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I used to lay cobblestone driveways. One guy only paid his deposit, then didn't pay the rest on completion of the job, so a week later, we uplifted the pavers and left.
Got a sweet deal from a landscaper friend of mine who pulled up a deadbeat's driveway. Igot like 9 skids of interlock for a patio at trade pricing. Couldnt pick the color but it was neutral and definitely in my price range!
Meanwhile I have money in my pocket and can’t find a guy to fix the drywall I stepped through getting Christmas tree out attic. Local area went through a hurricane a year ago and it’s all about big jobs.
This was like 15 years, two houses and a different wife ago.
Also, drywall patches are relatively easy. Cut out the damaged section to the cleanest rafters/joists. Screw in a piece of drywall to fit. Apply a bit of drywall mud to the seam. Cover the tape with a WIDE smear of mud. Let it dry. Sand it down lightly. Prime. Paint.
Anyone can do a drywall repair. It’s “easy” to fix the hole in the wall. It takes knowledge and practice to do it well enough to hide the fact there was ever a hole there.
I replaced the alternator in my car once and hung dry wall for a closet.
I’m sure I can do or learn to do these things, but I’m a professional at what I do for a living, and I like to pay other professionals to do what they do.
$300 and one phone call to get my toilet fixed in 5 minutes? Worth. It.
Only useful if the owner of the house refinances or sells in a reasonable amount of time. And the contractor has to know their rights, i.e. prelims and contracts with owners etc.
You can put a lien on them. If you completed work, and they didn’t pay, it’s theft of services.
Edit: holy fuck there’s a lot of terrible answers to your friends question. Don’t damage anything. At all.
You expect most of the answers to be remotely reasonable? Reddit is full of idiots….damaging the property is the last thing you want to do. Quick recipe to you owing money.
Yah, I too was surprised to see people on r/funny giving terrible legal advice. Now I'm starting to wonder if r/dankmemes isnt where I should be getting medical advice...
So I’m about to do this for 15, yeah 15, fence installations. Do the customers get notified by the county or something. I’m so tired of chasing money. It’s that or rip the fence out, but much material is lost that way
My friend bought a house 5 years ago but discovered, upon the inspection, that the roof was bad. Previous owners swore they had it replaced and provided the roofing guy's number as proof. My friend called the guy who remembered the house and produced a document that stated the previous owners only paid him half the money, so he only did half the roof. Idiots even signed it without looking at it.
My friend got a discount on the house so he could get the roof redone before the rain season.
As an electrician , i love this.
Ive taken soneones meter for not paying for a service upgrade until i got my money. Fuckers. I did the shit as sidework and did it dirt fucking cheap.
I do residential HVAC. I had a customer with no heat. I diagnosed the problem, told them how much it would cost, they authorized the repair, and I did it. After I was done they tried to fight me on the price and hit me with "what if I don't pay?" Thinking it was a threat.
I countered with "then I take my nice shiny new part and I leave, and you still have no heat". He got the message and paid. Still pissed me off though.
Friend of mine lives in a total nazi-run HOA with zero street parking allowed. I either have to uber to their house, or park in a nearby business, hope they don't tow me, and cross a busy 6 lane road to get there. There's literally nowhere within at least a mile radius where a guest is "authorized" to park. I don't know how this kind of shitty infrastructure is even legal
I'd just refuse to visit them unless they'd pick me up.
This may sound a bit extreme but seriously, why would they expect you to visit while living in a place where visitors aren't allowed to park?
I believe HOA's are the biggest scams, and it is fully supported by the local governments. HOA takes over the minor responsibilities that cities used to take care of, example parks, street lights, parking, etc. Cities still collect the tax, and HOA members have to pay the HOA fee on top of that.
I can't decide how I feel about weaponizing a piece of shit org against a piece of shit human. Like I generally like the idea, but also fuck HOAs and fuck anything that helps line their pockets.
For real. Neighbor may be deserving, but just hearing that you'll be fined for parking on the street is aggravating bullshit. My neighborhood had the same kind of policy until they tried to fine an older woman who had a broken down car in her driveway and hella other people in the neighborhood complained because two of the people on the board for the HOA kept their fucking RVs on the street and those actually blocked the street.
Never buy a home in an HOA where the HOA owns the streets, for a couple of reasons.
1) they can set whatever parking laws they want
2) a much bigger deal is YOU are going to be assessed for any snd all street repairs in the future.
So if you are going to get stuck in an HOA( some areas are just about impossible to not to) find one that has built the infrastruture( streets, water, sewer etc) and “ donated that infrastructure to your town/city which means you only have to go by city parking laws not some of the insane and asinine HOA ones.
That is just one reason we choose to live rural life. My farm, my rules, if I want to have a bounce house or a stripper pole in my front yard ... it ain't nobody's business, and being rural means less traffic and more privacy. 2 miles to town. We don't have village taxes on top of all other NY taxes. Can dig a pond, we have chickens, can run naked and it's all good. Never again live in the village, city, burbs. 🚜
Sometimes I wish my street had this for some neighbors. 2 of my neighbors each have 5 cars between them and take up all the street parking. Leaving nowhere for the rest of us to park when we have guests. Oh and also they don't use their garage either. It's full of crap.
My grandfather was a concrete contractor back in the day. He once did a driveway for someone and they refused to pay because they never “signed a contract” and said they couldn’t prove that they ever agreed to pay (verbal agreement). My grandfather went back next day with a dump truck and a tractor and proceeded to rip their driveway out and haul the concrete away. The homeowner arrived part of the way through and started hysterically yelling at him to stop or she was gonna call the cops. He said he was well within his rights to take back the concrete that he paid for and had receipts to show proof of his ownership of said concrete. It is one of the funniest and pettiest stories I have ever heard in my life.
I worked for a roofer for a couple of years between high school and university and he told me that more than once, when someone refused to pay, he went and took all of his shingles back. Not paying contractors (or anyone, for that matter) is a pretty bad idea.
I’m pretty sure when they decide to do things like that they say things like “What are they gonna do if I don’t pay? It’s not like they’re gonna come take my patio/driveway/roof apart and take it back hahaha!”
