New Hampshire Home Inspections

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.

In this case, the Institute for Justice challenged in federal court a New Hampshire law that allowed government-hired inspectors, for the purposes of property tax assessment, to conduct blanket and warrantless searches of entire neighborhoods.  Any person who refused to allow a warrantless search of his home automatically lost his right to appeal his property-tax assessment.   The court dismissed the lawsuit on procedural grounds, but IJ has continued its work challenging unconstitutional inspection schemes across the country