Business Debt, Collections Invoices past due longer than 6 months for repair work done-can we sell the item?

[hillside1]

My husband and I run a small engine repair business. We fix lawn mowers, weed wackers, leaf blowers and the like. We have several customers who brought in equipment to be repaired over the course of the summer, and as of today Nov. 21st, I have quite a few who still have not picked up their items or paid for the repairs. Most of the invoices are small amounts, ranging from $25 for a small item such as a chainsaw repair, up to a couple hundred for a tractor repair. I've called all of these people several times and heard many excuses such as they forgot, they didn't get their unemployment yet, etc. Some of these are repeat customers who, up until this point, have not been a problem and in fact have been good customers. We do have a sign posted in our showroom, stating that any items here longer than 30 days after repair are subject to resale or disposal. However, we've not had the problem of people not picking their stuff up until this summer. My longest open invoice is for a weed wacker and that's been sitting here repaired for 162 days. Can I in fact sell a customers' item for the amount of the bill owed? I was considering sending each person a letter stating that they have 10 days to pick up or it will be sold. We don't really want to go to court which would cost more than the amount of the invoices, but we don't know what our options are, if any. Any advice would be great and thanks in advance for your help.

 

[army judge]

Hillside, Happy Thanksgiving.

You now have something additional to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

First of all let's discuss what legal duty you have to your customer.

They left an item in your care to be repaired.

You diligently watched over and have now repaired their widget, thing-a-ma-bob, or do-hickey.

What you have here is a bailment.

But, because they have failed to pay, you now must place a mechanics lien against their item.

But, in PA this is a very complicated process and is also time limited.

In fact the statute in PA requires the lien to be initiated no later than six months after the repairs are completed.

You can't just sell the items, without following certain steps.

If you do, you could end up being sued for conversion.

You see, you don't legally own the item.

However, a mechanics lien must be perfected in Pennsylvania through the Prothonotary Office for your county.

Prothonotary is a Latin term meaning "First Notary".

It dates back to Ecclesiastical Law.

They were the highest administrator of the Courts in Rome, hence "The First Notary".



When a case was ready for trial, the Prothonotary would notify the Judge when to appear in Court to try the case.




Thus today's meaning of Prothonotary is "first notary of the Court."

My understanding is that every county in your commonwealth has such an elected official.

Yeah, that's what I said, and I'm a lawyer!!!!
That doesn't mean I'm smart.
Heck no, this baffles the patootey outta me.
No, it is so darn confusing I'm dumbfounded.
It is very complicated in your comminwealth.
Nevertheless, let's try to make some sense of it, and see what remedies are available to you!

Okay, here you can read all about it:

http://www.gibbonslaw.com/news_publ...ction=display_publication&publication_id=3256

Moving on, thank goodness.

I would then consider treating the items left in your care (that dad gum bailment comes to play again) as "abandoned".

But, but, but, you still just can't slap a "for sale" on that John Deere, yet!!!!

If a person has abandoned their personal property (that John Deere, for example), then you (before you dispose of said property or sell it) must take reasonable steps to try to locate the person.

You must notify him/her that you are going to dispose of their items.

This insulates you from a lawsuit when the owner shows up in two months willing to pay $100, knowing you sold that John Deere for $200, and claiming it was worth $2,500!!!!

The first thing I suggest you do is ensure all of your paperwork is in proper order: 1) work order/repair contract; 2) detail exactly what was done to effect the repair; 3) make sure the costs of repairs are documented, not just claimed (show cost of parts, labor, storage {if the contract states it, etc...}; 4) take pictures or videos of all property still in your care, with balances owed; 5) make sure you document the state of the item and record the date and time the video or picture was taken!!!!

Next I suggest you write all of these deadbeats a letter.

Send it registered or certified mail, keep a copy of every letter mailed, and make sure you KEEP "proof of delivery".

Tell each person that they have 30 days to pay for and retrieve their property, or you will dispose of same.

This should serve as sufficient notice in Pennsylvania, because in some counties it can be as short as 15 days!

But, I suggest you play it safe.

By following the steps I have outlined above, and allowing an extra 10 days to pass (better safe than sorry), you are ready to discard (or sell) the property without fear of losing a lawsuit.

This will not prevent a deadbeat from suing you (after all that is what deadbeats do), especially if you retain "proof" your letter was received.

Last, but not least, if you don't how to locate the person in question, you can place notice in the local newspaper apprising him or her of the above information.

And, just to be extra cautious, some people send those certified letters and post the legal notice in the newspaper!

Yeah, I know, life sucks a great deal these days!!!!

 

[hillside1]

Thanks very much for the advice army judge! The paperwork part is no problem as I keep copies of everything. We list in detail all $ amounts for parts, labor, etc and also spell out exactly what repairs were done to the item right on the invoice so we've got that base covered. Never thought about the legal notice in the paper but we'll do that as well just to be safe. Guess I'd better get started on my letter writing......thanks again for the advice.