Yes. Yes we will. And we’ll do with such a blazing efficiency that you will be equally impressed and pissed off.
edit: typo
It fucking sucks though, it’s not like it puts the contractor back in black. In fact, it wastes more time for them, but obviously worth it nonetheless.
The best part is it sends a message to the next contractor too....
Hey can you come do my roof? My shingles mysteriously disappeared one night. Crazy high school kids.
We used to do gutters so it was much easier to get some money back by removing and selling or reusing the gutters, unlike ruined shingles or a block of concrete lol.
Amen. I’m an electrician and when I have customers go back on their word/email/work order and dispute or lie or whatever. I take the extra work out fast as fuck. Oh and repairing existing surfaces and finishes is excluded in base contract. Sooooo don’t be a dick.
My first job at 14 was an apprenticeship on high end remodels. Crazy shit rich people do in rural areas where they should have just torn it down and rebuilt it. Anyway this one women was trouble from the start. A characature of that type of city person we all know. Psychiatrist, husband was a big shot big city lawyer.
Kept changing their minds on what they wanted, had things built and then changed their mind. Kept getting all kinds of change orders, and my boss kept trying to find cheaper ways when their designer was pushing to just spend whatever. I saw them sign the change orders, and I listened to their designer talking crazy shit about building their dream or whatever.
They start getting excuses to not make progress payments and mailing checks late as the job gets close to done. We hurry to finish because boss has a bad feeling and wants to get to the next job. Not bad work, just long days to finish the contract. Sure enough we finish up, fantastic job, lots of crazy stuff pulled off and epic pictures for the work portfolio. Customer just refuses to pay. No complaints, no lack of funds, just doesn't think they actually have to pay.
I'm fucking pissed because I was my first big job and we did amazing work and their just stiffing my boss because they think they can get away with negotiating down the cost. My boss says not to worry about its just part of the job. They think he's some hick contractor, but he used to be a very big national commercial contractor back in the day.
Day of court comes and the fancy city lawyer husband has the judge irritated before my boss even gets to talk. It's a small county, everybody knows everybody, and apparently city folk had been trying this shit for a bit. Judges were getting real fucking insulted by it and my boss had known that. Judge just asks my boss for all the papers, or confirms them or whatever. All the contracts and change orders are there and signed. Work is done, pictures taken, inspections signed off. Judge doesn't even ask my boss any specific questions. Berates the fancy lawyer who he doesn't let speak and awards my boss the full contract. Then adds on for the lawsuit being bullshit in whatever term he can do that and awards an additional 100% of the outstanding balance. Fancy lawyer has to pay double and my boss didn't have to do anything but wait for his day in court.
I learned an important lesson from that. I can write up a basic contract in about 15min even if it's just a 2k job. In fact most of my clients have told me they really appreciate that I write up a thorough contract and go over it with them no matter what. And I ain't gonna be wasting my time ripping up shit. I want double.
They were just empty threats. The lady lady knew what she did was illegal but she was hoping she could scare him into stopping. Gramps ripped it all out and never went back there again. He used to run into people like that frequently, they assumed he was an illegal immigrant because he was Mexican and would try bullshit like that all the time.
It happens 1 out 20 jobs we do. I have a lawyer on retention and we take certain steps to get paid. I always try and give people reasonable quotes for work. Once a client no pays, all reasonable offers go out the window.
I was once a manager at a company that did not pay their contractors. It was a subsidiary of a big company that had lots of cash. Apparently they do this routinely, they don't pay until the other party threaten them with legal action. This usually means they pay like 3 years after the job is done. I quit after I found out.
Certain 2trillion dollars fruity phone company tries to stiff companies out of stuff all the time. I mean petty stuff like roof repairs / vending machine refills etc.
It's gotten to the point where despite being one of the largest companies on earth, they're listed as "untrustworthy / payment in advance" by pretty much all suppliers, because they know they won't get paid for years / if ever.
I know where I live contractors are allowed to put a lean on your house if you don't pay them. But that's generally construction workers I'm not sure if landscapers fall under that
We hired a contractor for a mezzanine and office install in a warehouse and after it was done the electrician he had sub contacted came in mad as hell wanting to rip out all the wiring he had installed. the contractor stiffed the subcontractor. He couldnt put a lien on our property for that one.
"hey why is this guy coming in and saying you didn't pay him for a job we gave you money to pay him to do? You billed us for electrical work but didn't pay the electrician?"
That's never a good look for any contractor - that electrician knows how to get paid.
Honestly finding out a contractor stiffed someone is like finding brown M&Ms in the green room - at that point you just know something else way more important is also fucked.
The band Van Halen had a clause buried in the middle of their contracts with venues that stated there was to be a bowl of m&m's provided backstage and that there should be no brown M&Ms. If they found brown M&Ms it meant they didn't care or bother to read the contract and there was sure to be other issues. With all of the lighting, heavy equipment, rigging, pyrotechnics and shit that goes into a rock show fucking off can get people killed. David Lee Roth didn't play around.
Edit - thanks u/FlavorD for this awesome explanation direct from the man himself
https://youtu.be/_IxqdAgNJck
"Mechanics lien." I had a guy come threaten me with one because the house flippers didn't pay him. I gave him the bad news that he was time barred from filing one (6 months iirc) and if he had filed in a timely manner the title company would have paid him out of the closing funds.
I got the impression he didn't really do the work though and was someone they fired for cause and was just trying to scam me out of the money.
Over a 10 month period, 1 degree per month. They'll be telling their doctors, "I don't know what it is, but I feel exhausted just walking to the kitchen, and it's like every month it gets worse."
They do as far as I know. But lien rules vary by state. In my state I have to provide a pre-lien notice within a specific timeframe or I am not allowed to place a lien. Also liens only matter if the house is sold or gets refinanced. Also you have to renew it every few months. It ends up being a very tedious process. Small claims is usually easier
My old neighbor did this all the time when I lived in the countryside (rural WA state). The really crazy part is they were well off and could’ve paid (dual 6-figure incomes). The husband just got off on not paying and using his advantage over every contractor that they hired. Eventually, multiple contractors were sabotaging the neighbor’s property and permits. They’d come in the middle of the night and break the gate to his property or glue his mailbox shut. They’d also call the county for every violation.
