Focus On.......Property Visits

We are often asked by our clients to visit a property and provide information relating to it.Typically our clients - banks, solicitors, landlords - ask us to provide a range of information and the purpose of our visit could be to find out any manner of detail. For instance, our clients may ask us to :

1. Confirm the details on an Ordnance Survey Map 
2. Report on its condition 
3. Confirm what the property is used for 
4. Find out who is living/working there (as opposed to tracing somebody) 
5. Advise them what is actually on the site 
6. Ascertain if the property has been divided into flats 
7. Confirm if it is owner occupied or if it has been let/sublet
8. Provide an up to date valuation

Lets Chat

One of our clients asked us to confirm the residential address of a debtor and to undertake enquiries into any assets that they may have. They had understood that he owned a property overseas. 

Our local manager began making enquiries in the area and was able to confirm that the debtor was still living at the address provided by our client - he was clearly avoiding them. Continuing the enquiries she took a stroll past the address one morning and the subject was in the front garden. She decided to strike up a casual conversation and they were soon chatting away. With the subject none the wiser, she came away from the conversation with not only first hand verification that he lived at the address but also with details of his various properties overseas and the websites through which he rented them out. A positive result for our client which wouldn't have been possible if our managers never left their desks.

You asked us

"I have a couple of cases where it is believed that the subject has moved overseas. Can you help?" 

Nearly always, yes. Some years ago we rebranded to London House International to reflect the increasing volumes of work we are doing abroad. In the sixteen years since we were established we have built up a large and reliable network of overseas agents who carry appropriate accreditations and are members of our trade associations. 

International work can sometimes be difficult and complicated and we need to appreciate different cultures, language and legal systems. We will always obtain quotations for you and advise you of the best course of action. Sometimes our own managers will travel overseas to carry out the more complex enquiries and this can be more cost effective. Please telephone for free advice and no obligation quotations.

Focus on.......Trace & Discreet Investigations

When a client has lost contact with a debtor, we are often asked to trace the debtor's whereabouts and then try and investigate what assets they may have without raising their suspicions.

As you will know, trace is one of our areas of expertise and our Franchise Owners are highly skilled in field trace work. We often overcome a number of difficulties in locating people who do not want to be found, but we remain determined and our success rate of c70% confirms our abilities.

When found, we may be asked to investigate the debtor's assets. Obviously, this would normally be their residential property but we also look out for such things as vehicles, other property investments, business interests etc. Where possible we will also seek to gather information from neighbours in an effort to perhaps confirm our thoughts or just provide us with a little snippet of detail. It should be remembered, of course, that there are also occasions when there is no new information or details to find!

You asked us........

"A topic of interest to me would be to have a clear idea of how far you can go to track down information about people bearing in mind data protection constraints".

We have to work within the 8 principles of the DPA 1998, however the real guidelines for practical purposes are twofold:

-          We can get any information on the public record - sometimes using our databases there is more than first imagined

-          We can use any information freely given by a member of the public (telephone or in the field) providing we do not hold ourselves out to be anybody other than who we truly are - this is where the skill of the right conversation/approach is helpful

Very often a linked address on a database sets us off on another path or we discover additional property owned. Neighbours sometimes give clues - away at their holiday home , on their boat etc

In the end it comes down to cost and value of the case.

We also have all the surveillance resource as you will have seen from last months e-newsletter and can give advice re best/most cost effective deployment. Following someone to another address or different place of work sometimes produces the result but if there is nothing to find we will not find it ! Also assets offshore are difficult to pin down.

There are many variables and we are always happy to discuss individual cases. 

Focus on... Tracing - locating gone away debtors and hidden assets

Our strength is our field force of regional managers (Franchise Owners), all of whom are skilled and experienced in the art of tracing. We differ from many traditional agencies in that we do not rely purely on database enquiries... why have a field force and keep them shut away! Our managers always attend at the last known address of the subject and begin their enquiries by speaking to occupiers, neighbours, etc. always discreetly and always within current legislation. We follow the trail, wherever it may lead, and keep going until we have an answer. We are succesful in the majority of cases and there is a certain amount of satisfaction, for us and you, in our finding that person that just didn't want to be found.