? About placing a Mechanics Lien on a boat in Florida
 

If anybody has had experience or has any advice please feel free to give it .

I unfortunately let my good nature overrule my instincts and helped a guy out on a dock where my friend keeps his boa.

.I started by volunteering to take a look at why one motor was not cranking and after that he asked if there was anything I could do for his generator that the previous shade tree mechanic he had look at it said it was dead.

The next day I had the generator purring after 3 hours of research the previous night on the internet .I than attended to both of his old ugly Crusaders and determined they were getting water in the cylinders..

Long story short I let my pride get in my way and revived the old dogs that everyone said couldn't be done.

The job took a little longer than expected because one of his remanufactured heads He purchased was missing the rotater cup under one of the exhaust valves and after finally figuring that it was not the 25 year old corroded ignition system nor the Carb . I ended up getting away fixing the valve on the head without removing the head but had to remove the exhaust again.

And than the carbs were bad and than the raw water was bad. Meanwhile this azz tells me the whole time the motors purred like kittens before they quit cranking. Yea right?


Anyways long story short all along i tried to keep this guy with in 300 or 400 of him owing me at me wrenching for 40 an hour on this piece of stinking Crap. Meanwhile hr says i always take care of my people in the end .

Well i finally work all the bugs out of it that were nothing to do with me and this ass owes me 1250 bucks in the end and he goes fine no problem thats reasonable i charged him a total of 3300 hundred to rebuild 2 454 top ends and fix a generator and numerous other crap .

Next day after he says I am harassing him , than he say the hours are wrong , and than next he threatens to get a restraing order on me because he knows that i have a few scuffles on my record from years ago.

Anyways If I go to small claims court and win I can place a lein on his boat but what will that entitle me to other than payment if he goes to sell the boat.

This Jackazz sucked the last little bit of trust and NiceGuy I have left in me these days.

Wow that sucks. I'm not from fl but I think what I have learned in the past is pretty relevant nation wide. A lien can only be put on something if u are a business not personal and small claims you can run into the same problem why individuals can't place liens. Which is the proof the paper work. You would need a detailed work order specifying work to be done and price of work to be done with the individuals signature. Then if you were taking payments that would have to be iteamized and so on. But you could always try. Sorry to hear.

Thanks for the reply. This guy is a whack job now he is texting me saying I am threatening him I have not done nothing but offer to help this nut case More and more I believe he is bipolar and might be better to just take it in the azz and chalk it up as a hard lesson and never help anyone again.

I see now why when you meet that certain grumpy old man maybe the reason he is so non helpfull is he probably got burned by a azz hole nutcase conman as this.

People suck!

Don't look at it as getting screwed. It's a life lesson. But best of all you did your best and you fixed it so it didn't help ur wallet but it's worth more in pride.

Do you still have the boat?

It sucks when you get taken like that. I got ripped off by an admiral in the Nebraska Navy. No sh!t, I didn't know we had a navy but the same story. Keep & make copies of his texts & if he keeps it up you should be able to do something about harassement. Not everyone is like that, just the jacka$$es that are living beyond their means. Randy

That sucks man , your a good person & he's a $h|t head . Chalk it up to experience & get money up front next time . Lotta nut jobs out there unfortunately . Hope you get your money man . No good deed goes unpunished they say & that's what you get for being nice , I can only imagine how pi$$ed you are . I would have been hesitant to trust someone who's boat was such a piece of crap & neglected to begin with tho

Been there, done that, have the T-shirt. He'll get what's coming to him someday. Unfortunately you don't have much recourse (if any) without a written estimate, etc. These deadbeats ruin it for everyone. Some people are pathetic.

Thanks for all the replys guys.
He bought the old piece of **** 40 foot 1987 Chis Craft cruiser for 12000 as a liveaboard to stay on in Hollywood because he said it was cheaper than an apartment. What a pile of crap. This thing had to be tented for termites after he bought it.
The dock all my buddies i boat with are a tight knit crowd and some of the best, this guy was a new guy that i knew not to trust but i let my pride get in my way. After i tore the engines down and there was 7 bent pushrods from stuck valves and the inside of the exhaust ports on the head looked like they had been on a saltwater reef for a year prior to me taking the manifolds down

STUPID STUPID STUPID

Fukin 1200 would be real handy too right now as this wreck has cost me thousands in other work i should have been getting done on other projects

Well the one thing I got out of this job was an excuse to go over and talk to Roger Munn at his shop when I needed some advice here and there. I originally asked Roger to build some new heads but he recommended i buy some remans and spent some time on checking on them and new manifolds for this chitpile.

