Straight answers about what licensed Florida private investigators can and can't do, what cases cost, how evidence holds up in court, and how to work with our team.
Most Florida private investigations are billed hourly, typically between $75 and $150 per hour depending on the case type, complexity, and equipment required. Surveillance and forensic work tend to fall in the higher range; database-driven background and asset searches are usually quoted as flat fees. AFIPI provides a written engagement letter with a clear scope and a retainer estimate before any work begins — no surprise charges.
No. The first conversation is free and confidential. We ask about the situation, what outcome you're hoping for, and whether a licensed investigation is actually the right step. If we aren't the right fit, we'll tell you and, where possible, point you to someone who is.
Call 888-697-3478 or use our contact form. We'll schedule a confidential intake call, scope the work, and send a written engagement letter with a flat fee or hourly retainer. Once the retainer is funded, casework typically starts within 24–72 hours.
Yes. Florida law (Chapter 493, Florida Statutes) explicitly authorizes licensed private investigators to perform surveillance, background research, asset searches, witness interviews, and other investigative work for paying clients. Hiring an unlicensed investigator is illegal and any evidence collected can be excluded in court — always verify the license number before you sign anything.
Florida licenses are issued by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Division of Licensing. You can look up any agency or individual at the FDACS license verification portal. AFIPI holds six active state licenses: A2800136 (agency), B1400220 (security agency), C8700342 (individual PI), D1631055 (security officer), G1703613 (statewide firearm), and MB1500122 (PI manager).
Only with the consent of the vehicle's owner or, in limited circumstances, when the tracker is placed on a vehicle the client legally owns or co-owns. Florida Statute 934.425 makes it a crime to install a tracker on someone else's vehicle without consent. AFIPI follows the statute strictly — we will not place a tracker that would expose you to criminal or civil liability.
Yes — when it's collected lawfully, documented properly, and preserved with chain of custody. Our investigators write reports admissible under Florida and federal rules of evidence: timestamped logs, photographs and video with metadata intact, signed witness statements, and forensic exhibits stored under documented chain of custody. Many of our cases are taken specifically because attorneys need court-ready work product.
Conduct surveillance in public spaces, run database-backed background and asset searches, interview witnesses, serve process, work pre-trial fact investigations, perform digital and computer forensics under proper authority, sweep for hidden electronic devices (TSCM), and collect court-admissible evidence. We cannot trespass, impersonate law enforcement, hack into accounts, or pull records that are statutorily restricted (medical, certain financial, etc.) without lawful authorization.
Yes — this is one of our most common engagements. We document infidelity, locate hidden assets and undisclosed accounts, run parental fitness investigations, capture supervised-visitation compliance on video, and produce evidence packages your family-law attorney can use directly in court. Florida is a no-fault divorce state, but documented behavior and assets still drive alimony, equitable distribution, and custody outcomes.
Often, yes. Skip-tracing combines proprietary databases (utilities, employment, real property, vehicles, phones, social media), public records, and field investigation. We locate biological relatives, missing persons, debtors who have vanished after a judgment, and witnesses who've moved without notice. Cases where the subject is actively in hiding take longer but are rarely impossible.
Most surveillance cases run between 8 and 40 hours of field time, spread across multiple days to capture patterns rather than single events. Infidelity cases often resolve within one to two weekends; workers' compensation fraud cases can take several weeks. We scope realistic hours up front so you don't burn budget chasing a single bad day.
Sometimes. We trace the money through wire records, crypto on-chain analysis, and financial subpoena work coordinated with your attorney. Domestic recoveries (U.S. accounts, U.S. defendants) have a meaningful success rate; international scams are harder but we still build the evidence package banks, the FBI's IC3, and civil counsel need. We're upfront about the odds before you spend money on the chase.
Yes. We perform forensically sound extractions of phones, tablets, computers, and cloud accounts you have legal authority over — recovering deleted texts, photos, call logs, browsing history, location data, and email. All work is documented under chain of custody and produced as expert reports admissible in court. We also handle e-discovery, breach response, and TSCM (bug and hidden-camera sweeps).
Yes — a large share of our work comes from family-law, civil-litigation, criminal-defense, and personal-injury counsel. We bill the firm directly, work under attorney-client privilege where applicable, and produce reports formatted for use as exhibits or to support depositions. Founder John Gaspar testifies as an expert in fraud, crime scene, and forensic hypnosis matters.
Statewide. Our two physical offices are in Daytona Beach (140 South Beach Street, Suite 200) and Orlando (2750 Taylor Avenue, Suite A-43). We routinely work Volusia, Flagler, Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, and St. Johns counties — Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, Port Orange, New Smyrna Beach, Palm Coast, St. Augustine, Orlando, Winter Park, Sanford, Kissimmee, and the surrounding Central Florida region — and accept select cases anywhere in Florida or, when partnered with local counsel, nationwide.
Yes. We sign a written confidentiality clause as part of every engagement, store case files in a secured environment, and never discuss client matters outside the team assigned to your case. When you engage us through your attorney, our work product is generally protected by the attorney work-product doctrine.
Every conversation is confidential. Speak directly with a licensed investigator at our Daytona Beach or Orlando office, or send a short note and we'll get back to you within 24 hours.