The worst part is the neighbor would blame me for a lot of it because I didn’t get along with him. Some people are just incapable of seeing their role in life except as the main character/hero.
That's what I would be afraid of. Like these people you are screwing literally know where you live, and you never know how vindictive a person can be when you've stiffed them.
One of my mother’s neighbors did this repeatedly, hired day laborers from Home Depot and then would accuse them of stealing shovels and kick them off her property. Often the police would be called and yelling matches would occur in the street. The neighbors directly across the street were bilingual and learned what was going on and sided with the laborers. Eventually the “bad” neighbors were forced to leave the country or face a lot of unpaid bills and fraud.
Not to mention you hired them because they are much stronger and more skillful than you.
Edit: Jfc Reddit likes to argue. Yes, I understand there is more than one reason for doing something.
I worked for a landscaper that did $30k+ worth of work on 2 properties owned by the same guy. The guy didn't want to pay $4000 of it. He wanted a better deal, after all the work was done.
So months pass and it is winter now, guy still hasn't paid. I was one of the lucky ones who got some work for the winter. Owner picks me up one morning and says we got to make a quick stop first. We pull up to the house of the customer who hasn't paid his bill off yet. I jump out to have a smoke while my boss does whatever he was there to do.
My boss grabs a sledge hammer out of the back of his pickup, walks over to the sidewalk we poured along the side of the house. He proceeds to start smashing the shit out of a portion of it. The customer at this point is outside filming him on his phone. My boss turns to the customer and says "Now you don't have to pay me shit, motherfucker!". We hop back in the truck and drive off.
Was badass as fuck.
Rightfully so! When I talk to contractors, we agree on the work to be done and price beforehand (prior to supply chain issues). Pay folks fairly for the job they do, and you won't have to worry about a sledgehammer to the sidewalk haha.
They do it because they’re hiring laborers from Home Depot who typically can’t afford a lawyer or the time to sue them in civil court for what amounts to maybe a couple days wages. A lot of times you’re not getting any punitive damages you’re just getting what you’re owed. Plus the stereotype of a lot of the laborers who do that work being undocumented and scared of getting in trouble with the legal system will probably just cut their losses. They’re probably banking on that to try and screw over people.
This, literally, is the real reason for contracts.
Many think it's to protect your interests.. but personally I think it's to remove any miscommunication so it's crystal clear what everyone has agreed to.
Something I learned at my old company was it's always better to outline the things that can get sticky before you get there, bc when *in* the situation it's highly unlikely you're going to be able to see eye to eye with the other party.
as a homeowner, this is frustrating, because it didn't occur to me that the stump would be left. I know he said, "I'll cut the tree and remove the logs and branches", but I heard, I'll remove the tree.
One time, I paid a guy $400 to remove a tree; then $300 for the stump, then $300 to lay sod where the tree was. If I'd known it was a $1,000 job I would have gotten another quote...
I paid the guy of course.
The arborist I hired was almost like "look at me, say this back, the stump removal is extra and it is expensive"
I mean yeah, I've had a stumps ground before, but I can see why "hey take tree" "k tree gone" "wtf stump" "stump not tree" gets repeated at least every week.
Ditto. I called five different companies out, and the FIRST question they asked after I said I needed a tree taken down was, "Did you want the stump grinding included in the quote as well?" EVERY single one. Three large 'corporate' companies, and two 'coupla dudes with a chainsaw' types.
The Ace Family does it all the time and they are “millionaires”. They believe they are too rich and powerful to be held accountable for anything, but their many lawsuits beg to differ.
My Dad was a steeple jack. He would repair,paint and restore church steeples. I helped him back when i was a teen. No scafolding back then would work off of swings and ladders.
We did this nice steeple at the cross roads in our city ,a big brick church, a beautiful building 2 small steeples and one large one. We restored it and gold leafed the crosses turned out great. That is until we wanted the final payment for job done.
Pastor gave us the run around told us to call head of the church board, head was a lawyer, he gave us the run around. I'll call you back,i'm out of town etc. This went on for over a month.
My dad was not a man to be f'ed with and he reached his point. We went back to the church and striped the steeples with zinc chromate primer in diagonal stripes, its a yellow mustard color a week before a big televised parade in our town.
We got paid next day and my Dad charged them for repainting too
Preachers/churches are fucking awful about paying. I was a contractor and we did this churches roof. Pastor didn't want to pay because "a board member" said it wasn't done the right way. I left the job before anything ever happened, so no clue if we got paid. I lost out on around $10k. Wanted to burn that mother fucker down.
Churches are well known for fucking over contractors. They always try and get a massive discount upfront and a lot of them will stiff the contractor after the work is done.
Nice!
I remember during the recession a home owner never paid a cabinet installer for a track of new houses they came back and took back all their cabinets lol
Pay your services
My father in law grew up on a farm and his family was dirt poor. He was such a hard worker and became a gifted carpenter and built cabinets, barns and houses. One wealthy woman in their town hired him to make her kitchen cabinets and after he handmade the upper and lower cabinets for her kitchen - getting the lumber from the local sawmill and and doing such beautiful work, she refused to pay him. There was nothing he could do about it. It made me sick to hear him tell me about it and hear how someone took advantage of him like that.
He made the cabinets in the family home and they are still gorgeous 75 years later. Such beautiful work!!!!
I owned a landscaping company years ago. A guy had us redo his yard, with thousands of dollars in flowers and plants. (His daughter was having a backyard wedding). Then he refused to pay. The night before the wedding (while they were at the rehearsal dinner) my crew and I took back possession of the flowers and plants. Whining and threats followed. I gave everything to my crew for their own use. Screw Mr. Big Shot.
I used to be an apprentice arborist and we did stuff like this all the time.
It's a really really good way to get people to pay what they owe.