But the Jackwagon owner found his own guys for the heads and manifolds to cut out the middleman..

Thank God I didn;t get Roger caught up in this azzhats problems.

But Roger helped me with advice or a odd tool whenever I might drop by for something and I tried to compensate him for his time which he graciously refused but after a little coercing he was nice enough to take so you don;t feel like a leech when you call him for some quick advice.

One of the good guys for sure.

Problem was you sit down and get talking about the good old days with 'Roger you never want to leave but that was the one good that came out of this

Found this lien site maybe worth a try?

http://www.marineliens.com/SubmitnewLien.asp

Hmmmm, it's a "liveaboard boat" which means it's always in the water which means it has plugs...um, just saying.......

....or "install" a couple of new ones.....

I'd suggest he's more of a low life that takes advantage of kind people than someone with a bi-polar diagnosis.
ed

Man that sux! I would forget about it though. It will cost you more in time and energy, where you could be making more money. I was burned by a chithead engine builder to the tune of 12k if it makes your situation appear any better. Just remember the connection you made with Rodger Munn and how you will benefit in the long run.

I would at least sent a certified invoice. Might scare him but, at least you would have some documentation that you worked on the boat, tryed to invoice and was never paid.

I would be more concerned with him buying this 12 k POS boat and he trys to sue you because you caused his future problem even if you had nothing to do with it.

Good luck, man!

Tommy just think of it as a loss, move on but remember hes going to need help again and this time tell him to pay you what he owes you and when and if he does take your money and run dont help him and when he *****es ask him how does it feel to get fuched over,

Just rent a pontoon boat and slam it into the side of his pos. or install new bilge drain plugs starting with a 4" hole saw, then leave to go look for the plugs :)

I possess a unique set of uw skills that may be to your liking........:whistle: What a pos . :angry-smiley-038:

In fl, a verbal agreement is as good as a written contract. However, it becomes a he said she said event.

Consider this....

I am out a boat worth north 70's, several thousand more in gear, lost income (rental boat) and currently 15k in cash to the lawyer for the lawsuit (civil) against tbus/reliable towing and salvage. There has to be a win line for you. If this guy lives on a pos to save money, your costs involved to sue are going to exceed (by far) you ability to recover IF.....you win.

Admiralty law can protect you in a situation such as the fictional situation I outline below....

You were boating in the area.....and noticed a vessel had broken mooring. There were no occupants visible, and you announcement of arrival was unanswered. As a responsible citizen and boater, you feared the stray vessel may endanger lives and compromise the safety of surrounding boaters so you ATTACHED a line and attempted to retire the vessel to safe harbor.

Period.

At worst, the vessel is now yours. At best, you sell it for far more than is owed. In the middle? He pays and you give him the pos back.....

Not worth the bs. Take what u can get $$$. Then toss a gallon of red paint in the back of his boat when no one's looking ;)

I would think small claims court would work if you have a witness or two and a couple of receipts. the guy that quoted the heads could be one.

How many times did you call/text him for the money before he said you were "harassing" him?

How long was it after you completed the work that you started asking him for payment?

I'm just saying this because in most of the business world it is net 30 from the day the work is completed for payment. So, you should have given him a written bill for your work performed, waited the 30 days and then called him.

Maybe he had full intention of paying you 100% of the money until pissed him off by bugging him. I've had friends do stuff for me and call 10 times in the next couple days about getting paid, after they did that I made sure to use my full 30 days even though at first i had full itention paying them that week before thy bugged the crap out of me.

Just playing devils advocate.....

It's easy for "others" to say chalk it up as a lesson and experience, but when this is your living, its not so easy.

THINK OF THIS…

What would Ben Kramer do?

Devils Advocate

I appreciate all responses. I waited 2 weeks to ask for the bill after the motors were purring which would have been 3 weeks if he had bought the rebuilt carbs i asked him to do.The day I presented him the bill he said no problem very reasonable for all the work that has been done but I need 2 days to raise it . I said no problemo dude

3rd day he responds via text and says he has a problem with my hours . I say no problem lets sit down and discuss them , Than all discussion was not allowed anymore as he felt threatened and unsafe though I had never said anything other that if you have a problem lets go through the bill with Vinny and Angelo.

