That will almost always be the case, at some point the person in question tries to buy a house or a car and cant get a loan until you are paid. Many mortgage brokers will roll collections items into the home loan then disregard them, then paying them as part of the escrow process (at least they did this with me once, not sure if thats still kosher)
Many property rental agencies will run a credit check too, and unpaid judgments could hinder her ability to rent another house.
You people and your fantasy bullshit. You just don’t “put a lien” on someone’s property. Typically you have to file with the county, set a court date and have the court uphold the lien.
And as a landlord, why should I care that my tenant didn’t pay you? That’s your problem. Even if I did care, how do you expect that I would be able to force the tenant to pay some third party?
And typically a tenant isn’t allowed to make improvements on a property they don’t own.
Totally agree.
At first, when people started floating the idea of leaning (yes leaning) on the landlord, my thought was that if I was the landlord my response might be 'hey buddy, if you’re doing work on property without my permission, I should sue you. But that’s moot, it’s just for lawn service. I’m going to bet the debtor is just renting a house/duplex and is responsible for lawn mowing/snow clearing. It’s not that they had the floors redone or remolded the kitchen without asking.
I hate to say this, but we all get burned from time to time. Call it a life lesson. From now on, collect after each job and if the person doesn’t pay, don’t return for the next one. Obviously, you can make an exception for good customers that you’re “not worried about” but when some new customer doesn’t pay you after that first job, you can tell them you’ll come back to mow the lawn as soon as you get the check (credit card…hint hint) for the first one. If they want to make pre-payment arrangements, you can just go ahead and set up a schedule.
You’re right I don’t just put a lien on someones property. My attorney does so on my behalf.
If you have a tenant causing you legal issues with your property it creates legal headaches for you. Most landlords don’t want such headaches. When a tenant is given the option of dealing with their debts or finding a new place to live they often decide it’s not worth having to move over.
The reason to leverage against a landlord is they have assets a tenant may not. Typically they will use their power over the tenant to resolve the dispute. My brother used to deal with tenant law a lot and in my state landlords end up being easy targets. They often opt to set their rentals up as corps so can’t legally represent them without being an attorney themselves. So even if it’s a questionable attempt at a lien they’ll have to pay a lawyer to show up at the court hearing. Such a strategy isn’t always effective but it certainly can be.
Renting to deadbeats can cost you a lot more than just not getting paid rent so you should care.
That’s certainly a fair counter argument. Your grounds for damages are questionable if the person performed a service that improved the value of the property. It may turn out your tenant misrepresented themselves and it ends up being a circle jerk of lawsuits.
I agree with this. Getting burned is part of the gig. If you don’t want to deal with such hassles you work for someone else.
As a contractor it is important to trust your gut ‘In my gut, I know that she planned to scam me from the beginning.’ Don’t take that job. There will be others. If you really want to/need to take a questionable job do your homework. In most areas you can look up the owner of the property online, pull out your phone and check if that person is the owner of the property. If they aren’t the owner tell them they must pay x up front. Look at any job equally as a potential for profit or loss. Don’t take a job you can’t afford that loss on.
Again, rules vary from place to place, but in some places landlords are legally required to maintain certain standards. Tenants may be empowered to call for such repairs, even without the landlord’s knowledge. A landlord that refused to pay for the required work would then be on the hook for civil penalties, as well.
Amusingly, one case I know of did involve lawn service. Property owners were required to keep lawns mowed (to some standard or other). It was considered a public nuisance not to. Third parties could call in complaints on properties that were not so maintained. Then the city would check, leave a notice on the door… if the yard wasn’t cleaned up on the check-back, a designated private lawn service contractor would be dispatched. The property owner was now on the hook for that cost, plus a penalty to the city–and they might not even know it yet.
I’m speaking from many, many, many…many many many years of experience. Granted, not in your field, but still.
Anyways, if she’s the asshole you’re making her out to be, you might contact the landlord “businessman to businessman” and say 'hey, she burned me on some services, I know it’s not your problem, but if you want her out (do you want her out? you do?, okay here’s what we’ll do), tell her you got official notice that if the the debt wasn’t paid in 30 days (and hand him a letter) you’re going to put a lien on the property. Tell her you paid the debt and since she’s put your property in jeopardy over a few dollars you’re evicting her.
He can, more than likely, ask her to leave with 30 (or 60?) days notice (just in general).
On the other hand, you have to ask yourself if you want her out of her home because she owes you a few bucks, when you can walk away and move on with your life. It’s a pretty extreme measure.
PS, don’t actually ask the landlord to pay it, it’s not his debt. You might even tell him that if she gives him the money he can keep it, you’ll be satisfied, just in principle, that she paid. She may very well be a headache for her as well and he might be thrilled to use this as an excuse to get rid of her.
OTOH, I might be way overthinking this, it’s late, I’m tired.
Ooooo! You have an attorney! I didn’t realize people who “worked with potable water supplies” had so much power and influence!