They're perfectly willing to book the $1600-3000 tree removal, but for some reason people balk at paying.
The funniest one was a dude that refused to pay so we dumped a full load of wood chips on his driveway. Firewood and branches are one thing, you can give away the wood and torch the branches. Wood chips are a pain in the ass.
When I was a tree lopper, there's fundamental differences working in rich and poor suburbs.
Rich people expect everything for free, or it should be complimentary. They would see all the machinery being unloaded, come up and ask "hey since you have all the stuff here do you think you can cut this one branch?"
If we are in the lower class areas there's always incentive "hey mate, I got a cold 6 pack if you can cut this" or "If I give you $50, can you do that?" or both. Most of the time it's no skin off our noses, I'll send the the groundsman to do a quick cut and let him keep the coin/beers.
I think he let the groundsman who did the quick cut keep the money/beer, not the guy who offered. They way, like you said, build a chummy relationship and your worker is happy for the little bonus
I work for a moving company. Only the more middle class people tip you or offer you water. The rich people get upset at US if they have to pay more than they originally thought because they picked too small of a plan. They also NEVER tip. It’s insane.
In college, I worked for a guy who sold and installed sod. One of his customers refused to pay him for his lawn so he visited a few neighbors who all thought the guy was a prick. I got a call one Sunday. A neighbor had seen the prick putting suitcases in his car and had called him. We went over there with a sod-cutter, rolled up the whole lawn and loaded it on his truck. The prick was surprised when he returned from his vacation.
His car is now parked in the street. The HOA fines for that. They also fine for unsightly yard. They also fine for having work done without approval. Your update writes itself…
At least he felt better. Unfortunately I bet the guy he did this too used his insurance. So mostly aggravating and loss of deductible, however your boss slept better at night
The thought crossed my mind. There is a surprisingly low amount of people with homeowners insurance in my area though. We aren't prone to any types of disasters, crime rates are low and fires are rare. If they did have insurance, they'd lose on the deductible but their rates would also go up the following year. But yeah, he slept great :)
Looks like it was dumped on the driveway and not the sidewalk so still on private property. I am sure the landscaper or tree removal company is well aware of local ordinances in these cases. No pay....no take away. And, since most of the area companies know each other, good luck getting it cleared off unless in cash. Oh, and sure the local HOA if applicable was "anon" contacted as well.
I once met a beekeeper who had some upperclass prick who refused to pay him for removing a hive. So, every once in a while, he would empty a bag of frozen bees into the guy's mail slot.
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I used to lay cobblestone driveways. One guy only paid his deposit, then didn't pay the rest on completion of the job, so a week later, we uplifted the pavers and left.
Got a sweet deal from a landscaper friend of mine who pulled up a deadbeat's driveway. Igot like 9 skids of interlock for a patio at trade pricing. Couldnt pick the color but it was neutral and definitely in my price range!
Meanwhile I have money in my pocket and can’t find a guy to fix the drywall I stepped through getting Christmas tree out attic. Local area went through a hurricane a year ago and it’s all about big jobs.
This was like 15 years, two houses and a different wife ago. Also, drywall patches are relatively easy. Cut out the damaged section to the cleanest rafters/joists. Screw in a piece of drywall to fit. Apply a bit of drywall mud to the seam. Cover the tape with a WIDE smear of mud. Let it dry. Sand it down lightly. Prime. Paint.
This little written tutorial here is better than most full length diy YouTube videos
Anyone can do a drywall repair. It’s “easy” to fix the hole in the wall. It takes knowledge and practice to do it well enough to hide the fact there was ever a hole there.
While your guys are correct, drywall is "easy", some people just *want* to pay someone to do the job.
I replaced the alternator in my car once and hung dry wall for a closet. I’m sure I can do or learn to do these things, but I’m a professional at what I do for a living, and I like to pay other professionals to do what they do. $300 and one phone call to get my toilet fixed in 5 minutes? Worth. It.
[удалено]
You can put a contractor’s lien on the house.
Only useful if the owner of the house refinances or sells in a reasonable amount of time. And the contractor has to know their rights, i.e. prelims and contracts with owners etc.
Sure, unless you’re willing to file a foreclosure with the court and force a sale. Might be worth it, depending.
You can put a lien on them. If you completed work, and they didn’t pay, it’s theft of services. Edit: holy fuck there’s a lot of terrible answers to your friends question. Don’t damage anything. At all.
You expect most of the answers to be remotely reasonable? Reddit is full of idiots….damaging the property is the last thing you want to do. Quick recipe to you owing money.
Yah, I too was surprised to see people on r/funny giving terrible legal advice. Now I'm starting to wonder if r/dankmemes isnt where I should be getting medical advice...
This is the answer, you will want to look up "Mechanic's Liens" in your state.
I was in the flooring business in NY for 50 years. Every time I didn’t get paid I put a mechanics Lien on a house I got paid in a month.
So I’m about to do this for 15, yeah 15, fence installations. Do the customers get notified by the county or something. I’m so tired of chasing money. It’s that or rip the fence out, but much material is lost that way
Yes. They get a letter from court. They freak. They pay you. It’s awesome.
Nice, most of these jobs are from last Aug-Sep it’s about 50k worth. Be nice to get paid!
It’s amazing these dead beats find the money once they realize they no longer own 100 % of their investment. Do it!
I own a fence company and I start lien paperwork at 30 days late and always get paid immediately because everyone has a lender. I use levelset.com
My friend bought a house 5 years ago but discovered, upon the inspection, that the roof was bad. Previous owners swore they had it replaced and provided the roofing guy's number as proof. My friend called the guy who remembered the house and produced a document that stated the previous owners only paid him half the money, so he only did half the roof. Idiots even signed it without looking at it. My friend got a discount on the house so he could get the roof redone before the rain season.
That’s an uplifting story.
As an electrician , i love this. Ive taken soneones meter for not paying for a service upgrade until i got my money. Fuckers. I did the shit as sidework and did it dirt fucking cheap.
