Unpaid rent: locate and assess before you sue

Written by Guillaume Pouillier, CNAPS-licensed private detective, licence no. AGD 095-2024-03-06-20190240581 · Last updated: July 14, 2026

Suing blind is expensive. A judgment is worthless if the debtor cannot be found or has nothing to pay with; many landlords fund proceedings that never produce a cent for lack of information. The preliminary investigation, location and solvency, tells you whether action makes sense, and which action.

What exactly does the detective do about unpaid rent?

Two things: finding the tenant or the guarantor (actual address verified on site, employer where relevant) and assessing their ability to pay, visible income, activity, lifestyle, attachable assets. You then know whether recovery is worth pursuing, and through which channel.

Location work combines field investigation and open sources: on-site findings, professional surroundings, administrative and digital footprint. Solvency is documented through a lawful body of evidence: apparent professional situation, vehicles, visible assets, declared activity. Everything is dated and sourced in a report your lawyer or enforcement officer can use directly, see also our solvency checks and debtor tracing, the B2B versions of the same expertise.

How quickly should you act?

Fast. Rental debts are time-barred after three years under French law, traces fade, and a mobile debtor relocates all the more easily as time passes. An investigation launched within weeks of the departure has the best chances of success.

The right reflex: as soon as the tenant stops paying or leaves without an address, have the situation recorded (inventory, returned mail) and instruct the investigation alongside amicable steps. If a payment order or summons must be served, the actual address we verify avoids service at the “last known address”, which is fragile and slow. Where there is a guarantor, both tracks run in parallel: one solvent debtor is enough.

What evidence do you obtain, and is it admissible?

An address certified by on-site findings, an identified employer, a documented picture of lifestyle and visible assets, obtained fairly, from public space and open sources, in line with settled case law since 1962. The report is filed as is before the French housing judge.

We do not “find” bank accounts: direct access is reserved to legal procedures (FICOBA, through an enforcement officer holding an enforceable title). What our report provides is exactly what those procedures need to succeed: certain identity, actual address, employer for a wage attachment. That is the difference between a dormant judgment and a recovered debt.

Why use a detective rather than search yourself?

Because personal searches hit a wall fast: authorities do not answer private individuals, social media misleads, and an unverified address defeats service. Our investigators verify on site, within a legal framework that makes the evidence usable, and you stay out of the conflict.

Proportionality matters too: hounding a debtor or having them traced through improper channels exposes the landlord. Our work, framed by the CNAPS licence (art. L621-1 of the Internal Security Code) and professional secrecy (art. 226-13 of the Criminal Code), keeps the process safe end to end. Institutional landlords and property managers entrust us with these files in volume; individual owners get the same method, scaled to a single dwelling.

How much does it cost?

Our assignments start at €85/hour (excl. VAT) (full day €850, volume discounts). Every case gets a free written quote before any commitment, no hidden fees.

A simple trace is often handled in a few documentary sessions; adding the solvency angle usually stays under one billed day. Weigh that against the debt: a few hundred euros of investigation usefully decides the fate of several thousand euros of rent.

See the full price list.

Frequently asked questions