Property rights in Florida

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MudQueen22

DIS Veteran
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Mar 14, 2014
There is a thread on the Resorts section about Disney entering rooms of guests for security checks.
With a campground situation, this would be very intrusive.
In Texas, a trailer (or even a vehicle) cannot be searched by anyone without a warrant since it is considered a home or extension of the home.
How does this work in FL?
 
1) It is perfectly legal in Florida to enter a hotel room by hotel staff.
2) Even before the recent Entry Dictate (due to Las Vegas shooting) we entered rooms all the time.
3) WDW is "searching" the room.
. . . we check the room status and equipment operations (water, electric, HVAC, etc.)
. . . we check on well-being of the guest
. . . we check on well-being of pets

NOTE: The reference above about Texas is slightly misleading. Yes, the room cannot be "searched", but rooms or trailers can be entered to inspect/verify/check the room status. Of course, if something seems wrong, the staff would contact the correct people (Maintenance for faulty equipment, Housekeeping for "protein" spills, Law Enforcement for illegal activities, etc.). I ran a manufacturing plant in Brownsville, and hotel staffs daily checked each room - we were told they were checking for illegals hiding, and this is legal without any warrant.
 
With a campground situation, this would be very intrusive.

Our motorhome is our personally owned home/property and cannot be entered without consent. We have the right to be secure in our homes.

A warrant with justifiable cause may be used to enter regardless by proper authorities.
 
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Warrants are only needed by the government. Disney is not the government.

Disney cannot enter our personally owned property either!!! (not talking about hotel rooms here). Yes, they can ask us to leave with 'cause' - as we are renting their site we're 'sitting' on (only), but they can't enter 'our home' without consent.
 
When traveling, your trailer is considered your home and cannot be entered without your consent or a warrant. It doesnt matter where its parked or who's property its on.
Unfortunately I could see a scenario where emergency services could enter under a claim that there was a fire or medical emergency but thats carrying the discussion to a deep level.
 


When traveling, . . .
Our motorhome is our personally owned home/property and cannot be entered without consent.
Disney cannot enter our personally owned property . . . can't enter 'our home' without consent.

1) "WHEN TRAVELLING", yes or maybe.
2) If you are on a rented campsite, you are not travelling.
3) You are on THEIR property and subject to their rules - basically, you are not covered by the 4th Amendment for THEIR searches.
4) Many people fail to realize that Disney is not subject to these laws , as they are a private company and not governmental enforcement.
5) Entering is not "enforcing", so a warrant is not required.
. . . as for "A Warrant Is Needed To Enter":
. . . this is not, and never has been, the law

. . . a warrant is not always necessary to enter a home, a vehicle, or an RV
. . . Law Enforcement can enter, under many legal exceptions
. . . they just can't use anything they find in a court of law to convict without a warrant or Just Cause

6) As I said above,
. . . WDW is not entering under the guise of being Law Enforcement
. . . if they see something wrong or illegal
. . . they can notify the officials
. . . officials can get a warrant, and effect a legal/criminal search (and seizure, if needed)
. . . in such a case, officials enter as Law Enforcement, base upon an WDW affidavit

NOTE1: The argument that a Motor Home is "our home" is not valid in the reference of this posting. It is an RV. Even if you use it year-around as a moveable residence, it is an RV parked on privately-owned property. Privately-owned properties even include campgrounds/campsites that are owned by governments. We have a campground membership, and such is clearly stated in the rulebook.

NOTE2: Compare it to a place of employment: at work, the Constitution of the United States does not apply to employees, and you surrender coverage of almost all of the Bill of Rights and Amendments. (This I know, as I have had to fight it in court several times as a Plant Manager or Managing Director.) The same applies when you rent a campsite or hotel room - you give up many of your Constitutional Rights.
 
1) "WHEN TRAVELLING", yes or maybe.
2) If you are on a rented campsite, you are not travelling.
3) You are on THEIR property and subject to their rules - basically, you are not covered by the 4th Amendment for THEIR searches.
4) Many people fail to realize that Disney is not subject to these laws , as they are a private company and not governmental enforcement.
5) Entering is not "enforcing", so a warrant is not required.
. . . as for "A Warrant Is Needed To Enter":
. . . this is not, and never has been, the law

. . . a warrant is not always necessary to enter a home, a vehicle, or an RV
. . . Law Enforcement can enter, under many legal exceptions
. . . they just can't use anything they find in a court of law to convict without a warrant or Just Cause

6) As I said above,
. . . WDW is not entering under the guise of being Law Enforcement
. . . if they see something wrong or illegal
. . . they can notify the officials
. . . officials can get a warrant, and effect a legal/criminal search (and seizure, if needed)
. . . in such a case, officials enter as Law Enforcement, base upon an WDW affidavit

NOTE1: The argument that a Motor Home is "our home" is not valid in the reference of this posting. It is an RV. Even if you use it year-around as a moveable residence, it is an RV parked on privately-owned property. Privately-owned properties even include campgrounds/campsites that are owned by governments. We have a campground membership, and such is clearly stated in the rulebook.

NOTE2: Compare it to a place of employment: at work, the Constitution of the United States does not apply to employees, and you surrender coverage of almost all of the Bill of Rights and Amendments. (This I know, as I have had to fight it in court several times as a Plant Manager or Managing Director.) The same applies when you rent a campsite or hotel room - you give up many of your Constitutional Rights.

Sorry, disagree completely. I do not give up, or sign away my rights when I rent a site for a night, and as such Disney cannot enter my 'home/personal property' without consent. If conditions warrant, they can evict me (as I said in a pp) but that's as far as they can go. They aren't the law.
 