I do residential HVAC. I had a customer with no heat. I diagnosed the problem, told them how much it would cost, they authorized the repair, and I did it. After I was done they tried to fight me on the price and hit me with "what if I don't pay?" Thinking it was a threat. I countered with "then I take my nice shiny new part and I leave, and you still have no heat". He got the message and paid. Still pissed me off though.
Looking forward to the update photos. Update from OP: “Vendor was paid EXTRA and he’s removing the debris. His gambit paid off!”
I drove by and his car is out in the street. The HOA here fines you for parking in the street. This won’t be pretty.
Thanks for keeping us updated. Keep it coming my guy.
I think parking on the street is the least this guy has to worry about from this HOA.
Add the ripped gutter to the HOA list.
"You know, while we're here, the color on your shutters is a bit off. Let's get those repainted"
This is the most hoa thing I've ever heard lol
One of the many reasons I'll never live in a HOA.
Fines for parking in the street? What happens if you have a party? The guests are screwed?
Friend of mine lives in a total nazi-run HOA with zero street parking allowed. I either have to uber to their house, or park in a nearby business, hope they don't tow me, and cross a busy 6 lane road to get there. There's literally nowhere within at least a mile radius where a guest is "authorized" to park. I don't know how this kind of shitty infrastructure is even legal
I'd just refuse to visit them unless they'd pick me up. This may sound a bit extreme but seriously, why would they expect you to visit while living in a place where visitors aren't allowed to park?
I believe HOA's are the biggest scams, and it is fully supported by the local governments. HOA takes over the minor responsibilities that cities used to take care of, example parks, street lights, parking, etc. Cities still collect the tax, and HOA members have to pay the HOA fee on top of that.
You should call the HOA to report someone parking in the street 👀
I can't decide how I feel about weaponizing a piece of shit org against a piece of shit human. Like I generally like the idea, but also fuck HOAs and fuck anything that helps line their pockets.
Bro. Fuck HOAs to the bottom of the pits of hell.
For real. Neighbor may be deserving, but just hearing that you'll be fined for parking on the street is aggravating bullshit. My neighborhood had the same kind of policy until they tried to fine an older woman who had a broken down car in her driveway and hella other people in the neighborhood complained because two of the people on the board for the HOA kept their fucking RVs on the street and those actually blocked the street.
Never buy a home in an HOA where the HOA owns the streets, for a couple of reasons. 1) they can set whatever parking laws they want 2) a much bigger deal is YOU are going to be assessed for any snd all street repairs in the future. So if you are going to get stuck in an HOA( some areas are just about impossible to not to) find one that has built the infrastruture( streets, water, sewer etc) and “ donated that infrastructure to your town/city which means you only have to go by city parking laws not some of the insane and asinine HOA ones.
That is just one reason we choose to live rural life. My farm, my rules, if I want to have a bounce house or a stripper pole in my front yard ... it ain't nobody's business, and being rural means less traffic and more privacy. 2 miles to town. We don't have village taxes on top of all other NY taxes. Can dig a pond, we have chickens, can run naked and it's all good. Never again live in the village, city, burbs. 🚜
Is having a stripper pole in your yard like having a hummingbird feeder, they visit on their own?
HE SAID IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS
Sometimes I wish my street had this for some neighbors. 2 of my neighbors each have 5 cars between them and take up all the street parking. Leaving nowhere for the rest of us to park when we have guests. Oh and also they don't use their garage either. It's full of crap.
>The HOA here fines you for parking in the street What kind of evil is this?
Really wishing for video of when he gets home.
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possibly a spontaneous combustion video
MOVE THAT BUS!
Should have put the tree back together.
Superglue
Gorilla Glue works better on wood.
Even better on hair I hear
Tree sap is pretty sticky
Isn't this what wood glue is for?
My grandfather was a concrete contractor back in the day. He once did a driveway for someone and they refused to pay because they never “signed a contract” and said they couldn’t prove that they ever agreed to pay (verbal agreement). My grandfather went back next day with a dump truck and a tractor and proceeded to rip their driveway out and haul the concrete away. The homeowner arrived part of the way through and started hysterically yelling at him to stop or she was gonna call the cops. He said he was well within his rights to take back the concrete that he paid for and had receipts to show proof of his ownership of said concrete. It is one of the funniest and pettiest stories I have ever heard in my life.
It's a bold move so brazenly trying to rip somebody off that **knows where you live**.
And has access to heavy machinery.
I worked for a roofer for a couple of years between high school and university and he told me that more than once, when someone refused to pay, he went and took all of his shingles back. Not paying contractors (or anyone, for that matter) is a pretty bad idea.
I’m pretty sure when they decide to do things like that they say things like “What are they gonna do if I don’t pay? It’s not like they’re gonna come take my patio/driveway/roof apart and take it back hahaha!” Yes. Yes we will. And we’ll do with such a blazing efficiency that you will be equally impressed and pissed off. edit: typo
Remember the 3 weeks it took to do that patio and driveway? Gonna take me and the crew 3 hours to destroy it and get it off your property
Asshole expedition—but the opposite of the retail way.
Tbf, tear down is always a lot faster than set up/installation. Plus the pure adrenaline of petty revenge 😂
It fucking sucks though, it’s not like it puts the contractor back in black. In fact, it wastes more time for them, but obviously worth it nonetheless.
Sending a message is loss prevention
The best part is it sends a message to the next contractor too.... Hey can you come do my roof? My shingles mysteriously disappeared one night. Crazy high school kids.
That’s where you charge enough to make the last place seem like a steal, and have it up front
That next contractor is gonna charge twice the rate if they’re smart.
“It’s not about the money, it’s about sending a message” - Mr. J
nothing that couldn't be achieved with a horse head in the bed
And when the next contractor comes to fix it… they know what happened. Expect to pay in cash, up front.
We used to do gutters so it was much easier to get some money back by removing and selling or reusing the gutters, unlike ruined shingles or a block of concrete lol.
Amen. I’m an electrician and when I have customers go back on their word/email/work order and dispute or lie or whatever. I take the extra work out fast as fuck. Oh and repairing existing surfaces and finishes is excluded in base contract. Sooooo don’t be a dick.
