Collecting money owed

[novatech]

I have a small rental business that I started to enable me to acquire equipment that I need for personal use. Mostly the business does just fine. Occasionally there is the ------ that rents the equipment and abuses it. Most of them will pay the damages. The few that have not I have sued and won, only to find out that they have no money or assets I can attach. Eventually I get the money but it is long term. At present I have an individual that rented a tractor/shredder and mowed brush doing several thousand dollars worth of damage. He will not respond to phone or certified mail. I am really getting tired of attorney fees and just dealing with this type of person.
What I am thinking of doing is putting a sign on his gate to please come pay his bill. This is in an effort to embarrass him into paying. Problem is I do not know if I can legally do this. I do not want to end up at the wrong end of a suit.
What do you guys think? Any other ideas that won't put me in jail?

 

[shorty]

There is a small garage near me that has a sign hanging on the wall that says; "These people don't pay theie bills here" and below it lists peoples names . they've been doing it for at least 30 years or more. If you put a sign on another person's property you might get in trouble.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Just like the above poster, I have seen lists such as "do not accept checks from ...."

Nova, I'd be asking for a deposit on equipment.

I don't think the sign on the gate will do much good. If he is crooked, it is likely most everyone already knows anyway.

 

[bigbull338]

i know this id never rent anything to that person until they pay the full bill.they owe you money.an you have the right to refuse to rent to them.

 

[john250]

I have a small rental business that I started to enable me to acquire equipment that I need for personal use. Mostly the business does just fine. Occasionally there is the ------ that rents the equipment and abuses it. Most of them will pay the damages. The few that have not I have sued and won, only to find out that they have no money or assets I can attach. Eventually I get the money but it is long term. At present I have an individual that rented a tractor/shredder and mowed brush doing several thousand dollars worth of damage. He will not respond to phone or certified mail. I am really getting tired of attorney fees and just dealing with this type of person.
What I am thinking of doing is putting a sign on his gate to please come pay his bill. This is in an effort to embarrass him into paying. Problem is I do not know if I can legally do this. I do not want to end up at the wrong end of a suit.
What do you guys think? Any other ideas that won't put me in jail?

Increase your deposit. Make renters put some money on the table. Then you won't get burned as bad.

A businessman friend does not sue. And he has plenty of bad accounts. He doesn't want his name in the local paper as a plaintiff. He just made that choice for himself. He screens accounts closely before he offers credit, but he still gets burned a lot.

 

[Darhawk]

..............What I am thinking of doing is putting a sign on his gate to please come pay his bill. This is in an effort to embarrass him into paying. Problem is I do not know if I can legally do this. I do not want to end up at the wrong end of a suit.
What do you guys think? Any other ideas that won't put me in jail?

I'm not an attorney, so my advice comes from experience and a grain of salt. You can't put the sign on his property, ad on a road sign, or notice in the paper. The best you can do is go through small claims or work through an attorney------which you obviously already have been.

The problem is slander and libel, both of which are methods of defamation; slander being by oral expressions or transitory gestures; libel being expressed by signs, pictures, print, or writng. Now to get around these, Texas apparently has a low bar which to meet, which is to say, that if there is a percentage of truth, then you would in all likelihood win a lible or slander suit in court. The problem is again the cost of said suit. Then if you do win, you're back to trying to collect money from someone from whom you've been unable to get money to begin with.

So what do I do. Using the facts and truth, I generally make comments at the local feed store, at the barber shop, at the friendly watering hole, etc. I don't put the person down, I don't rough him up in words, etc., but the word gets around. If he's a good person of good upbringing, shame will bring him around to doing what's right. With bad folks and bad upbringing, nothing will bring him around. In that bad instance then I take other steps........none of which I'll post on this or any other public board.

 

[Lammie]

This is why I sold my rental property. It was just too much hassle and I like to sleep at night.

 

[dyates]

Most rental places here have rental insurance. The premium is attached to the rental fee. Some places make insurance mandatory, others optional.

 

[novatech]

Thanks for all the advice.
The man lives out of town so putting the word out won't help.
My attorney agrees that a sign may be considered as slander.
So I did some calling to other independent rental companies. There is a law in Texas that will allow me to file "Theft of Services" against him. It is a class A misdemeanor, due to the amount. Tomorrow I will be talking to the county attorney.

 

[Stepper]

novatech,

If you do happen to figure out a way to collect your money and happen to thank about it. I would apprechaite it if you would drop me a pm and let me know how you done it.

I have a dead beat also that owes me money. I took him to court and won a judgement, talked with a lawyer etc...., but have yet to collect on him.

The lawyer told me that unfortunately on dead beats like these they dont have nothing, never will have anything and you are just wasting money on attorney fees tring to collect.

You can get a writ or exicution to have served on them if they have something of value that the sheriff can take from them and auction it off for enough money to pay the debth they owe you. And that is IF they have(own anything)

 

[Crowderfarms]

Too bad you didn't have a credit card on file to charge the damages to.I'd have a binding contract signed by EVERYONE that rented a piece of equipment, that in the event of damage, they'll be responsible.

 

[Jogeephus]

Too bad you didn't have a credit card on file to charge the damages to.I'd have a binding contract signed by EVERYONE that rented a piece of equipment, that in the event of damage, they'll be responsible.

This is good advice. I can't stand deadbeats.

 

[Lammie]

I guess I was just so stunned every time I would get ripped off on rental property because I wanted to believe that people were good on the inside, and not everyone is. It gave me a bad impression of people in general for a long time. Finally, I just got out of the landlady business. Too much stress.

 

[Jogeephus]

Sometimes I wish my last name was Soprano. I think prompt payment would be the norm then.

 

[GMN]

The lawyer told me that unfortunately on dead beats like these they dont have nothing, never will have anything and you are just wasting money on attorney fees tring to collect.Quote:

If you have a judgement against him, it should go onto his credit report, which will cause him some damage.

GMN

 

[Caustic Burno]

Thanks for all the advice.
The man lives out of town so putting the word out won't help.
My attorney agrees that a sign may be considered as slander.
So I did some calling to other independent rental companies. There is a law in Texas that will allow me to file "Theft of Services" against him. It is a class A misdemeanor, due to the amount. Tomorrow I will be talking to the county attorney.

Does he have a place out your way that he rented the equipment for? More than one way to skin a cat.

 

[novatech]

Thanks for all the advice.
The man lives out of town so putting the word out won't help.
My attorney agrees that a sign may be considered as slander.
So I did some calling to other independent rental companies. There is a law in Texas that will allow me to file "Theft of Services" against him. It is a class A misdemeanor, due to the amount. Tomorrow I will be talking to the county attorney.

Does he have a place out your way that he rented the equipment for? More than one way to skin a cat.

Yeo; It's in a family trust. I will be trying to file a lean.