MRE: The Netherlands can have your house in Morocco investigated by a private company

A decision by the Centrale Raad van Beroep, the highest Dutch court for social security matters, shows how these investigations can be organized.

As part of a program concerning assets held abroad, the municipality of Gouda had instructed the SOZA XPERT firm to search for any properties belonging to a social assistance beneficiary and her husband.

Using their personal data, the service provider consulted Moroccan land registries. It discovered a house registered half in the woman’s name and the other half in the names of her husband and their daughter. A Moroccan company, ICOTEX, then carried out an external valuation of the property.

The house was valued at 1.36 million dirhams, or 125,288 euros at the exchange rate of April 11, 2019, details the Centrale Raad van Beroep.

On Bladi.net : article 123382

The couple had not declared this asset. They subsequently refused to provide the documents requested by the municipality, which withdrew social assistance effective August 30, 2019, and rejected a new application submitted in February 2020.

A private company can consult the Moroccan land registry

The beneficiary challenged the use of the investigation, arguing that the municipality had delegated to a private company duties reserved for its own officers. She also claimed that her privacy had been violated.

The judges rejected these arguments. Consulting Moroccan land registries and valuing a property do not constitute essential duties that the municipality must carry out itself. However, the subsequent investigation and the decision on benefits remained in the hands of Gouda’s social services department.

The court acknowledged that the cadastral search and the external examination of the house infringed on privacy. It nevertheless held that this interference was limited, necessary and proportionate, since the couple had not declared the property. The municipality could therefore use the service provider’s findings.

This decision confirms the mechanism allowing Dutch municipalities to search for property held in Morocco. It does not, however, authorize them to rely on vague or impossible-to-check information.

On Bladi.net : article 122942

In another case, the same court sanctioned the Social Insurance Bank, the SVB, which had withdrawn the supplementary allowance of a couple suspected of owning a house in Morocco since 1982.

The institution relied on information obtained by its social affairs attaché in Morocco. But the document specified neither the authority that had provided the information nor the facts on which it was based.

The court nevertheless upheld the interruption of the allowance from January 30, 2019, the date on which the individuals concerned had refused to authorize additional investigations in Morocco.

The rule is therefore clear: a Dutch municipality can entrust a private company with consulting the Moroccan land registry and carrying out an external valuation of a house. But to withdraw an allowance or demand its repayment, it must produce concrete, verifiable evidence collected in a proportionate manner.