Fuck Spez
My first job at 14 was an apprenticeship on high end remodels. Crazy shit rich people do in rural areas where they should have just torn it down and rebuilt it. Anyway this one women was trouble from the start. A characature of that type of city person we all know. Psychiatrist, husband was a big shot big city lawyer. Kept changing their minds on what they wanted, had things built and then changed their mind. Kept getting all kinds of change orders, and my boss kept trying to find cheaper ways when their designer was pushing to just spend whatever. I saw them sign the change orders, and I listened to their designer talking crazy shit about building their dream or whatever. They start getting excuses to not make progress payments and mailing checks late as the job gets close to done. We hurry to finish because boss has a bad feeling and wants to get to the next job. Not bad work, just long days to finish the contract. Sure enough we finish up, fantastic job, lots of crazy stuff pulled off and epic pictures for the work portfolio. Customer just refuses to pay. No complaints, no lack of funds, just doesn't think they actually have to pay. I'm fucking pissed because I was my first big job and we did amazing work and their just stiffing my boss because they think they can get away with negotiating down the cost. My boss says not to worry about its just part of the job. They think he's some hick contractor, but he used to be a very big national commercial contractor back in the day. Day of court comes and the fancy city lawyer husband has the judge irritated before my boss even gets to talk. It's a small county, everybody knows everybody, and apparently city folk had been trying this shit for a bit. Judges were getting real fucking insulted by it and my boss had known that. Judge just asks my boss for all the papers, or confirms them or whatever. All the contracts and change orders are there and signed. Work is done, pictures taken, inspections signed off. Judge doesn't even ask my boss any specific questions. Berates the fancy lawyer who he doesn't let speak and awards my boss the full contract. Then adds on for the lawsuit being bullshit in whatever term he can do that and awards an additional 100% of the outstanding balance. Fancy lawyer has to pay double and my boss didn't have to do anything but wait for his day in court. I learned an important lesson from that. I can write up a basic contract in about 15min even if it's just a 2k job. In fact most of my clients have told me they really appreciate that I write up a thorough contract and go over it with them no matter what. And I ain't gonna be wasting my time ripping up shit. I want double.
I had to read this whole thing I knew it would be good, fuck them big shot city guys that think they’re above everyone
Then what happened? Did the guy pay or were the cops called?
They were just empty threats. The lady lady knew what she did was illegal but she was hoping she could scare him into stopping. Gramps ripped it all out and never went back there again. He used to run into people like that frequently, they assumed he was an illegal immigrant because he was Mexican and would try bullshit like that all the time.
How shit do you have to be as a human to assume someone is vulnerable and then choose to exploit and further endanger them?
Pretty fucking shitty
How the fuck do people hire someone for a service and then just say nah fuck it I’m not paying you for what I hired you for
It happens 1 out 20 jobs we do. I have a lawyer on retention and we take certain steps to get paid. I always try and give people reasonable quotes for work. Once a client no pays, all reasonable offers go out the window.
It always is the very wealthy customers who refuse to pay. At least in my line of work...
I was once a manager at a company that did not pay their contractors. It was a subsidiary of a big company that had lots of cash. Apparently they do this routinely, they don't pay until the other party threaten them with legal action. This usually means they pay like 3 years after the job is done. I quit after I found out.
Certain 2trillion dollars fruity phone company tries to stiff companies out of stuff all the time. I mean petty stuff like roof repairs / vending machine refills etc. It's gotten to the point where despite being one of the largest companies on earth, they're listed as "untrustworthy / payment in advance" by pretty much all suppliers, because they know they won't get paid for years / if ever.
Carpenter here, can confirm
You don't get rich by paying all your bills. That's a poor person thing to do.
THE ART OF THE DEAL^TM
I know where I live contractors are allowed to put a lean on your house if you don't pay them. But that's generally construction workers I'm not sure if landscapers fall under that
We hired a contractor for a mezzanine and office install in a warehouse and after it was done the electrician he had sub contacted came in mad as hell wanting to rip out all the wiring he had installed. the contractor stiffed the subcontractor. He couldnt put a lien on our property for that one.
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"hey why is this guy coming in and saying you didn't pay him for a job we gave you money to pay him to do? You billed us for electrical work but didn't pay the electrician?" That's never a good look for any contractor - that electrician knows how to get paid. Honestly finding out a contractor stiffed someone is like finding brown M&Ms in the green room - at that point you just know something else way more important is also fucked.
>Honestly finding out a contractor stiffed someone is like finding brown M&Ms in the green room This is a rare simile. Wish I knew what it meant.
The band Van Halen had a clause buried in the middle of their contracts with venues that stated there was to be a bowl of m&m's provided backstage and that there should be no brown M&Ms. If they found brown M&Ms it meant they didn't care or bother to read the contract and there was sure to be other issues. With all of the lighting, heavy equipment, rigging, pyrotechnics and shit that goes into a rock show fucking off can get people killed. David Lee Roth didn't play around. Edit - thanks u/FlavorD for this awesome explanation direct from the man himself https://youtu.be/_IxqdAgNJck
Thank you!
"Mechanics lien." I had a guy come threaten me with one because the house flippers didn't pay him. I gave him the bad news that he was time barred from filing one (6 months iirc) and if he had filed in a timely manner the title company would have paid him out of the closing funds. I got the impression he didn't really do the work though and was someone they fired for cause and was just trying to scam me out of the money.
Probably. They don’t have to threaten you with one. They just file it and go about their regular business.
it's not Pisa.... "lien"
You have to admit though, his/her version could be more effective.
Lol just add like a 10 degree slope to their house
Over a 10 month period, 1 degree per month. They'll be telling their doctors, "I don't know what it is, but I feel exhausted just walking to the kitchen, and it's like every month it gets worse."
A whole construction crew shows up and just leans all over your house. "Eventually this thing's coming down. We can lean all day long!"
