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
tom jones
May 27th, 2010
8:42 pm
They better be wearing a bullet proof vest when they force their way into my apartment. Forced entry by an unwelcome intruder is grounds for deadly force.
P Lindsey
May 27th, 2010
8:42 pm
This is pure BS. I’m a Census crew leader and a retired Navy Lieutenant Commander. Nothing in the training manuals authorizes entry in a private residence. In fact, census workers are taught to avoid entering a house or apartment, even when invited in by the resident.
Cook
May 27th, 2010
8:44 pm
Who wouldn’t mind that pretty blond census worker on the commercial going through their underwear drawer.
claspur
May 27th, 2010
8:45 pm
a couple months ago, I was approached by a blk FE census worker asking me if I’d like a job working the count?
I said no, then asked her what it pays? she said #8 per hour, I think?
Had to ask, because two days prior, I’d read an article that they were getting payed $14per hr. She said, well, we don’t get payed that much.(she knew I wasn’t going to comply, just by the way we looked at each other)
Jasonn
May 27th, 2010
8:47 pm
I’m looking at the Fourth Amendment and it doesn’t mention any exceptions for census workers.
Liz
May 27th, 2010
8:47 pm
I still haven’t found any proof to this claim. But I am looking although it should be provided by this BLOG!!!!!!!
J.P.
May 27th, 2010
8:47 pm
I can’t believe this. I would never let someone into my place without a warrant. What happened to the constitutuion?
Cook
May 27th, 2010
8:48 pm
Hey Jan Goldberg bite me.
claspur
May 27th, 2010
8:49 pm
KONTOS !!! start dropping into “Breitbart Tv” to look at news vids and comment sometime.
) Gah-go…. *poof
claspur
May 27th, 2010
8:51 pm
LIZ…. look around for Barr articles and an e-dress to write Barr on. Shouldn’t be that tough to find the source?
Will
May 27th, 2010
8:51 pm
Bob,
You are either intentionally wrong or are not good at reading law. No census worker has any right to enter a domicile without the homeowner present. They must be granted access to closed communities, but their access is limited to the front door.
I am an HOA president who did everything possible to block the census workers from entering our community. So I read Title 13 to find out what power I had. The answer is none. The provision you cite is close to correct, but you’re stretching it for shock value.
TITLE 13 > CHAPTER 7 > SUBCHAPTER II > § 223
Mashuganah
May 27th, 2010
8:51 pm
Can you reference a specific law for census worker entry? A link to it on http://thomas.loc.gov would be nice. It’s one thing to say something. It’s another to back it up with proof (i.e., be responsible in posting such missives).
Lady Mondegreen
May 27th, 2010
8:52 pm
The language reads:
“Whoever, being the owner, proprietor, manager, superintendent, or agent of any hotel, apartment house, boarding or lodging house, tenement, or other building, refuses or willfully neglects…to furnish the names of the occupants of such premises, or to give free ingress thereto and egress therefrom…”
The wording is very ambiguous. You might at first think it refers to the building or gated complex, but occupants don’t live in the hallways or stairwells. The language refers to the spaces occupied by the occupants, i,e., the apartments.
An overzealous or power-crazed census worker might interpret this space to mean that he has the authority to enter the tenant’s actual domicile.
This could be a very dangerous situation for an unwitting worker who finds himself in someone’s apartment when they get home.
Mike
May 27th, 2010
8:53 pm
I’m a census worker and this is a lot of crap. We count people and we don’t demand entrance into anyones home , either private or property under a Management Company.
LJ84
May 27th, 2010
8:53 pm
I sent back my form with the required info…how many live here…and yet census workers have come here a couple of times. I will not answer the door for them because of some of the stories I’ve read and heard.
A local mom recognized a census taker who was a registered sex offender. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20100518_Mother_recognizes_Census_worker_as_sex_offender.html In another story a woman was raped by a volunteer census worker. http://www.whas11.com/news/local/Burglary-and-rape-arrest-in-Pekin-Indiana-93240824.html There have also been many stories of push in robberies and the like by people pretending to be census workers.