I think that's fair ? Vinny and Angelo are fair negotiators. It cant hurt to talk to them if you agree with them EHH

Just file a civil suit on him in small claims court. I had a customer promise to pay me for 2 years without resolve, last week I filed and got my check yesterday settling out of court. He could have saved 2 years of drama and some money had he done the right thing 2 years ago. Because of this customer my trust has been lost and I run my business a lot tighter especially when it comes to friends.

I would agree here, file in small claims file a civil suit, do not threaten the guy , however make him uncomfortable by hanging out with your friends at the dock they share, rest assure every time he sees you he will get uncomfortable, eventually one of those many little things could be the key to him giving in and paying you. again stay civil, stay well within the law, do not make it known to him that you are angry, just be seen, and proactive. Best of Luck, and don't let a few Aholes stop you from being a good guy, your better than that.

Also certified letters and letters from lawyers tend to get good results, and most of the time you can have an attorney write a letter for a very nominal fee.

That sucks and on top of it this guy looks like an idiot at his marina now. I see you're in Naples so there are most likely a ton of places to work on his boat, but up here guys like that run out of places to work on their boats very quickly.

We can send the good ol boys over there... Plenty of people looking to make a buck down here in swfl that don't have a care in the world. Possession is 9/10's of the law.... Lets go get it when this dbag is not around. Have your buddy keep an eye out for when he comes and leaves

+1

Replies like these should be deleted. Use the legal system and do not allow him to intimidate you, if he does use it against him in court.

QUOTE=brian41;3989014]Replies like these should be deleted. Use the legal system and do not allow him to intimidate you, if he does use it against him in court.[/QUOTE]

Oh please MR. Serious. You think he would have started a thread if he was not serious about seeking advice on this sorry if you didn't take it as a joke. Go pull this chit in Detriot and see what happens. Just having a little fun geeeez....:chill-pill:

Sorry I must have missed your smiley faces and just kidding part. I recently found out how serous a subject this is and it was 30 miles south of Detroit...it took many days of time and a life's worth of drama to collect monies owed to me.....so to me it is NO JOKE and should NOT be treated that way.

File a small claims suit.

Mine was about $40 for court cost and there was a limit of $2000. I let a friend borrow my car when I was younger and he wrecked it, He paid me $1100 up front but owed me another $2500 to fix it.

At the suggestion of my dad, I filed a claim against my "friend" who kept promising to pay and they put a lien on his Credit report. So, he could not get a loan at a major Bank without paying off my Judgment .. 2 years later, he tried to build an Alum boat, finance through a bank (not finance company) and he had to pay me off $2000!!! Nice lil bonus a cpl years later.

Maybe he had full intention of paying you 100% of the money until pissed him off by bugging him. I've had friends do stuff for me and call 10 times in the next couple days about getting paid, after they did that I made sure to use my full 30 days even though at first i had full itention paying them that week before thy bugged the crap out of me.

Glad I'm not you friend. Looks like you take pleasure in fing with people's money. Not a nice position to be in.

I am cod. Period. I work, you pay, I release the vessel back to you.

You can spew all the good ole boy sheet you want, but a level head will dictate your course of action. I AM a good ole boy....and I won't hesitate to collect through those venues when appropriate. However, this is a situation that prohibits that type of recovery method. Too many witnesses (and this is on a public forum) to proceed in an illegitimate manor.

Know that a civil suit self represented is a recipe for disaster if you are not well vetted in procedure. I am not, and the course I have taken is extremely expensive due to representation. Plot a course that you are comfortable with...emotionally and financially.....and be prepared to wait...

I dont agree with your position. Labor, which is to say discounted labor compared to a shop rate should be paid in full on completion period. The ahole that owns the boat is obviously playing a game and you are buying it. No different than if you hire someone at Home Depot parking lot to dig a hole.

I can tell the end of boating season is drawing neigh.....http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/...deep/spank.gif http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7388e5ab.gif http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/...hedeep/taz.gif http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/...edeep/slap.gif http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/...deep/rant2.gif Peace out brothers the snow and cold will be here soon enough , for some of us anyway .

I imagine oneanddone isn't a business owner like you and hasn't had to chase down money owed.
ed

Fully agree with above statement!! Net 30's are generally for big accounts that do large volumes with you, the single job should be paid upon completion ! If everyone had 30days to pay we would all be bill collectors and skip tracers !!!