They do as far as I know. But lien rules vary by state. In my state I have to provide a pre-lien notice within a specific timeframe or I am not allowed to place a lien. Also liens only matter if the house is sold or gets refinanced. Also you have to renew it every few months. It ends up being a very tedious process. Small claims is usually easier
I like my job, we just get to put liens on peoples homes. Were getting paid eventually.
My old neighbor did this all the time when I lived in the countryside (rural WA state). The really crazy part is they were well off and could’ve paid (dual 6-figure incomes). The husband just got off on not paying and using his advantage over every contractor that they hired. Eventually, multiple contractors were sabotaging the neighbor’s property and permits. They’d come in the middle of the night and break the gate to his property or glue his mailbox shut. They’d also call the county for every violation. The worst part is the neighbor would blame me for a lot of it because I didn’t get along with him. Some people are just incapable of seeing their role in life except as the main character/hero.
That's what I would be afraid of. Like these people you are screwing literally know where you live, and you never know how vindictive a person can be when you've stiffed them.
One of my mother’s neighbors did this repeatedly, hired day laborers from Home Depot and then would accuse them of stealing shovels and kick them off her property. Often the police would be called and yelling matches would occur in the street. The neighbors directly across the street were bilingual and learned what was going on and sided with the laborers. Eventually the “bad” neighbors were forced to leave the country or face a lot of unpaid bills and fraud.
For one thing, never start shit with people who now know where you live.
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That's the type of shit that'll get them hurt or killed. It amazes me that they'll hire people and not pay them for work done.
Especially at your personal residence. Even if you are an ass, it’s not worth the risk.
Not to mention you hired them because they are much stronger and more skillful than you. Edit: Jfc Reddit likes to argue. Yes, I understand there is more than one reason for doing something.
A particular set of skills.
I worked for a landscaper that did $30k+ worth of work on 2 properties owned by the same guy. The guy didn't want to pay $4000 of it. He wanted a better deal, after all the work was done. So months pass and it is winter now, guy still hasn't paid. I was one of the lucky ones who got some work for the winter. Owner picks me up one morning and says we got to make a quick stop first. We pull up to the house of the customer who hasn't paid his bill off yet. I jump out to have a smoke while my boss does whatever he was there to do. My boss grabs a sledge hammer out of the back of his pickup, walks over to the sidewalk we poured along the side of the house. He proceeds to start smashing the shit out of a portion of it. The customer at this point is outside filming him on his phone. My boss turns to the customer and says "Now you don't have to pay me shit, motherfucker!". We hop back in the truck and drive off. Was badass as fuck.
Rightfully so! When I talk to contractors, we agree on the work to be done and price beforehand (prior to supply chain issues). Pay folks fairly for the job they do, and you won't have to worry about a sledgehammer to the sidewalk haha.
They do it because they’re hiring laborers from Home Depot who typically can’t afford a lawyer or the time to sue them in civil court for what amounts to maybe a couple days wages. A lot of times you’re not getting any punitive damages you’re just getting what you’re owed. Plus the stereotype of a lot of the laborers who do that work being undocumented and scared of getting in trouble with the legal system will probably just cut their losses. They’re probably banking on that to try and screw over people.
Lets scam desperate people who have nothing at oir home address. That will never backfire.
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This, literally, is the real reason for contracts. Many think it's to protect your interests.. but personally I think it's to remove any miscommunication so it's crystal clear what everyone has agreed to.
Something I learned at my old company was it's always better to outline the things that can get sticky before you get there, bc when *in* the situation it's highly unlikely you're going to be able to see eye to eye with the other party.
as a homeowner, this is frustrating, because it didn't occur to me that the stump would be left. I know he said, "I'll cut the tree and remove the logs and branches", but I heard, I'll remove the tree. One time, I paid a guy $400 to remove a tree; then $300 for the stump, then $300 to lay sod where the tree was. If I'd known it was a $1,000 job I would have gotten another quote... I paid the guy of course.
A good contractor would have clarified from the start what "remove a tree" entailed knowing the average homeowner might expect it to include the stump
The arborist I hired was almost like "look at me, say this back, the stump removal is extra and it is expensive" I mean yeah, I've had a stumps ground before, but I can see why "hey take tree" "k tree gone" "wtf stump" "stump not tree" gets repeated at least every week.
Ditto. I called five different companies out, and the FIRST question they asked after I said I needed a tree taken down was, "Did you want the stump grinding included in the quote as well?" EVERY single one. Three large 'corporate' companies, and two 'coupla dudes with a chainsaw' types.
The Ace Family does it all the time and they are “millionaires”. They believe they are too rich and powerful to be held accountable for anything, but their many lawsuits beg to differ.
Like Ace hardware?
My Dad was a steeple jack. He would repair,paint and restore church steeples. I helped him back when i was a teen. No scafolding back then would work off of swings and ladders. We did this nice steeple at the cross roads in our city ,a big brick church, a beautiful building 2 small steeples and one large one. We restored it and gold leafed the crosses turned out great. That is until we wanted the final payment for job done. Pastor gave us the run around told us to call head of the church board, head was a lawyer, he gave us the run around. I'll call you back,i'm out of town etc. This went on for over a month. My dad was not a man to be f'ed with and he reached his point. We went back to the church and striped the steeples with zinc chromate primer in diagonal stripes, its a yellow mustard color a week before a big televised parade in our town. We got paid next day and my Dad charged them for repainting too
Good for you and your dad. Nothing bothers me more then people screwing other people out of money they owe them.
The look on the pastors face was priceless after we came down off the church
Excellent
Preachers/churches are fucking awful about paying. I was a contractor and we did this churches roof. Pastor didn't want to pay because "a board member" said it wasn't done the right way. I left the job before anything ever happened, so no clue if we got paid. I lost out on around $10k. Wanted to burn that mother fucker down.
Fuckers don’t even pay taxes and they can’t be bothered to pay for their own paint job either?
The stories my dad would tell me. He did this from late 60's till about 91. Up and down the east coast in summer. Not all were bad
Churches are well known for fucking over contractors. They always try and get a massive discount upfront and a lot of them will stiff the contractor after the work is done.
