Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

Re: horse abandoment unpaid pastue and feed bill

The best thing, I think, you can do is to sue the boarder's owner for the money owed. You'll probably have to serve him by publication. Contact an attorney service and see if they will undertake to find him, or, in the alternative, give you a "declaration of due diligence." If they will, with the declaration you can ask a court for an order for service by publication. Then, when the time for an answer has passed you can request a default judgment. Having received the judgment, you can then executed on the horse and sell it at a public sale, which you, if you desire to, can participate with the amount of your judgment, or more, if necessary. Good luck!

Re: horse abandoment unpaid pastue and feed bill

I haqve not researched the matter, so this is only a possibility, and would require additional research to determine if it is a valid recourse.

That being said, you might be considered to be in the same position as a storage facility who has to deal with abandoned property. You MIGHT be able to auction off the horse, retain any past due balance and forward the rest to the owner. There are certain statutory guidelines that must be met, and I am not sure that they would fit these circumstances, without doing some additional research. For example, the statute might require a written agreement.

Good luck.