The owners don't go down, says Sunnyvale Lt. Dave Davis, because it's up to the judge to decide whether the owner knew about what went on behind closed doors. Most of the time, Hare says, the owners claim their business is legitimate. They come in and say they took care of the problem by firing the girl and that it won't happen again. If we could catch them we'd bust them, but the police would have to be witness to the entire process.
Hare says that lease agreements protect tenants.
If the owner says he's taken care of the problem and that there's nothing illegal going on, then the owner of the building can't evict the tenant. Police methods aren't without critics. It's these procedures of going indoors that are pushing the girls onto the streets. The streets are where real problems exist for prostitutes, she says, because they become more vulnerable there compared with the relative safety of being indoors. Sunnyvale Public Safety Capt.