Lee's Summit, MO Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

Sec. 7-113 governs how the Building Official gets into a structure to check for Code violations when the owner or occupant won't consent. If entry is refused, the Building or Code Official, a police officer, or the City or prosecuting attorney can apply in writing to the Municipal Court of Lee's Summit for an administrative search warrant, verified by oath stating probable cause that a violation exists. Subsection C lists seven factors the judge may weigh in deciding whether probable cause supports the warrant: eyewitness accounts, citizen complaints, tenant complaints, plain-view violations, violations apparent from City records, the nature of the alleged violation and any threat to life, safety or property, and a history of previous unabated violations at the property.

That makes a tenant's reported complaint about conditions in a rental unit, such as no heat, pest infestation, or structural hazards, direct evidence a judge can rely on to issue a warrant even when the landlord refuses access. Once issued, a warrant is good for ten days, the inspector's search is limited to what it authorizes, forcible entry is barred, and the inspector must file a written return itemizing every violation found. Refusing entry after a valid warrant is presented is itself an ordinance violation. The Property Maintenance Code carries a nearly identical right-of-entry and search-warrant process at Sec. 3, for property-maintenance inspections specifically.