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You can seize control of physical assets if they fail to pay you.

by lurk2 1y ago

danielheath 1y ago
... by going back to court, and getting the court to order the police to do so. Which is fine unless they know the system and how to play it - eg by telling the magistrate the second time around that they've made partial payment & have more coming, just need some time, etc.
- lurk2 1y ago
  > Which is fine unless they know the system and how to play it - eg by telling the magistrate the second time around that they've made partial payment & have more coming, just need some time, etc. Are you speaking from past experience? This is something I hear repeated on Hacker News all the time but I’ve never seen evidence that it’s particularly common.
  - borski 1y ago
    > I’ve never seen evidence that it’s particularly common Because it isn't, for small claims court. Does it happen? Absolutely. But it's rare. It's much more common outside small claims, where the stakes are higher.
  - compiler-guy 1y ago
    If you have never tried to collect on a judgement from small claims, it is extremely difficult if the target just doesn't want to play ball. I have tried, and they were just like, "Yeah. No. Go get the court to enforce it." Filing those claims is time consuming and expensive, and if they fight or ignore, it ends up costing more than your claim is worth, even not including time. And this wasn't even with movers.
mannykannot 1y ago
They probably have few assets - the actual work is subcontraced. What options do you have in that situation?
- agos 1y ago
  different country, but here if they either pay or risk bankruptcy
- apparent 1y ago
  If a thinly-capitalized company has its few assets seized, then it ends up going bankrupt (which leads to the stories here about moving companies that went bankrupt). Vicious cycle, really.
  - rcstank 1y ago
    Yes, but a few able bodied men with a rental truck have nothing to seize.
- lurk2 1y ago
  Then you go after their insurance company like in the OP. If they don’t have insurance you may be able to go after the owner personally, though that’s likely to be much more costly than the dollar value of your damages. Honestly, why are you guys so committed to this idea that contractors are these criminal masterminds who will thwart your every attempt to sue for damages? Small Claims is an incredibly routine and straightforward process, and pretending that it isn’t only serves to dissuade people from making use of it.
immibis 1y ago
There's a good story somewhere out there of a man who showed up with the sheriff to his local bank branch to start seizing their computer equipment to suction off, before the bank would obey the court order.
- AStonesThrow 1y ago
  > local bank branch to start seizing their computer equipment to suction off Oh, did they shove it into those pneumatic tubes to send it somewhere else? That sounds like fun but not very lucrative
  - immibis 1y ago
    I meant auction, of course. Autoincorrect had other ideas.

You can seize control of physical assets if they fail to pay you.

by lurk2 1y ago

You can seize control of physical assets if they fail to pay you.

... by going back to court, and getting the court to order the police to do so. Which is fine unless they know the system and how to play it - eg by telling the magistrate the second time around that they've made partial payment & have more coming, just need some time, etc.

lurk2 1y ago
> Which is fine unless they know the system and how to play it - eg by telling the magistrate the second time around that they've made partial payment & have more coming, just need some time, etc. Are you speaking from past experience? This is something I hear repeated on Hacker News all the time but I’ve never seen evidence that it’s particularly common.
- borski 1y ago
  > I’ve never seen evidence that it’s particularly common Because it isn't, for small claims court. Does it happen? Absolutely. But it's rare. It's much more common outside small claims, where the stakes are higher.
- compiler-guy 1y ago
  If you have never tried to collect on a judgement from small claims, it is extremely difficult if the target just doesn't want to play ball. I have tried, and they were just like, "Yeah. No. Go get the court to enforce it." Filing those claims is time consuming and expensive, and if they fight or ignore, it ends up costing more than your claim is worth, even not including time. And this wasn't even with movers.

mannykannot 1y ago

They probably have few assets - the actual work is subcontraced. What options do you have in that situation?

agos 1y ago
different country, but here if they either pay or risk bankruptcy
apparent 1y ago
If a thinly-capitalized company has its few assets seized, then it ends up going bankrupt (which leads to the stories here about moving companies that went bankrupt). Vicious cycle, really.
- rcstank 1y ago
  Yes, but a few able bodied men with a rental truck have nothing to seize.
lurk2 1y ago
Then you go after their insurance company like in the OP. If they don’t have insurance you may be able to go after the owner personally, though that’s likely to be much more costly than the dollar value of your damages. Honestly, why are you guys so committed to this idea that contractors are these criminal masterminds who will thwart your every attempt to sue for damages? Small Claims is an incredibly routine and straightforward process, and pretending that it isn’t only serves to dissuade people from making use of it.

immibis 1y ago

There's a good story somewhere out there of a man who showed up with the sheriff to his local bank branch to start seizing their computer equipment to suction off, before the bank would obey the court order.

AStonesThrow 1y ago
> local bank branch to start seizing their computer equipment to suction off Oh, did they shove it into those pneumatic tubes to send it somewhere else? That sounds like fun but not very lucrative
- immibis 1y ago
  I meant auction, of course. Autoincorrect had other ideas.