Cases about brothels, subletting and old rentals are piling up in private detective offices. These professionals are increasingly being requested by homeowners’ associations to put a stop to annoying and illegal activities in a building. According to the Professional Association of Private Detectives of Spain (APDPE), which brings together 20,000 professionals and 1,500 offices, 10% of contracted services are related to neighborhood communities.
Old rental apartments appear to be the main reason for hiring detectives. “There is a fraud rate of between 10 and 20% in existing rentals in large cities, which the landlord is often not aware of,” comments Daniel Fontanals, managing partner of Fontanals Cabré Detectives, who has been working in the industry since 1990. The owner knows that the Renting his apartment at market rate could give him a monthly return of 1,000%, and although he suspects that the old rental agreement is being violated, in most cases he does not know how to prove it. .
One of the 1,000 cases that Rafael Pisa, manager of RPB Detectives, has worked on since 2016 involves an elderly person with an old rental agreement in a house in Talavera de la Reina. “The work carried out consisted of proving, on the one hand, that the house was unoccupied and, on the other hand, that the contract holder was ordinarily resident in another property in the area,” he explains. Article 62 of the Municipal Tenancy Law of 1964 establishes as the ground for termination of the renewal of an old lease that the tenant occupies two or more apartments in the same city and the use of all of them is not strictly necessary to meet his needs.
“The observation of the property and the failed attempts to have it open the door to us on various occasions, as well as the whereabouts of the owner in another property on her property, where she was even interviewed, with what is called in slang “The investigation were credible and yielded positive results in court,” says Pisa.
If the detective can avoid being seen, he will do so, as it must be a last resort, says Antonio Labrador, vice president of the APDPE. “It is not necessary to identify yourself as a detective, but you will definitely not do so as another person. “If you have to knock on that door, it is because you have specific and very truthful information,” he says.
However, detectives use the figure of deception or, in other words, “disguise” the reason for their visit or call, without, however, usurping the actual physical or legal personality. It could be defined as a psychological cover that is very common in solving prostitution cases. “Although municipalities typically hire detectives to prove illegal activities in court, such as: “Prostitution is widespread, where the detective goes home as a client,” says a lawyer.
prostitution
According to Fontanals, in such matters, “the first thing is to try to get the phone number through the contact pages. From there we plan the investigation.” “The evidence of the crime is the monetary transaction carried out. Then all information is collected and confirmed that it is a regular business. “The vast majority of these matters end in settlement and do not go to trial.”
The casuistry for hiring a detective is wide: from an owner who gets his house back by proving that his tenant sublets it as a tourist apartment or room, to a community with staff who do not fulfill their obligations, e.g . B. a porter with fake sick leave. Recently, says Fontanals, a landlord was able to prove that a tenant who did not pay rent and turned out to be economically vulnerable according to the assumptions legitimized by the Housing Act was not in fact a tenant: “We have seen an exponential increase in these numbers.” Cases to obtain economic benefits. The detective’s work in these matters is based on investigating and proving the actual financial situation of the tenant.
In recent years, the services of detective agencies have also been used when the house or premises was used as a drug house, confirm the lawyers consulted and the APDPE.
No matter what the order is: discretion is the top priority. Although it could be that an interview or consultation was carried out with a neighbor that was of interest to the investigation, “these are usually not relevant because they would have to testify in court if necessary, and they can always do that.” Withdraw for different reasons,” argues Rafael Pisa, manager of RPB Detectives. In his opinion, it is best to remain as unnoticed as possible unless absolutely necessary, as an inappropriate question to a neighbor can raise suspicions and comments that would mean the end of the investigation.
The same opinion is shared by Antonio Labrador, vice-president of the APDPE, for whom the detective is a loner who, thanks to his training and experience, knows how to obtain information. “Usually the detective does his work secretly and without interference. This is the success of not having to rely on external sources, and even less so in an ownership association.”
If the case concerns the community, “we find that the president or the manager of the property is obliged to inform all neighbors about the money that is to be invested, which raises eyebrows.” Normally, the attitude is made by those affected. “
The price of the services varies depending on the estimate of the hours worked and the resources to be used. The average hourly rate is 70 euros, calculates the APDPE.
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