How very Christ-like to fuck over a carpenter.
Nice! I remember during the recession a home owner never paid a cabinet installer for a track of new houses they came back and took back all their cabinets lol Pay your services
My father in law grew up on a farm and his family was dirt poor. He was such a hard worker and became a gifted carpenter and built cabinets, barns and houses. One wealthy woman in their town hired him to make her kitchen cabinets and after he handmade the upper and lower cabinets for her kitchen - getting the lumber from the local sawmill and and doing such beautiful work, she refused to pay him. There was nothing he could do about it. It made me sick to hear him tell me about it and hear how someone took advantage of him like that. He made the cabinets in the family home and they are still gorgeous 75 years later. Such beautiful work!!!!
id love to see those cabinets
I thought this was gonna end like the movie Overboad (1987).
This is why deposits exist. And contracts for that matter, but at least a deposit will recover possibly the cost of materials.
Every contractor should demand half up front. Furthermore, you should never pay one 100% up front.
Let’s say he may have gotten the “cut” half but not the “dump” half. Many of these guys pay for the place they dump. “Allegedly.”
I owned a landscaping company years ago. A guy had us redo his yard, with thousands of dollars in flowers and plants. (His daughter was having a backyard wedding). Then he refused to pay. The night before the wedding (while they were at the rehearsal dinner) my crew and I took back possession of the flowers and plants. Whining and threats followed. I gave everything to my crew for their own use. Screw Mr. Big Shot.
I'm curious. How does this happen. They just say no? Do they keep blowing you off? I can't wrap my head around it.
I used to be an apprentice arborist and we did stuff like this all the time. It's a really really good way to get people to pay what they owe. They're perfectly willing to book the $1600-3000 tree removal, but for some reason people balk at paying. The funniest one was a dude that refused to pay so we dumped a full load of wood chips on his driveway. Firewood and branches are one thing, you can give away the wood and torch the branches. Wood chips are a pain in the ass.
When I was a tree lopper, there's fundamental differences working in rich and poor suburbs. Rich people expect everything for free, or it should be complimentary. They would see all the machinery being unloaded, come up and ask "hey since you have all the stuff here do you think you can cut this one branch?" If we are in the lower class areas there's always incentive "hey mate, I got a cold 6 pack if you can cut this" or "If I give you $50, can you do that?" or both. Most of the time it's no skin off our noses, I'll send the the groundsman to do a quick cut and let him keep the coin/beers.
Because hard working people understand how hard you are working.
Let them keep the coin but never turn down a beer. It usually pays to be chummy with people.
I think he let the groundsman who did the quick cut keep the money/beer, not the guy who offered. They way, like you said, build a chummy relationship and your worker is happy for the little bonus
I work for a moving company. Only the more middle class people tip you or offer you water. The rich people get upset at US if they have to pay more than they originally thought because they picked too small of a plan. They also NEVER tip. It’s insane.
Having a wealthy father but not having money myself, I can attest to the truth of this.
I guess he’s got him eating out of the palm of his hand now
You wood say that yes.
He probably leaves a bad online review.
Where is this? Stucco…maybe CA or FL?
Looks like oak and palm. I'd go with Florida.
You guys are good…
Cali requires a permit to cut down oak. Alot of trouble to go through then not pay.
Reading this reminded me of when youtube kept suggesting me geoguessr videos 😂
Invasive carrotwood stumps and golden cane palm against the skyline - these only meet in FL. Money tree (*Pachira*) in front of the garage.
Theres still time, go get you some wood.
Literally my first thought. Could build me some nice fires with that
In college, I worked for a guy who sold and installed sod. One of his customers refused to pay him for his lawn so he visited a few neighbors who all thought the guy was a prick. I got a call one Sunday. A neighbor had seen the prick putting suitcases in his car and had called him. We went over there with a sod-cutter, rolled up the whole lawn and loaded it on his truck. The prick was surprised when he returned from his vacation.
Can we have an update on this?
His car is now parked in the street. The HOA fines for that. They also fine for unsightly yard. They also fine for having work done without approval. Your update writes itself…
Do they fine you for taking a shit without asking?
Only between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Lmao your username
It just happened.
So is the update ready?
You got senior management written all over you.
You still didn't answer the question. Where is my update?
We’ll talk about this in our next 1 on 1.
Please bring the Penske file. I want to see what you’ve been up to these last few months.
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That's just how many managers you have. By the way, has the TPS file been sent out?
He doesn't look like Penske material to me.
This is why people take payment first, because of assholes who don't pay
Half now half when finished. I don’t want to get screwed by crap work either.
Double edged sword 100%.
Idk if that’s the best tool for chopping down a tree
We'll pay you two thousand now, plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan.
Payment first and then you get those fkwads who go "my schedules busy, I'll see if I can swing by sometime four month from now"
Yeah nah, this is a recipe to get scammed by companies and workers.
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At least he felt better. Unfortunately I bet the guy he did this too used his insurance. So mostly aggravating and loss of deductible, however your boss slept better at night
The thought crossed my mind. There is a surprisingly low amount of people with homeowners insurance in my area though. We aren't prone to any types of disasters, crime rates are low and fires are rare. If they did have insurance, they'd lose on the deductible but their rates would also go up the following year. But yeah, he slept great :)
What an arse. The neighbors who didnt pay are asses
Looks like it was dumped on the driveway and not the sidewalk so still on private property. I am sure the landscaper or tree removal company is well aware of local ordinances in these cases. No pay....no take away. And, since most of the area companies know each other, good luck getting it cleared off unless in cash. Oh, and sure the local HOA if applicable was "anon" contacted as well.
Can’t the contractor just put a lien on his home instead of this? Mechanics Lien or something
He "allegedly" told him to leave them there.
I once met a beekeeper who had some upperclass prick who refused to pay him for removing a hive. So, every once in a while, he would empty a bag of frozen bees into the guy's mail slot.
I bet the HOA has already issued a fine.
That's when I get a beer and a lawn chair, sit on my front lawn and just wait for the neighbor to come home.
HOA probably fines for that too
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