Bow Thruster RE-POSESSION by VETUS

[Judith A]

3 years 130K, excuse after excuse from the builder and now the thruster gets repo'd...and your pissed at the repo man...
THE SLACK ASS BUILDER DIDNT PAY FOR THE PART..repo man is the only one here who has a clue.The rest of you have lost any semblance of common sense.When you contract a company to build you ANYTHING , you have a contract..and in that contract there's a payment schedule and a time frame, miss a set percentage of completion..you don't get payed,Simple. Aparently a very high persentage of money was paid and it still wasnt completed...and with no motors installed...you both screwed the pooch on this one ,amigo. But if your looking for someone to blame for this mess....look in the mirror.
Repo man was told by the builder "come and get it" its his property..and the bow thruster belongs to the seller until its paid for. your SOL.

I'm sure there's more to this story, but if I understand you right. Let's say you take your car to the shop and have tires put on it,then the shop doesn't pay the supplier for the tires and you walk out in the morning to find all your tires gone ,repo by the supplier that's OK with you
Mark

[marine4003]

Lets say i'm sick of people complaining due to an error on there part,the tire analogy doesn't work here, due to the fact this guy keeps sinking money into a boat that so far is 3 years & 130K into the build ,isn't finished,to the tune of about 40K (motors)
and he's SURPRISED parts are being repo'd? he's pissed the OWNERS of the BT came to repo it after they were told by the builder to come get them...sheesh why am i even bothering to explain how ass backwards this complaint is. I install kitchen cabinets and am told by the owner he's doesn't have the money to pay for them...guess what???I OWN those cabinets and there coming down.

[Avenger]

I install kitchen cabinets and am told by the owner he's doesn't have the money to pay for them...guess what???I OWN those cabinets and there coming down.

See, here's the problem, and why SkirtChaser32 feels robbed. You wouldn't stiff the vendor if your customer didn't pay you. But that's not exactly what's happening here. Your customer would feel ripped off when the cabinet maker reclaimed the cabinets after he had paid YOU for them. But, you're not a deadbeat, so you're going to stop it at your level. Clearly you're not the same kind of confluent-thinker as this cluck.

Unfortunately, there are deadbeats (a term I regard similarly to child molester, traitor and sociopath) in the world, and SkirtChaser32 got rooked by one. Should he have seen it coming? Probably. However, he dealt with this creep in good faith, and now he's on the hook for it. Sadly the law doesn't recognise it this way and his only remedy is to go after the creep. Most likely the pant-load is broke and the only way Skirtchaser32 is going to get any satisfaction is to go after him with a lead pipe. I don't recommend this approach, because when you do that the law becomes much more cognitive.

[krazy8]

I install kitchen cabinets and am told by the owner he's doesn't have the money to pay for them...guess what???I OWN those cabinets and there coming down.

Better check State laws before you do , cause in most States you can not do that once they are installed

[Wasabi]

Paying a contractor "in full" does not absolve you of liability to his "sub-contractors" if they do not get paid. That's why it's imperative to get releases from the sub contractors.

Sorry about that but you're paying the contractor for the thrusters doesn't help a bit if he doesn't, in turn, pay for them from the supplier.

P.S. You are mad at the wrong guy. You need to be pissed at the contractor because he kept your money instead of paying bills.

When you make your final payment you need to collect up releases from all of the subs to protect yourself.

[Wasabi]

Better check State laws before you do , cause in most States you can not do that once they are installed

I think you must not be cognizant of or conversant with "mechanic liens". Recognized in every state I know of.

[marlineer]

I think you must not be cognizant of or conversant with "mechanic liens". Recognized in every state I know of.

Sir, a mechanics lien does not give the supplier the right to remove "installed products or goods" from private property. I know a landscaper who removed "installed" plants, trees and pavers from a home after the (deadbeat) builder settled with the Owners. He was locked-up and ordered to pay restitution and damages. Be careful advising! A mechanics lien will pay the supplier only after the unit is is sold or transferred. I think Vetus should have taken legal action against the builder.

[Wasabi]

Sir, a mechanics lien does not give the supplier the right to remove "installed products or goods" from private property. I know a landscaper who removed "installed" plants, trees and pavers from a home after the (deadbeat) builder settled with the Owners. He was locked-up and ordered to pay restitution and damages. Be careful advising! A mechanics lien will pay the supplier only after the unit is is sold or transferred. I think Vetus should have taken legal action against the builder.

I am sorry but you are not correct. I have personal knowledge of this from two different angles.

I used to own a couple of four wheel drive shops. I know specifically what the mechanic liens cover and what they don't.

Secondly, for a period I used to repo cars. In most cases we would call the law enforcement agency in whose jurisdiction we would be doing the repo. We would give them a heads up so that when the "victim" called about his car being stolen they would know the situation.

Well, this was fine except for one county. There, the sheriff told us that we could not repo in his county without a court order. He told us, up front, if he caught us, he'd throw us in jail.

Well, we ignored him pretty much. In fact, it was fun because we'd call him as we crossed the county lines. He couldn't do anything about it.

As far as your story goes, I don't doubt you know such a person it's just that there is likely more to the story. For example if a court had been overseeing the whole thing and the landscaper didn't like the way it came out, then yes, I can see him getting into trouble. Same with a lot of situations. But not this one.

Take solace in that you are correct, his case is against the contractor.

[krazy8]

Sir, a mechanics lien does not give the supplier the right to remove "installed products or goods" from private property. I think Vetus should have taken legal action against the builder.

100 % absolutely correct .

[Wdnich]

Repossesions can only take place where there is a valid lien. A lien has to have an established date prior to the date of sale recorded on a legal bill of sale. If Vetus had a established lien dated prior to the date of sale, then this is an encumbrance that has to be released. The builder had no right to give permission to Vetus to remove the items. This is a private vessel now, in the possession of an owner. Possession does not have to be at his residence. All of you think about where your vessels are docked or stored. Does not matter where it sits, a bill of sale is a bill of sale. I do not fault Vetus for attempting to recover their funds, but I see the builder failing to inform Vetus of all the information at hand on the vessel. The builder is at fault for being a simple dead beat, and Vetus is at fault for putting their trust in a builder that had already stiffed them on the bow thrusters. I have dealt with Vetus on several occasions and their professionalism and customer service is great. In my opinon both Vetus and the buyer were mislead and cheated out of hard earned money.

Look at it simpler terms, a mechanic installs a new starter he procured from A major autoparts supplier. The mechanic fails to pay the supplier. So now the supplier travels to a private residence and removes the starter in the driveway after an owner has paid for service. The supplier would go to jail. Simple. Take heed though the next time you walk up to your docked boat, and your 3 months old electronics package you paid 5k for is missing, you better contact the installer and make sure they paid the supplier.

The biggest lesson to be learned is, in this economy no one is above stealing you blind.