I won’t even answer the door for them after hearing these stories. No way. I put a note on the door addressed to the census taker stating that we answered the census and mailed it back and would provide no further info and would not answer any questions regarding our neighbors.
Cass
May 27th, 2010
8:53 pm
Jan “Ms. Fearless” Goldberg’s insults certainly make a valid and relevant point, don’t they? Very convincing.
An american
May 27th, 2010
8:53 pm
A census worker left my house not 30 mins ago and I answered only 5 questions she asked. What really got me hot though was when she asked if any Latinos or Hispanics lived in the house. She did not ask about any other race! I’m a white male and told her only Americans lived here! I live in southern Mississippi only an hour from new Orleans and see my fair share of people living off the government and see what is going on in America to the writing on the wall. I guess obamas minions are trying to figure out what state he’s going to come and campain in next so he can sway the illegal immigrants to vote for him since he has failed us Americans so badly. It is a crying shame the direction this country has going and we need to stand strong and vote these yahoos out of office. Tough times are ahead so please say some prayers!
claspur
May 27th, 2010
8:54 pm
check the Icon, right of Barr’s pic on the top of article. Looked like there are contact e-dresses there.
Helen
May 27th, 2010
8:54 pm
I just ran into a census worker..he was asking questions about the people who live across the street.. I told him I was not telling him anything about any of my neighbors.. I had to laugh when he said he talked to the people next door though he said he had a hard time and got no answers cause they didn’t speak English.. I had to laugh since we talk to them all the time and we only speak ENGLISH.. People just aren’t cooperative as they use to be.. but than again the government is not as honorable as it use to be either..
Bob Barr - Census workers can enter your apartment in your absence | The Kansas Progress
May 27th, 2010
8:55 pm
[...] 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. [...]
claspur
May 27th, 2010
8:56 pm
Jan sounds like a dildoe-packin’ carpet moungin’ census taker, to me?
GWIII
May 27th, 2010
8:57 pm
I received, and completed the census form, and sent it back. About 3 months later, I have these morons calling me to ask for additional information. I told them there are two people living in my home, Myself and my son. They continued to pester me, so I told them that they are morons and to leave me alone. The thing that bothers me is that the government already knows who all the tax payers are, the data is readily available to them. They need to stop hiring morons and gather only the information requested on the form. This is another example of our government taking a simple task and turning it into a mess.
Depressing… :: CSP with Mike and Jason
May 27th, 2010
8:57 pm
[...] Census workers can enter your apartment in your absence No Comments [...]
Jane
May 27th, 2010
8:57 pm
I am a census worker and this is a lie. An outright lie. I will NOT do any of the following according to my training: Enter your home (we are told to stay outside), I do not get your Social Security numbers (call the police if anyone claims to be from the census who asks for this info), and we politely ask for a phone number so that my performance can be assessed. As an enumerator I have been threatened verbally and physically. A man actually opened his pen of dogs on me while I asked if I could talk to him. You are the problem, you and others like you who frighten the public into abuse of enumerators. BTW threatening an enumerator is a FEDERAL offense.
Blake
May 27th, 2010
8:57 pm
In California (and I think other states) the landlord must provide two week’s notice before entering an apartment or leased dwelling unless they have the occupant’s consent. If there’s a knock at my door, and I’m not expecting someone, I usually won’t answer. If I hear my door unlock, I’m grabbing my rifle.
This is an accident (is it an accident to shoot an unidentified intruder?) waiting to happen.
Capt Ron
May 27th, 2010
8:57 pm
I will shoot them on sight if they are in the house and I feel threatened
misinformation - 1
May 27th, 2010
8:58 pm
WRONG – Census workers can enter your apartment in your absence
RIGHT – Census workers can enter your apartment BUILDING in your absence
A manager should give access to an apartment building OR provide names… one OR the other..
