Legal Question in Business Law in Florida

Thanks for taking questions. We own a Emergency road service company that repairs tractor trailers, buses and RV's. We have several customers who have promised to pay or have not paid their invoices in full. 1. Is a mechanics lien a way to attempt to recover payment or should we file for a judgment through the local court system. None of these vehicles are in ou possesion. 2. Is it considered theft of service for a company not to pay their invoice for services rendered in an emergency breakdown situation.

J Wallace


Asked on 11/10/11, 9:41 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
David Slater David P. Slater, Esq.

1, no

2. no

Sue them.

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Answered on 11/10/11, 1:13 pm
Michael Sasso M. Daniel Sasso

The Lien is a method to be used at the time of any estimate given, and getting a signature back from the customer. It secures your right to a "possessory" lien in the vehicle. Unfortunately once you do the service and have released the vehicle you can no longer employ the statutory scheme.

It is not theft to fail to pay the invoice, however if you receive a negotiable instrument such as a check that is dated as of the time of service and not post dated, you can turn that in to the sheriff and or state attorney's office for you and they will proceed to collection if they have the returned check as proof of either the customer's closing their account or an NSF check. Thereafter you may be able to recover multiple damages.

Also you may start now to use credit cards through merchant services, it does help in an emergency situtation to get paid much quicker. Hope this helps some.

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Answered on 11/14/11, 7:45 am


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