Legal Question in Business Law in California

A potential customer brought a car in for me to overhaul in Dec 2009. This car has been taking space in my work area for over 7 months and he refuses to pay my rent and labour invoices. I have sent numerous emails over the last six months asking for funds to progress on the job and he has never sent enough to get going on it. I don't think he has the money and it has taken 6 months to get even the basic payments. I told him in March that I was going to charge $250 per month in storage fees if I didn't hear from him and never did. He has put nothing in writing to me, even instructions on what to do with the car. He is somewhat psycho and I have told him I never want to deal with him again.

I also worked on his boat and he refuses to pay that invoice too. He has paid enough to buy some parts and pay for the overhaul of the engine but has not given me one cent for my labour or expenses.

He has finally moved the car and I have told him I am going to sell the parts still in my workshop to recover my invoices. He refuses to reply to my emails and has refused to make an offer of settlement.

I told him I am selling the property which is still in my workshop taking up space I need to continue with my business. Am I in the right to do so?

John.


Asked on 7/11/10, 5:06 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

First, I'm going to assume that you have all the necessary permits and licenses from the City of S......., County of Marin and the Bureau of Automotive Repair to be lawfully engaged in your business. Sometimes tradespeople get in deeper than they want to be when they start a legal process when they themselves are on soft ground.

That being said, you probably have a lien on the parts in your possession, and you would have a lien on the car itself, but for the fact that you surrendered possession. There is, in California, a possessory lien for services, repairs, etc. See Civil Code sections 3051 and 3051a.

Self-help remedies short of going to court are prescribed in the Civil Code as well. See, e.g., sections 3052, 3052b, and possibly 3052.5. These code sections are too long to quote on a bulletin board service but you can probably look them up on line and they seem to be reasonably easy for a non-lawyer to understand.

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Answered on 7/11/10, 9:20 pm
Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

I am curious as to whether your "friend" was aware that you were not going to get to the overhaul job right away. I doubt he would have you just store the car, and pay for it, if he could have it stored somewhere else while you were busy.

If you completed the job, you could have probably kept the completed car until you were paid. Here, it sounds as if you did the job in dribs and drabs, and I think you are looking at trouble now.

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Answered on 7/13/10, 2:43 pm


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