Illegal brothel found in social housing flat; Tenant fights eviction order

Housing association Ymere is trying to evict a tenant from a social housing home on Hendrik Werkmanstraat in Almere after the police found an illegal brothel there in March. The tenant is fighting the eviction, claiming the police stumbled into a sex party, not a brothel. The case appeared in court on Wednesday, Omroep Flevoland reports.

According to Ymere, the home was set up as a sex club, with only a bed and a chair in each bedroom. The sex workers present told the police that they had worked or still worked in the home. One said she paid 100 euros per day for a room.

The mayor closed the home, and Ymere dissolved the lease. According to the housing association, running an illegal brothel is grounds enough for eviction, but neighbors also complained about nuisance. “They often did so anonymously because they were afraid of this tenant. He is a very intimidating man,” said a Ymere employee.

The tenant’s lawyer said the housing association was blowing everything out of proportion. According to him, his client did not run an illegal brothel but did throw sex parties once or twice a year with privately hired sex workers. That was what the police busted in March, the lawyer said.

The lawyer also argued that the evidence against his client was “not reliable enough,” saying that the police may have misinterpreted the foreign sex workers. “At least he won’t throw sex parties anymore because he’s really shocked by all this,” the lawyer said.

The court will rule in two weeks.