What I don't understand about the landlord allowing the media into the apartment

[Horse with no Name]

I heard that there was a third person living in the home--a mother?
Someone help me out here. Even though he owns the home, he did not have legal possession of it to allow the media to enter. He had the legal obligation to allow the FBI to enter and his rights ended there. Correct? It was legally rented and those belongings in that home would belong to the legal next of kin. He was actually trespassing.
I would appreciate if someone who is more familiar with the law would chime in here.

[Journeyman]

1. I heard someone offered him $1,000 . . .

money trumps other's rights in the eyes of weak-minded fools.

Maybe this is true. It would seem to fit, given what we know about human character.

[Travis_0004]

2. Legally he was in the wrong.

He probably could have went in to check for damage, but the family still has a right to privacy.

Not that it matters, a prosecutor is not going to bring up charges, and a jury would side with the landlord over the family,

[former9thward]

7. He is not legally wrong.

The family has abandoned the apartment. A landlord can enter at any time when that happens.

[saturnsring]

3. but isnt that contaminating a crime scene - can anything found in there be used as evidence?

[msongs]

4. california allows landlord access without 24 notice as follows:

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/living-in.shtml

The landlord or the landlord's agent must give the tenant reasonable advance notice in writing before entering the unit, and can enter only during normal business hours (generally, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays). The notice must state the date, approximate time and purpose of entry. 118 However, advance written notice is not required under any of the following circumstances:

To respond to an emergency.
The tenant has moved out or has abandoned the rental unit.
The tenant is present and consents to the entry at the time of entry.
The tenant and landlord have agreed that the landlord will make repairs or supply services, and have agreed orally that the landlord may enter to make the repairs or supply the services. The agreement must include the date and approximate time of entry, which must be within one week of the oral agreement.

[proverbialwisdom]

5. Link to reporting on press conference by David Chesley and Mohammad Abuershaid earlier today.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/san-bernardino-shooters-family-knowledge-extreme-behavior-attorney/story?id=35588391

Farook's mother lived with the couple, the attorneys said, explaining that, when the shooters left the house Wednesday morning, they told her they were going to the doctor because he had the stomach flu.

It's believed the couple's 6-month-old baby, is with Child Protective Services, the attorneys said, adding that they hope the child can be placed with one of the family members.

http://news.yahoo.com/tv-crews-allowed-inside-california-shooters-home-190057765.html

"I never seen anything like this," CNN's law enforcement analyst Paul Callan said. "I think it indicates a shocking degree of negligence and really recklessness by law enforcement authorities here.

"You have a contaminated crime scene now."

"This is the biggest visible screwup in history," agreed fellow CNN analyst Jonathan Gilliam. "A terrorist incident just happened and the reporters are going through and looking at IDs and pictures... It is all evidentiary."

<>

Pressed to explain why media were given unfettered access, the FBI said it no longer had control over the premises.

"We executed a search warrant on that apartment. And last night we turned that over back to the residents," David Bowdich, the assistant FBI director in charge of the Los Angeles office, told a news conference.

"Once we turn that location back over to the occupants... or once we board it up, anyone who goes in at that point, that's got nothing to do with us."

UPDATES: http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-85209158/

[Cal Carpenter]

6. Yeah, tenant's rights can vary from place to place but

I think it is pretty much universal that the landlord cannot access the space without the tenants' approval. I didn't see any of the footage but it sounds like the media not only had access to the space but it was sort of a free-for-all with people touching the belongings etc. That's really fucked up.

I would think that even in these circumstances, with the tenants being dead, if the mother wasn't officially on the lease or whatever, there must be provisions for the family of the deceased to get the tenants things out of there with privacy in the meantime, but I don't really know.