“Whoever, being the owner, proprietor, manager, superintendent, or agent of any hotel, apartment house, boarding or lodging house, tenement, or other building, refuses or willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary or by any other officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof, acting under the instructions of the Secretary, to furnish the names of the occupants of such premises, or to give free ingress thereto and egress therefrom”
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode13/usc_sec_13_00000223—-000-.html
misinformation - 1
May 27th, 2010
8:59 pm
Blake.. read and learn before you speak.. fool…
Badactor67
May 27th, 2010
9:00 pm
This would counter numerous city, county and state laws not to mention the constitution. If anyone is on your property without consent they are trespassing and must obtain a signed warrant even city building inspectors can’t search your home without consent or a clear imminent danger. I can’t see how they can legally do that.
Bob
May 27th, 2010
9:01 pm
And what federal statute allows this warrantless search by the census workers who have a few days of training? Sounds like a complete fabrication. I guess AJC doesn’t require fact checking.
misinformation - 2
May 27th, 2010
9:01 pm
WRONG – Census workers can enter your apartment in your absence
RIGHT – Census workers can enter your apartment BUILDING in your absence
A manager should give access to an apartment building OR provide names… one OR the other..
“Whoever, being the owner, proprietor, manager, superintendent, or agent of any hotel, apartment house, boarding or lodging house, tenement, or other building, refuses or willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary or by any other officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof, acting under the instructions of the Secretary, to furnish the names of the occupants of such premises, or to give free ingress thereto and egress therefrom”
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode13/usc_sec_13_00000223—-000-.html
misinformation - 3
May 27th, 2010
9:02 pm
WRONG – Census workers can enter your apartment in your absence
RIGHT – Census workers can enter your apartment BUILDING in your absence
A manager should give access to an apartment building OR provide names… one OR the other..
“Whoever, being the owner, proprietor, manager, superintendent, or agent of any hotel, apartment house, boarding or lodging house, tenement, or other building, refuses or willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary or by any other officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof, acting under the instructions of the Secretary, to furnish the names of the occupants of such premises, or to give free ingress thereto and egress therefrom”
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode13/usc_sec_13_00000223—-000-.html
Fonzz
May 27th, 2010
9:03 pm
This is the dumbest thing them acting like they don’t know how many of us there are.
Ktwoll
May 27th, 2010
9:04 pm
Lady Mondegreen — Your answer is b.s. People can vote using a mail box as their place of residence. Ask a judge they have rule that many a time. So someone can say a telephone booth or hallway on 53third and Peco’s is their residence.
Jack Wood
May 27th, 2010
9:04 pm
I encourage any suicidal census worker to force his way into my home. Let me help you.
Mike
May 27th, 2010
9:07 pm
This is one reason I have 125lb German Shepherd the will rip them a new A-hole. They can all rot in hell with the rest of the government.
John Mark
May 27th, 2010
9:08 pm
Sent my form in with the number of persons. Nothing else. Census worker showed up to get the rest of the information. I refused to answer. What are they going to do, tax me?
Lisa
May 27th, 2010
9:09 pm
I’m currently working PT for the Census. We have been told that we aren’t allowed to go in the house, even to take their info in their presence. It’s for our safety and theirs. Even during training the trainer told us NOT to even look in the windows. So I’m not sure where you’re getting this info. (BTW, I voted for Barr in 08 instead of Dumb or Dumber). Doing Census for extra money.
Chris of Atlanta
May 27th, 2010
9:09 pm
Census workers wouldn’t be knocking on your door if you would have mailed in your census form in the first place! It is your choice to answer whatever questions you feel like answering. But we will always have people like Bob to tell us how BAD everything is in the country. If the government is so BAD – why don’t you move to another country!
Rambo
May 27th, 2010
9:11 pm
Good enough reason to start shooting census worms.
Joshua D.
