Ok guys. You noticed I been gone for long periods of time, well I got myself into something I wish I hadn't. And I'm at a spot where I need some advice. I know this is a question for an attorney, but I cannot find one to even look at it. so here goes.

Couple years ago I decided I wanted to get out of well drilling and just do the service side of the business. I was tired of running my tail off and since all my tractors were paid for I thought the time was ripe to just coast the rest of the way and then fully retire at 62. Neither one of my parents gots to retire and I didn't want the same thing happening to me so it's time. I'm 58 an it's time to take it down a gear.

So I put an ad in a national drillers magazine look for someone who want to have their own business and rent the equipment from me. It would cost them $1,500 a month and all the expenses like insurance, material, and upkeep was theirs. The equipment was all depreciated out so this was a way for the equipment to still make me money and not pay capital gains taxes. Several people called. But only a pool of one person to choose from. And he didn't want to rent. He wanted to buy, and me carry the contract. But I didn't want to sell cause uncle SAM wants that capital gains tax all up front. So we decides on a lease. That way I could shift the tax burden over 4 years. Bam. Done deal. $1,500 a month for 4 years and at the end of the lease he buys a well drilling machine and a tanker truck  for one dollars.  I get my $65,000 asking price plus I make 5.375% to carry the lease. In 4 years I'll be 62 and it'll be time to get rid of it anyway I figger. There's no way he can fail. That equipment grossed me $333,000 each and every year with the help of one man.

Fast Forward 12 months. He fails. He's only made 6 payments. His dad dies and they own farm ground and it's for sale. He'll catch up the payments. Ok. So we wait. now were at 18 months. He's made 7 payments. He decides he's done. He parks the trucks on somebody else s property and says come get em. So we do. And what we repossess is a well drilling machine and tanker truck with everything missing off the truck that's required to drill a water well. I couldn't go make a living with it if I wanted to. I'm talking about 400 feet of drilling rod, the spare tire, the safety shields are all missing, bits, hoses, and tools needed for the upkeep of the well machine. I'm not talking socket sets, I'm talking about stuff none of you would have any use for. And he forbids me to enter his property to claim it, even though I can clearly see some of the stuff from the street. The property is surrounded by cameras.  He's never there. If you live near thief river falls Minnesota. You probably know him. What do I do? I've even had professional thieves offer to get the stuff for me. I know I need to ask an attorney, but since it wasn't all listed per item on the lease, do I even have any claim to the stuff?

Man I feel for you.

First... get a lien on the farm !! He's bailed on the lease, so he OWES you . Put a lien on his house, car ,ANY property he has ! Sad thing is a bank will have already done this, so you'd be #2 to collect.

2nd, yeah, get a lawyer...let him interrupt the lease agreement...

3rd, post on CL 'wanted.. info about well drilling rig equipment ,last seen on Mr X( NAME HIM !( rig he was leasing...

4th call the cops, report all pipes, tools, whatever as STOLEN, put a replacemement purchase price  on the stuff.

5th if he's out of state, it's probably a Federal case...

6th at least you got SOME of the materials back

Jay

I would call that a renigging on the contract and theft, by intentional deceit and swindle... Report it to the sheriffs office, have all your papers and pictures of what you sold the rotten crook. And make sure you only got back your trucks and you want it all and he has it... even if the sheriffs dept has to impound it, then the scum can't sell the drill or rods, etc. while your taking the slow expensive route.

   What a dam rotten deal this turned out to be.

If you can get a judgement against him, the sheriff can attach the real estate, possibly liberate the drill rod, etc, to satisfy the judgement, cameras or not...

 Les,,,don't wait no more,,,MAKE the call to the Sheriff's dept NOW,,!!!

Fixed it fer ya, JC...

So... I'm not a lawyer, but I've been through stuff like this before... so here's what I suggest:

Yes, get an attorney, file a suit, and put a lein on the property, with itemized list of all that is to be returned.

The property will NOT be able to be sold until your case has been settled, and while you may not get full value for whatever's left, it will mean that you're listed in the creditors that the liquidated assets are distributed amongst.

IF you can prove that the equipment you see on the property is part of that which you have inventoried, then the lawyer in charge of his defense will opt to return them to you, rather than attempt to pay the value.  It is much wiser fiscally, to do so... or better put, it's downright foolish.  How so?

