‘... Secure In Their Persons, Houses, ...’

This is not really a Fourth Amendment issue because the search party is not from the guvmint. But it is indisputably an unreasonable search.

First of all, this is for real, not some scam, or a setup for a home invasion robbery; the call came from our landlord's secretary, whose voice and caller ID are known to me. That was the first thing Stella asked when I informed her.

Our landlord's insurer on this house has insisted on inspecting the interior of the house for safety violations. When I heard from the secretary, the landlord (generally a good guy) had already set up an appointment for us, this Wednesday at a named time. The insurer will send an inspector. To look for what? I don't know. Her name is Jody, but what are her credentials to do such an inspection? I don't know that, either.

The government would need a warrant to do this, but in our "guilty until proven innocent" era, a private corporation can demand anything it damned well pleases as a condition for doing business with them, and if all the insurance companies conspire together to do these inspections, it's a certainty that property owners will yield.

Welcome to America in the 21st century.