May 27th, 2010
9:11 pm
As a temporary Census worker – I can attest that we are trained never to enter someone’s home to avoid any appearance of impropriety. We are not to even open the storm door to knock. Every person on the team acts under the philosophy of treating people the way we would want to be treated. I am sure out of thousands of workers that there may be a bad apple, but mostly we are unemployed neighbors thankful to have meaningful work for a few weeks.
We were fingerprinted and background checks were done, and we work in the same community we live in.
Phineas T. Bluster
May 27th, 2010
9:14 pm
My own little contribution to the census was in the area of race – I chose the other category and specified “Human” because all other labels are man-defined, and since some of my children are adopted and my ancestry is rather murky before the last two generations, I cannot say with any degree of assurance that there are any identifiable racial characteristics from all of my ancestors.
Besides, Human is all they really need to know anyhow.
barney
May 27th, 2010
9:15 pm
Hopefully you would not be scared to death and shoot the intruder right through the eyes.
John Mark
May 27th, 2010
9:16 pm
Jan G: your plastic testicles are very unbecoming.
So this right to privacy? - Political Wrinkles
May 27th, 2010
9:17 pm
[...] [...]
Joe Schmo
May 27th, 2010
9:18 pm
This Census is a measly 10 questions long, most of which are redundant or obvious to anyone who so much as sees you. 3 of the 5 main questions can be ascertained by simply seeing someone, i.e. a “male, about 45, and caucasian.” If thats intrusive I’d hate to see you applying for a credit card, a loan, an email account, or even a library card. Sure, you may be more comfortable giving that information to private enterprises, but I doubt when Facebook sells your information to advertisers and other corporate stalkers they’re promptly awarded with 5 years prison time and 250,000 dollars in fines (those are the repercussions for census employees that get loosey-goosey with personal information).
The reality is that we can quibble about what we find intrusive and permissible. What isn’t debatable is that NO Census worker is ever allowed to enter a private personal residence, even if invited. It’s pretty shameful for former representative, presidential hopeful, and lawyer to so deliberately misunderstand and misstate the facts. Bob Barr is either lying or incompetent.
Jason
May 27th, 2010
9:18 pm
I did the easy thing. I answered the only required question on the form. The very first one.
The rest of the questions are not required by law, and I ddin’t feel obligated to share the information.
No reason to get paranoid. Answer and move on.
Shelly
May 27th, 2010
9:20 pm
Enumeration. That’s it. I was HOPING a Census worker would stop by and ask me a bunch of questions. I filled out my 10-question form (name and how many in my house. THAT’S IT) and mailed it back…..after I’d received a letter from the govt. telling me to “expect my Census form in the mail”. It was not mailed, it was hand-delivered – while I was napping on a SUNDAY AFTERNOON!!! Please, please, please let them come knocking on my door again. Fine me. Put me in jail. Do whatever. Enumeration ONLY…as per our Constitution. I understand there are attorneys BEGGING to get a case like this. I’m just the kind of hard-headed soul to tell them (the govt) to go punt. And, rather than just stating HERE that I’d do it, I’d actually follow through with it.
I’m completely sick & tired of the increasing government control that has been steadily encroaching on our lives for YEARS. I’m done “complying”.
BREEE
May 27th, 2010
9:21 pm
As a census crew leader I can say that this is inaccurate and, perhaps, dishonest. As “E Powers” says above: “…a building’s owner or manger cannot refuse to let a census worker into or out of the building and cannot refuse to provide a list of occupants for the purpose of the census count. The penalty for refusal is $500. No where in the section does it authorize entry into individual apartments, lodgings, or ‘living quarters’.
The relevant code section is found at: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode13/usc_sec_13_00000223—-000-.html“
Actus Reus
May 27th, 2010
9:23 pm
A censes worker came to my house, was shut down, and returned leaving a note asking for a telephone call. He’s a persistent little muslim loving turd. The last thing I want is to give my liberal idiot run state more federal money. I have a very large family, but if push comes to shove, I’ll tell the sensus worker I live alone.