Investigations into Rent Nomads in Hamburg

When renting out your property, a healthy degree of mistrust can be beneficial. Of course, this does not mean that everyone applying for a flat has ulterior motives by nature. Unfortunately, many potential tenants are not saints, but cheat their landlords out of rent, leave the flat in an unclean state, are unreachable for enforcement measures and often disappear when the pressure becomes too great. The owner is then left with the mess. The detectives of Kurtz Investigations Hamburg can help: +49 40 2320 5053.

A Case Example of Rent Nomadism

For nine months, the Adams family had been living in one of several rental properties owned by the Kraus couple (all names changed). A truly charming young couple with an adorable little girl. They had been pleasant when applying for the flat. They did not have it easy, the young woman had said at the time, because her husband was only an unskilled worker employed in a warehouse at the port. And because of little Lotta, she herself could not work, as she had not been able to secure a place at a nursery. No, they had no relatives nearby, as they were not from Hamburg but from Saarland.

 

The young couple and their child aroused the sympathy of the Krauses – as a small family with only one breadwinner, life is not easy – and so they rented the flat to the Adams without examining their income more closely. But now the Kraus couple had not received any rent payments for months, no one answered the telephone and letters remained unanswered. One day, the Krauses had had enough: they got into their car and drove to the house to check on the situation.

Is a Landlord Allowed to Enter the Flat Without Permission?

On their way to the front door, the couple passed the letterboxes and noticed that the one belonging to the Adams family was almost overflowing with letters and advertising mail. The landlords had their own key to the building and entered. In the hallway, the Kraus couple met a resident and asked him about the Adams. The man told them that he had neither seen nor heard from the couple for about two months. The couple asked about little Lotta, but the man replied that he had never seen a child. However, the young people had held parties two to three times a week – and quite loudly at that.

 

An uneasy feeling crept over the couple. They went to the Adams’ flat and knocked, but apparently no one was there. Moreover, there was a strange smell in the hallway. Was it coming from the flat? The couple were unsure what to do. Open the flat with the spare key? Is that even permitted – without prior notice? Yes and no. In the case of imminent danger, entering a private flat without prior notice by the landlord is permissible, as damage to persons and property must be averted. Examples would include cries for help from the flat, the smell of gas or a fire. In most cases, even in the event of imminent danger, it is advisable to ring the doorbell before using the key or even forcing the door open. In acute danger, however, there may be no time for this. Incidentally, even the mere retention of a spare key could lead to problems for the landlord in court. And so they decided, for the time being, not to enter the flat.

On the Safe Side Legally with a Bailiff

Several weeks later, following legal advice and swift enforcement of their claim to rent payments, the Kraus couple met a bailiff and a locksmith in front of the Adams family’s flat. As the couple had been clever enough not to mention possession of the spare key, the tradesman opened the door. An indescribable stench hit the group! The flat was unoccupied and – uninhabitable: empty bottles and food packaging with rotting leftovers lay everywhere, sockets had been torn out of the walls, the glass pane of the kitchen door was shattered and the fitted kitchen had disappeared.

An overweight man sits on an old armchair holding a beer, behind him a frustrated woman, above her a rope, the flat is devastated. Detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Hamburg, Private Detective from Hamburg, Corporate Investigation from Hamburg

At the first meeting, rent nomads usually appear completely normal: civilised, clean and orderly. In private, however, they sometimes behave like pigs and manage to turn even freshly renovated flats into wrecks in a short time.

Determining the Whereabouts of Rent Nomads by Detectives

The financial damage suffered by the originally well-meaning Kraus couple was, of course, enormous. The perpetrators and thus those liable for damages had evaded access. Using conventional methods, the Krauses would no longer be able to locate them. And so they contacted the detectives of Kurtz Investigations Hamburg and asked for assistance in finding the rent nomads.

 

During our investigation into the Adams (the name at least proved to be correct), we followed a trail of devastation over several months. Within six months after the incident in the Kraus family’s flat, the Adams had ruined three (!) further flats in a similar manner. Ultimately, our Hamburg corporate investigators were able to locate them in a property in Lüneburg. Whether the affected landlords will ever receive adequate compensation payments, however, remains doubtful.