No. That might be relevant if the tenant had some sort of understanding that they had entered into a long-term semi-permanent living situation or you were ambiguous regarding their right to make improvements. But as a general rule, your tenant is not allowed to make material improvements to the property. Think about it. A tenant can’t just decide to build an addition to the unit they are renting.
As long as they aren’t deadbeats about paying their rent, it’s not the landlords problem.
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Having an attorney is hardly any indication of power or influence.
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Is it surprising to you that a business owner has an attorney?
I run an established 70 y/o company.
- Your reading comprehension isn’t that good or you might have caught on that my brother is an attorney. I have 2 attorneys in my immediate family.
My personal attorney can handle most issues. My family members are too expensive for day to day work. If I needed I could be represented by my brother at no cost, but I’ve never needed to go that route.
You don’t think landlords have tenants that violate their rental agreements? They may not be allowed to make material improvements but sometimes they do anyway. Landlords have to deal with crap like that all the time.
Mountains of case law suggest otherwise, but keep telling yourself that. Peremensoe even gave you an example a few posts back.
Laws vary quite a bit. In my state, yes, you do just “put a lien” on the property by filing the appropriate paperwork with the county and having a copy served on the property owner. You don’t need a court date or ruling until/unless you want to foreclose the lien, but it’s registered against the property title and can make life difficult for the property owner even without going to court.
This depends on state law, the lease agreement, the kind of work done, and whether the tenant can be held to be acting as the owner’s agent, with or without the owner’s actual knowledge. If there’s a lien against the property, I as the property owner may find myself having difficulties selling the property, refinancing it, etc. In fact, the very existence of the lien, regardless of the lien’s validity, may put ME in violation of an existing mortgage, meaning I might have to pay the contractor myself and then try to collect from my tenant, or spend my money on litigation to remove the lien.
Filing BS liens is a favorite tactic of the ‘Sovereign Citizen’ ‘FMotL’ types.
If they do it enough, the laws will be changed to mandate some sort of proof of a right to file a lien.
Of course everything “depends”. But what stops someone from just randomly putting a lien on someone’s property just to be a pain in the ass?
In my state, you can’t just tell a tenant to “find a new place to live” unless they violate the terms of the lease.
The answer is not much. However if the lien is clearly bs like the person filing had never even stepped foot on the property when it’s contested the court isn’t going to react favorably towards the person who filed it. If the landLord can prove it was filed in bad faith they can sue the filer for damages such as legal fees.
I’d be impressed if you found yourself in a situation where actions by the tenant result in getting a lien placed on your property wasn’t a violation of the leasing terms. If you think that could happen to you, you seriously need to reevaluate the terms of your leases.
I don’t know what state you are in but even if a person doesn’t violate their lease you can still have them evicted. You might have to settle up for breach of contract but if you tell someone to get off your property they have to be off it in whatever duration the law dictates. That might be 30,60,90 days but if you want them gone, you can make it happen.
It’s New Jersey FWIW. As it happens, this is a part of tenent/landlord law I researched pretty closely. As a landlord, no, I absolutely cannot have a tenant evicted for no reason. Technically I can’t evict the tenant even when the lease ends. Unless there is good reason to evict them, the lease automatically renews. Now granted, the boilerplate lease agreement gives a lot of reasons for evicting someone. But it still requires going through a legal process with the courts.
One exception is if I buy a property with the intent to make it my primary residence. In that instance, the tenants have to vacate once their current lease ends.
I’d advise small claims court, but sue for more than you are owed.
Thirty years ago, I had a deadbeat that I took to small claims court. I won a default judgement because he didn’t show. When he didn’t pay, I went through the county sheriff. The sheriff obtained a check and a little note from the fellow that said, “you got your f***in money, but I had the enjoyment of making you jump through hoops to get it.” Lesson learned.
Two years later, my car was damaged and I said I would settle for $350. The other fellow told me to jump in the lake. His insurance company told me the same thing. So I sued him for $1100. Neither he nor his insurance company showed up in court. When I won a default judgement, his insurance company had no choice but to pay the $1100.
As a lawyer, I feel comfortable in telling you that all of you are wrong about everything. As for the OP, you can send a final invoice by certified mail, but you don’t really have to. Provided the customer was agreeable to e-mail communication in the past there’s no reason you can’t use the e-mailed invoices to show notice.
This is not legal advice, I am not your lawyer, I’m probably not even licensed in your jurisdiction, and you’ll never get paid.
Everyone is over thinking this. A small matter like this isn’t worth the hassle. Write it off as an uncollectable debt on your taxes.
If it’s just the principle, get your satisfaction by delivering an entire trailer load of leaves or grass clippings to her property. Can’t leave a job without proper mulching now, can we?
We’re not overthinking it. You are making assumptions. For all we know, the OP may be owed $5,000.
That’d be a damn big lawn, eh?
He said she’s a psycho. Maybe he charges extra for mowing a trapped lawn.