questions on the census.
You are not as smart as you think, and I am not as dumb as you think. But that’s why you a government employee, a non-producer free-riding the backs of the public, and why I am a private citizen, a producer and a tax payer.
Perhaps a case could be made for each question on the census. Apparently you aren’t the one who can make it, so quit pretending you are such a genius. The questions are apparently above your pay-grade.
——————————-
And that is your ignorant assumption that Census employees do not hold other jobs. For a large number of Census workers, this is a second job. I have a team of 116 enumerators in five CLD’s and at least half of them do other work. Most of them do not flip burgers like you do. Even I, who has a full-time Census job working 50-60 hours a week helping manage those 116 employees, have a self-owned small business that employs “producers and taxpayers” like yourself, although if you work for me you have to have a degree because we deal with stuff that takes a little more training than your job flipping hamburgers.
Thanks for your uneducated opinion though. I’d have thought that such a stupid post would have come from a liberal though. Boy, you had me surprised.
Buddy in Mission Valley
May 31st, 2010
1:40 pm
Chip: You’re mistaken. Census workers have no need to enter any apartment, home or housing unit. In fact, they prefer not to. The minimum information being sought for the Census is whether the unit was occupied on April 1, 2010, whether the occupants generally live there and the number of persons who lived in the unit on April 1, 2010. If the respondent does not want to answer any other questions, he/she can decline. What you’re spreading is untrue and if enough Californians/San Diegans do not respond to the Census, we could lose a representative in Congress. Certainly not an even trade for some basic information. Census enumerators have official credentials and must show them at the beginning of the questions. If the person does not have an ID tag from the Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau, don’t let them in and call the police immediately. That’s it.
Karl F
May 31st, 2010
2:31 pm
Of course, as pointed out in other posts and on NPR, this is a really liberal misinterpretation of the statute. But there will always be journalists (sic) who will bend the interpretation of the law to conform to their biases and gullible readers who will believe anything.
Linda
May 31st, 2010
2:33 pm
Mary Steele: “If you think this is not a plan to Socialism and then Communism, keep watching …”
Uh, Mary, the census has come around every 10 years since 1790, under Republicans and Democrats both. This census is the same as the one 10 years ago, with many less questions than some censuses in the last century.
Yet our nation is still not socialist, communists, or any of those other buzzwords thrown around by the fearmongers. Try to be rational. It’s a census. Every country does ‘em.
Linda
May 31st, 2010
2:44 pm
Jedidah Bird: “I’d have thought that such a stupid post would have come from a liberal though.”
Uh-uuuuhh! All of MY liberal friends know better than that!
Lynn
May 31st, 2010
3:05 pm
US Dept of Commerce, US Census Bureau, 15350 Sherman Way ste. 400, Van Nuys, Ca 91406 #(800) 992-3530
From 3/9/09 to 3/22/09 Field Rep Robert Swan of the US Census stalked me, trespassed my gated community, my home, intimidated and aggressively harrassed me.
3/18/09 8:00 am – Swan knocked on my door, left 3 envelopes with notes attached with more aggressive writing.
10:00 am – Swan vehemently knocked on my door, then tried to open it. I was speaking with a friend (witness) who also heard the knock and the door handle being jiggled.
3:00 pm – Swan banged on my door, my son answered and said I wasn’t home. Swan said he would be back, left another envelope. I told my apt mgr what happened. She said call the police. I called Rancho Cucamonga Police Dept. They referred me to Charise, the City Manager. I made a report; they said they would look into it. I called Swan’s supervisor, Brad Rogers, and told him about the tactics Swan was using to obtain Census info. I said I would be glad to give him the info he needs Monday 3/23/09 and told him about Swan opening my door and that I wanted Swan to stop. Brad assured me and asked for my name, address and phone # and how many people in the household and that he would call me Monday. Brad gave my phone # to Swan after I told him what was happening. 7:06 pm – Swan called me at my home number (saved recorded voice message) and had called me every night from 3/18 to 3/22. The last message was “If you don’t respond…well…you know what will happen next.” 3/23/09 8:30 am – I called the police, spoke with Deputy Ruiz, Sheriff of San Bernardino Sheriff’s Dept. Deputy Ruiz listened to the phone message left by Swan, called Charise,City Manager on a follow-up, and left a message to Mr. Swan stating that if he continues, she will pursue further legal actions. Ruiz stated to me that he sounded like an “over zealous worker.” I also went to the courthouse to file a restraining order against Swan but since I couldn’t give a physical description, they denied the order. Well guess what friends, they are at my door again as of two weeks ago. I told the field rep what happened in ‘09 and that they have my information. Yesterday, May 30, 2010 two reps came to my door and again I told them to leave, that this has been done already and have a police report on them. They said they will continue coming to my home. Hmmm. And this time they are not leaving a business card or a number where I can talk to the supervisor. Hmmm. So ya folks, here we go again.
Linda
May 31st, 2010
3:34 pm
Um, Lynn, why didn’t you just answer the questions when they first came by? It takes about 5 minutes, and you can do it by phone or in person just about anytime that’s convenient for you. I don’t understand the stalling. I’ve been through numerous, calls, e-mail exchanges and visits with a few people, when it would have taken a fraction of the time just to suck it up and do it. Talk about bringing on your own grief.
Ben
May 31st, 2010
4:42 pm
Um Linda, I’ll bet you have never heard of the American Community Survey. If you don’t think such questions as “What time do you for work in the mornings?” and asking if “you have any emotional problems that prevent you from concentrating” are not intrusive then you are too far gone to ever see the light. These are just two of the questions from the 28 page survey that the Census Bureau tells me I am required by law to submit.
CensusGuy
May 31st, 2010
4:42 pm
Bob Barr is so utterly wrong. I am a census enumerator in Florida, and I can tell you first-hand that census workers do not go into anybody’s home, apartment or not. The only part of his diatribe that is true is that the law says those who refuse to cooperate are subject to a $500 fine. When is the last time you heard of anybody being prosecuted for not cooperating? Not likely to happen. The “increasingly intrusive” questions consist for seeking your name, your birthdate, your age, whether this is your permanent or a second residence, your race, and your telephone number to make quality assurance easier. Don’t look now, Bob, but there’s a black helicopter over your house!
Linda
May 31st, 2010
4:54 pm
Um, Ben, as a trained census-taker, I can see that there’s much more to this story than we’re seeing in Lynn’s post. I’m sure there are such people as over-zealous census workers. But it appears that this lady is creating much of her own drama when she’s filing restraining orders against everyone who comes to her door.
Spot
May 31st, 2010
4:58 pm
If anyone enters my home it is better to judged by 12 than carried out by 6 if you get my drift
Linda
May 31st, 2010
5:14 pm
Good news, Spot! No one even WANTS to enter your home, nor does the census have the authority to do that. This is just another right-wing scare job meant to keep you sh*tting your pants with fear. Looks like it worked!
Factcheck: More Census Nonsense
Ben
May 31st, 2010
5:38 pm
Linda, I am inclined to agree that a census worker is, most likely, not going to enter a citizen’s home although a little percieved authority often goes to one’s head. However, I have one question for you and CensusGuy: Are either of you at all familiar with the American Community Survey, and can you honestly say that the questions are not intrusive?