Broward Private InvestigationsHollywood stretches from the ocean to the western suburbs in a few miles. On the barrier island are Hollywood Beach and the Broadwalk, lined with hotels, cafes and condos. Across the Intracoastal are the Hollywood Lakes neighbourhood, downtown along Hollywood Boulevard and Harrison Street, and Young Circle with its ArtsPark. Further west are Emerald Hills, Hollywood Hills and the neighbourhoods toward State Road 7, where the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Hollywood Reservation and its Hard Rock resort sit. Port Everglades borders the city to the north-east. Each of those areas brings its own kind of case and its own surveillance problems.
If you are still deciding whether to hire anyone at all, our guide to hiring a private investigator in Hollywood, FL walks through licence checks and what a first consultation should cover. This page focuses on the work itself.
What do Hollywood clients usually need a private investigator for?
- Infidelity. Beach hotels, nightlife downtown and the resort on State Road 7 give a spouse plenty of places to be “working late.” Infidelity investigations replace suspicion with a factual record.
- Custody and parenting time. Exchanges, supervision and whether a parenting plan is being followed. See our guide to child custody investigations in Broward County.
- Finding people. A relative who has lost touch, a witness who has moved or a debtor who changed addresses. We handle missing persons investigations and locates through public records and fieldwork.
- Serving papers. Condo towers with front desks and residents who avoid the door make service difficult. Our process service for difficult cases is designed for that.
- Checking someone new. A new partner, a tenant, or a person who has suddenly become close to an older relative. Background investigations answer who that person really is.
How do investigators work the beach and the Broadwalk?
The Broadwalk is one of the few places in Broward where much of the activity is on foot or by bike, and that changes the method. A car is no help on a pedestrian promenade. Coverage is by investigators on foot, dressed for the setting, with vehicles positioned on A1A and the side streets for when the subject drives off. Parking is tight and metered, so vehicle positions are planned in advance rather than improvised.
The limits are the same as anywhere in Florida. Beachfront hotels and condo buildings are private property, so an investigator documents arrivals, departures and who the subject is with from public areas, and does not follow anyone past a lobby or onto a private pool deck. No audio is recorded: Florida requires the consent of every party to intercept a private conversation (s. 934.03, F.S.).
Is the Hard Rock area treated differently?
Yes, and an investigator should know why. The Seminole Hard Rock resort is on the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Hollywood Reservation, where the tribe runs its own police department and the property has its own security. An investigator can be present as a member of the public on property that is open to the public, but must follow the property’s rules and cannot expect to film freely inside. In practice, surveillance there usually focuses on documenting arrival and departure, vehicles and companions from public roads, and footage inside the property is a matter for formal requests by counsel. Our surveillance video retrieval service explains how footage requests work generally.
Can I sue the person my spouse cheated with in Florida?
No. Florida abolished lawsuits for alienation of affections and criminal conversation, the old claims against an affair partner (s. 771.01, F.S.). That is one reason clients are often surprised by what evidence of an affair can and cannot do here. Florida divorce is no-fault, but a court may consider a spouse’s adultery and its economic impact in deciding alimony (s. 61.08, F.S.), and patterns of behaviour can be relevant to parenting decisions. Your family-law attorney is the right person to say how evidence fits your case; our job is to gather it lawfully.
What changes once a divorce has been filed?
One detail matters a great deal in Hollywood family cases. Under s. 934.425, F.S., placing or using a tracking device or app on another person’s property without consent is a third-degree felony, and once a spouse files for dissolution of marriage, any earlier consent to tracking is presumed to be revoked. Shared phone-location apps that a couple set up years ago can become a legal problem the day a petition is filed. Our article on GPS and location evidence in a Broward divorce covers this in more detail. Investigators do not use trackers on anyone; the statute’s business exception explicitly excludes private investigators working for someone else.
Where would a Hollywood family case be heard?
Hollywood is in Broward County, which is Florida’s Seventeenth Judicial Circuit (s. 26.021(17), F.S.). The circuit’s South Regional Courthouse is at 3550 Hollywood Boulevard. The circuit also has the main Judicial Complex at 201 SE 6th Street in Fort Lauderdale and regional courthouses in Plantation and Deerfield Beach (17th Circuit court locations). The location depends on the case type and assignment, so check your paperwork. Case records for all of them are searchable through the Broward County Clerk of Courts, which is often where we start, looking for prior injunctions, family cases and lawsuits involving the people in your matter.
What should I prepare before calling?
- A one- or two-sentence description of what you need to find out.
- Photos, vehicles and addresses for the people involved.
- Any parenting schedule, exchange times or known routines.
- Case numbers and your attorney’s details, if a case is already open.
Every individual who performs private investigative work in Florida must be licensed under Chapter 493 (s. 493.6201, F.S.). Contact us or call (954) 235-4955 to discuss your Hollywood matter in confidence.