In my opinion, if the management at the Fort felt you were doing something sketchy enough that they wanted to enter your camping unit, they would call the police.

Obviously police need permission, probable cause, or a warrant to enter or search your property. Once again, if they feel you are sketchy enough, they WILL get one of those things and enter. All they need for probable cause is for a drug dog to alert around your rv. Worst case scenario, they can detain you while they have a judge sign a warrant.

None of these things are going to happen to the average person. You would have to do something to really call attention yourself. If it's just smoking weed that you're worried about, no need. Just keep it in your camper. Hopefully recreational use will be legal by the time you get here in 2019 anyway.
 
So I asked a friend who camps with us (and is an attorney) about this this morning. He sent me a link to an article. I copied and pasted below. I'm not a lawyer, just showing what he sent me.

Do Police Need a Warrant to Search My Motorhome?
By John McCurley, Attorney

Generally,
ome searches require warrants but car searches don't. So what's the rule for an RV?
To search someone’s home, police normally need to first get a search warrant. Vehicles, however, are treated differently. For a vehicle search to be legal, police only need to have probable cause that there’s incriminating evidence inside. This is often called the “automobile exception” to the warrant rule. (To find out more, read our articles on home and vehicle searches.)

How then does a motorhome fit in? An RV is neither home nor car—it’s right in the middle. So which rule applies?

The U.S. Supreme Court answered this question in California v. Carney, 471 U.S. 386 (1985). In that case, DEA agents set up surveillance after receiving information that the defendant was using his motorhome to trade marijuana for sex. Agents watched the defendant approached a youth, who then accompanied him back to the motorhome. When the youth came out, the agents stopped and questioned him. He confirmed that he had received marijuana in exchange for giving defendant sexual favors. At the agents’ request, the youth went back to the RV and knocked on the door. The defendant stepped out, and—without a warrant or the defendant’s consent—agents entered the motorhome. Inside, they found marijuana. The defendant was charged with possession of marijuana for sale.

In court, the defendant argued that police violated his rights by searching his motorhome without a warrant. The government’s position was that police didn’t need a warrant because of the automobile exception.

For the relevant purposes, the Supreme Court found that a motorhome is more similar to a car than a stationary house.

The Supreme Court acknowledged that a motorhome was capable of functioning as a home, but nevertheless sided with the state. For the relevant purposes, the Court found that a motorhome is more similar to a car than a stationary house. The Court explained that, like with a car, a motorhome’s “ready mobility” makes it impractical for police to get a warrant before searching. And, according to the Court, a person doesn’t have the same compelling privacy interest in a motorhome that they would have in a regular home. These factors convinced the Court that the automobile exception should apply to motorhomes. The take away is that police need probable cause—but no warrant—to search a motorhome.

He did add that the supreme court stopped short of distinguishing between types of RVs .
 
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This thread seems to be confusingly bouncing between Disney and law enforcement and the distinction between hotels and rvs. I think the fundamental question of the OP is whether or not Disney could treat the Rv in the same manner in which they enter hotel rooms. I don't know, for sure, that it doesn't exist, but I haven't seen anything written that grants them permission to enter my RV at their will.

I am by no means a lawyer, but I just don't see this happening. Disney does not have access to my RV without forceably entering, and I don't know what authority I have conveye to Disney to break in to check it out. They can call the police, and the police can enter under plenty of circumstances. There may even be circumstances in which they have authority to enter in special circumstances. But I simply don't see Disney randomly breaking into my RV for a security sweep as they are in the hotel rooms.
 
I believe there is a fine line here in as much as your camper is indeed on Disney property. However, I don't think it precludes the need for "probable cause". On the other hand, since Disneyworld is in Florida, the Florida Castle Doctrine could apply .... a loose definition of Castle:

"The state of Florida has such a strong Castle Doctrine that the dwelling being protected does not need to have a roof; can be mobile or immobile; and can be as temporary as a tent."

The above quote came from > https://www.southuniversity.edu/whoweare/newsroom/blog/castle-doctrine-from-state-to-state-46514
 
I agree with several above. Law enforcement can, with probable cause. I don't see Disney doing it. I see them simply making you leave. I don't think they'd want the headache.

If it was something criminal, I see them letting law enforcement handle that.
 
I asked, because I realize that my mind immediately goes to the Texas Castle Doctrine.
If I understand correctly (in TX), the campground owner would have the right to enter the campsite and check the sewer, electric connections, water, see if I have any forbidden items outside of my camper, but would not be able to forcibly enter or demand entry to the camper itself.
Wondering how this would work in FL.
 
I asked, because I realize that my mind immediately goes to the Texas Castle Doctrine.
If I understand correctly (in TX), the campground owner would have the right to enter the campsite and check the sewer, electric connections, water, see if I have any forbidden items outside of my camper, but would not be able to forcibly enter or demand entry to the camper itself.
Wondering how this would work in FL.

I would figure same basic principles.

As I could ascertain from the California vs Carney law enforcement is a different story. If they have cause, then they could. I wouldn't see Disney even trying.
 
Especially when we are talking about it applying to a non-governmental entity.

The Supreme Court case was also non-governmental.

I found another description of a case where a guy was parked in a Wal Mart parking lot and suspicion was he was selling dope and when law enforcement kicked in the door and took over they found drugs.

Guys lawyer argued they could not search without a warrant claiming it was his "home" and prosecution said it fell under same laws as a car, meaning probable cause meant they could search without a warrant. Used the Supreme Court ruling to back the police. Non-governmental means nothing in this discussion from what I can tell.
 
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