The court-ordered lock opening service of Mou Cerrajero Málaga covers tenancy evictions and entries ordered by a court in Malaga and across the province. It is carried out by APFC accredited locksmiths for solicitors, procuradores, property administrators and court commissions, with the lock replaced on site and confidentiality on every job.
On the day of a court-ordered eviction everything has to fall into place: the appointment with the court commission, the attendance of the procurador, the police presence where one is arranged and the locksmith's work. Our part is to make sure the diligencia runs normally, with no delay attributable to the locksmith, and to leave the property properly secured at the end. We work regularly for law firms, procuradores, property administrators, private owners and financial institutions across the whole province of Malaga. Instructions are also taken in English from non-resident owners and from professionals acting on their behalf.
We open the door using professional techniques aimed at leaving the lock and the structure undamaged wherever that is possible. Where a non-destructive opening cannot be achieved, we record the original state of the cylinder and the lock so that it can be entered in the record kept by the Letrado de la Administración de Justicia, the court officer who conducts the diligencia.
Once access to the property has been restored, we replace the lock or the cylinder and hand the keys to the owner or to their legal representative. Carrying locks and cylinders in the van means the diligencia can be closed the same day, without a second appointment.
Before the appointment we confirm by phone or WhatsApp the address, the time set by the court and, where it is known, the type of door and lock involved. That lets us prepare the right equipment and arrive ahead of time.
We work with complete discretion. We do not disclose addresses, identities or the circumstances of the proceedings we take part in. For legal professionals and for owners alike, that commitment to confidentiality is part of the service.
A court-ordered opening is the work of a locksmith within a diligencia de lanzamiento, the enforcement step that ends the occupation of a property, or within another final court decision ordering possession to be handed over. It normally falls under Articles 703 and 704 of the Spanish Civil Procedure Act (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil, LEC), and it takes place when the occupant does not hand over possession voluntarily within the period allowed.
This is the most common case in residential and commercial tenancies. After eviction proceedings for non-payment, the owner is given a lanzamiento date on which the court commission attends the property and, if necessary, the door is opened so that possession can be recovered.
Law 5/2018 allows the recovery of possession against unidentified persons occupying a property without title to be brought within a single set of proceedings. These cases combine a legal side and a significant technical side: doors and locks often carry parts added by the occupants themselves.
We also attend evictions at the end of a tenancy, mortgage enforcement with handover of possession, divorce proceedings where the use of the home is awarded to one party, and openings requested by residents associations.
The way we work follows the pace set by the court and by the procurador. These are the usual stages of a court-ordered opening:
In some evictions, particularly where there has been unlawful occupation, the door and the lock are no longer the original ones. High-security cylinders, auxiliary bolts, anti-drill guards and even plates and reinforcements fitted by the occupants are common. That calls for specific experience with these elements, not only with ordinary locks.
At Mou Cerrajero Málaga we work regularly on armoured doors of different grades, and on locks and cylinders from brands such as Fac, Tesa, Cisa, Lince, Kaba and Ezcurra, among others. The experience built up on this kind of job makes it possible to approach each opening in the way the case calls for, assessing whether a non-destructive opening is feasible or whether the circumstances require a documented forced entry.
Once access has been restored, we can fit a lock of whatever security level the owner wants, leaving the home or the premises properly secured at the end of the diligencia. See also our page on lock replacement in Malaga.
Mou Cerrajero Málaga is a member of the Association of Forensic Locksmith Experts (APFC), the Spanish association devoted specifically to forensic locksmithing and expert evidence. The accreditation involves:
For legal professionals, working with an APFC accredited locksmith adds technical support that goes beyond the opening itself: it allows what was found to be documented properly and, where appropriate, an expert opinion to be brought into the proceedings.
We attend court-ordered openings in Malaga and across the province. These are some of the areas our locksmiths travel to regularly for this service:
In practice most evictions call for a locksmith, either to open the door when possession is not handed over voluntarily or to replace the lock once possession has been recovered. Whether and when the locksmith acts is for the court commission to decide.
Most often it is the claimant, usually through their procurador or their solicitor, who arranges and instructs the locksmith to attend the diligencia. Sometimes the owner or the administrator managing the property does so directly.
It is not advisable. Changing the lock without the cover of the court decision can have legal consequences for the owner, because the occupant may rely on rights that only end with the diligencia de lanzamiento. The prudent course is to wait for the court appointment and act within the proceedings.
This comes up often, particularly where there has been unlawful occupation. We work regularly on armoured doors and on high-security locks and cylinders, and we prepare the opening around whatever is actually fitted to each door.
A locksmith who belongs to the APFC has taken specific training in forensic locksmithing and expert evidence, knows the procedure that applies to work of a judicial nature and can produce technical reports that carry weight as expert evidence. In proceedings such as evictions, that accreditation adds a further level of rigour.
We provide an itemised invoice for the service carried out, with the details needed for it to be placed on the case file. Where the lock is replaced, we hand the keys to the person designated by the court commission.
Yes. We attend court-ordered openings across the province of Malaga, including Marbella, Fuengirola, Mijas, Benalmádena, Torremolinos, Estepona and the towns of the Valle del Guadalhorce.