Let's say you have a materials claim for drill rod and associated equipment who's value is say... $30,000.  The equipment is held 'hostage' on his property... and constitutes the full value of your lein against his bankruptcy.

Let's say he's got ten creditors, with a total responsibility of oh... $600,000.

So let's say they decide that everything on property gets liquidated as auction or scrap, and the property that YOU'VE claimed, sells for $1100 (scrap value).  They divvy up that $1100 between ten creditors, which comes to $110 each.

Your claim of $30,000 is still short by $29890... and the other creditors... basically hasn't made a dent.  The result, is that the bankruptcy executor liquidated that $30,000 for 3.6% of it's actual market value... and after doing so, reduced the bankruptcy liability by essentially NOTHING.

Instead, a proper way, is to gather up all that stuff, hand it back to you, and after determining what value was decreased through loss or damage (let's say it's only worth $25000), you accept it back with a letter identifying the losses at $15,000 (material plus your time, attorney, and recovery costs), you have at least SOME of it back, and the remainder gets filed on your taxes as capital asset losses.

Either way, your immediate action is imperative-  do it now.  Get lawyer, have them call Sheriff, with paperwork.  Under that circumstance, the defendant's bankruptcy lawyer will likely meet you and the constable, with warrant to recover, and it'll be handled under more reasonable terms.

.....and they settle for a lot less to "win" the case and then take their share.

The economics of settle vs. fight a case is frequently misunderstood.

Let's say you've been slighted by $6500 by someone.

You take them to court.  It takes the attorney 56 hours of research, filings, legal service (sending Sheriff or service agent with papers to the defendant), then you take three days off work to appear in court for the hearing, then wait three weeks to a year, then lawyer takes three days for jury selection... you've already exceeded $10,000. 

Let's say that at this point, you get lucky and walk into the courtroom, place your opening arguments, and win RIGHT THERE. (does NOT happen).  You've already lost.

I took a call yesterday from a guy who had a citation... it was close enough to fight and win, however, the fine was $82.00.  The cost for him to take ONE DAY off work to appear in court... exceeded that by 7x...

The moral here, is that when you fight, it doesn't matter wether you come out standing, or lying on the ground-  you STILL wind up with cuts and bruises.

In the realm of a legal battle, Les's circumstances and the ensuing fight would very-well yield him a favorable court ruling, which is great, right?

The first law of trial, is the Law of Blood and Turnips:

--The guy has his stuff, and the stuff is worth money.

--The guy is in bankruptcy:  He has overextended himself, and as a result, cannot pay his creditors.

--Having a favorable judgement against a turnip, will NOT get you blood.

The lawyer's job is to know how to fight on your behalf to LIMIT DAMAGE.  That's what good lawyers do.  If you consult a lawyer, and do NOT wind up with your damage limited, it's because of one of two reasons:

1) You consulted with the wrong lawyer

2) You did not follow the lawyer's advice.

If Les has appropriate documentation of ownership of all the missing materials, he should have the lawyer file for recovery of material assets, and call in proper authorities to enter the property and recover the assets.  If it was a bank loan, they'd send in a licensed reposessor... in this case, it's a lease, which is pretty straightforward, as long as it's appropriately inventoried and identified.  That's important, because the most expedient path to resolution, will yield the greatest result and the most minimal losses for all sides.

Gotta nother one, which also happens, sometimes:  Customer ended up owing me $ 400, over the winter, for grass cutting, tried and tried to get him to pay. Let the grass get tall, in the spring, and he calls me, are you gonna come out and cut my lawn?  I say, OK, pay the tab from last year, and I will start a new tab, have the check ready, and I'll knock on the door, when I come out to mow.  Go there, start up mower, make 2 rounds around the edges, plus start a diagonal stripe, down the middle of the lawn, turn around, and return to the front door, ring the bell, p/u check. Then I High-tail it, with the mower, back to the trailer, hop in the truck, and deposit check.  Coupla days go by, and he is concerned, cals me up, and asks, did you have problems with your mower?  Not a problem in da world, saz I!  It was then, it dawned on him, that I don't like getting stiffed.  Point to this one is tricks or conning someone who owes you, or has abused you are fair game.  Cops get to lie to perps, why can't we?

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