Miami Private InvestigationsHomestead had 80,737 residents in the 2020 Census. It was incorporated in 1913 as a town of 121 people with 28 registered voters, and the city describes itself as "the second oldest city in Miami-Dade County" (City of Homestead history). Its timeline also records the storm that reshaped the city: "Hurricane Andrew devastates Homestead with a direct hit."
We are a licensed Florida agency (FDACS A1800135), veteran-led and bilingual. Miami Private Investigations has no office in Homestead; south-county cases are run from Suite 470 at 4000 Ponce de Leon Blvd, Coral Gables. What follows is the local picture that shapes Homestead investigations, the courts that handle them, and the rules we follow.
Homestead households
Homestead households skew toward children. In the American Community Survey (five-year estimates, 2019–2023), about 48.6% of its 25,427 households include at least one person under 18, compared with about 30.9% across Miami-Dade (ACS B11005). About 55% of occupied homes are rented (ACS B25003). Of 73,667 residents aged five or older, 44,838, roughly 60.9%, speak Spanish at home (ACS C16001).
That share matters for family cases. When nearly half of homes include a minor, a divorce is more likely to come with a parenting plan attached, and the evidence a court weighs on time-sharing becomes as important as anything said about the marriage itself.
The local picture
Farms, nurseries and the people who work them
Miami-Dade says its agricultural industry "is one of the most diverse in the country" and that the county "ranks first in the U.S. in production of ornamental plants and second in Florida in overall farm production value" (Miami-Dade agriculture). The University of Florida's Tropical Research and Education Center is in Homestead at 18905 S.W. 280 Street, and describes itself as "the only state university research and education center in the continental U.S. focusing on a large number of tropical and subtropical crops" (UF/IFAS TREC). For growers, nurseries and packing operations, the investigative needs are ordinary business ones: background checks on partners and key hires, and workplace injury claims, where Florida makes it a crime to knowingly make a false statement "for the purpose of obtaining or denying any benefit or payment" (s. 440.105(4)(b)1).
Homestead Air Reserve Base
The base is home to the 482d Fighter Wing of Air Force Reserve Command, which flies F-16C aircraft, and it sits "about 25 miles south of Miami" (482d Fighter Wing fact sheet). The Census counted 999 residents in the Homestead Base CDP in 2020. We do not try to get onto the installation. When a case involves someone connected to the base, the work stays on public roads, in public places and in public records, and divorce and custody remain state-court matters.
Storms and insurance claims
After a hurricane or a major loss, a disputed property or injury claim can turn on what the claimant is doing now and what the property looked like then. Our claim investigations document activity and conditions from lawful vantage points for carriers and defense counsel. Suspected fraud can also be reported to the Department of Financial Services' Criminal Investigations Division, which investigates insurance fraud.
The road to the Keys
Because the Keys begin just south of the city, a subject in a Homestead case may live or work in Monroe County. Monroe is a different circuit, the 16th (keyscourts.net), with its own clerk. Workers' compensation is the exception that links them: the state Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims runs one Miami district office, at 401 NW Second Avenue, Suite N918, for both Dade and Monroe (OJCC).
Why Homestead clients hire an investigator
Custody and parenting plans. Florida presumes equal time-sharing is in a child's best interests, but the presumption is rebuttable with evidence on the factors in s. 61.13, including the parents' moral fitness, mental and physical health, and any "domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, child abandonment, or child neglect." Our child custody investigations stick to what can be seen lawfully and reported plainly.
Infidelity and money. Adultery is not a ground for divorce in Florida (s. 61.052), but its "resulting economic impact" can affect alimony (s. 61.08). Infidelity investigations and asset checks follow the spending, including land, equipment and business interests.
Finding people. With about 55% of homes rented, an address on file can go stale quickly. Skip trace services locate parties, witnesses and debtors through lawful sources.
Surveillance. Surveillance in south Miami-Dade is planned around the distances involved: we map routes and lawful vantage points before the first shift, then log every observation with time and place.
Courts and clerk for Homestead cases
Homestead is part of the 11th Judicial Circuit. The nearest branch on the circuit's courthouse list is the South Dade Justice Center, 10710 S.W. 211 Street, Miami, FL 33189. The main civil building is the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center at 20 N.W. 1st Avenue in downtown Miami, which held its ribbon cutting on November 10, 2025; the county says it "replaces the historic Miami-Dade County Courthouse, which has served the community since 1928" (county release). Which building hears your case depends on its type, so check the notice.
The Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court and Comptroller keeps the civil, family and probate records, the criminal records and the official records of deeds and liens. We read those first, then plan the fieldwork around the gaps.
At a hearing, surveillance footage has to be authenticated (s. 90.901), normally by the investigator who shot it, and a recording made without every party's consent is excluded along with anything derived from it (s. 934.06). Attorneys can find more on our attorney support page and our testimonials page.
Neighboring communities in south Miami-Dade
The places around Homestead, with 2020 Census counts:
- Florida City (13,085), a separate city.
- Leisure City (26,324), Naranja (13,509), Princeton (39,308) and Goulds (11,446), unincorporated census-designated places.
- Homestead Base (999), the CDP for the base.
- Cutler Bay (45,425), incorporated as a town.
How we run a Homestead case
- A private conversation. Phone (305) 686-7826 or email admin@miamiprivateinvestigations.com, in English or Spanish. Florida treats unauthorized disclosure of client information as grounds for discipline (s. 493.6118(1)(e)).
- Records. Dockets, deeds, liens and company filings on Sunbiz.
- A signed scope covering the goal, the methods and the hours.
- Fieldwork planned for south-county distances and logged as it happens.
- A report with timestamped images and a narrative your attorney can use.
What a Florida PI may and may not do
Under Chapter 493, investigating a person's "habits, conduct, movements, whereabouts" and "securing evidence" for trial is licensed work (s. 493.6101). The license has limits:
- Fenced, posted or cultivated land is off limits without permission, which matters on farm property (s. 810.09); so are structures and vehicles (s. 810.08).
- No hidden recording of private conversations (s. 934.03).
- No GPS trackers on another person's vehicle (s. 934.425).
- No impersonating police (s. 493.6118(1)(i)) and no pretexting a bank (15 U.S.C. § 6821).
Our Florida Statute 493 guide explains each rule.
Services for Homestead clients
Parenting-plan evidence for south-county families.
Storm, property and workplace injury claims.
Routes and vantage points mapped before the first shift.
Conduct and spending relevant to alimony.
Land, equipment and business interests.
Partners, key hires and tenants.
Parties and witnesses who have moved.
Locates, interviews and testimony-ready files.