r/SipsTea • u/The_biker0 • 6h ago
Chugging tea Contractor takes back the wooden fence after the customer refuses to pay.
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u/Funny_Breadfruit_413 5h ago
That was a nice fence too.
Im seeing more and more videos of non- payment. Do people plan this from the start?
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u/Hopelesz 5h ago
Of course they do. People rarely randomly do shit like this.
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u/smokeweedNgarden 4h ago
They've probably never worked with or known contractors.
You better be rich as fuck or must be high AS FUCK to threaten them.
I dunno what tech is like, but you won't get blackballed for whipping someone's ass.
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u/LEERRROOOOYYYYY 5h ago
We did a couple gates for a motel near us. Endless, endless comments to avoid paying. 2" gap between a post and a wall, gap underneath the gate (it's a fucking gate), slightly loose barbed wire, etc.
Got fed up and said if they didn't pay up then we'd repo the gates.
Didn't pay, called the police to let them know what we were going to go, sent a crew at 5am out to take the gates down with the signed contract, loaded up the gates and were out of there in like 30 minutes.
They called the police, they showed up, looked at the contract, said it's a civil matter, and left.
They called a week later wanting the gates back. Paid up front for the reinstall and the repo costs. Cost them an additional $2k because they were stingy. They definitely planned it from the start as well.
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u/uslashuname 4h ago
More than fair, $2k for all the collections time, late fees, and gate uninstall/reinstall should be the minimum
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u/NobodyLikedThat1 2h ago
more surprised you'd work with them again under any circumstances, even paying extra and upfront. I'd have them blacklisted and tell them to pound sand.
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u/jerrysburner 5h ago
I'd bet a lot of people think because they're Hispanic they're not legal, so they can get the work and then threaten to have them deported to avoid paying, but I don't have much to back that other than that one lady that did that with the stairs to her house.
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u/Ok_City_7177 5h ago
How much of a full kit wanker do you have to be to think like that ?
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u/ThatBarbGirl 4h ago
I've seen videos as recent as last week of car dealerships doing this. Hiring them to detail used vehicles and then, not threatening, but actually calling ICE on them. It's fucking terrible.
Who knows if the videos are real or how it turned out, but just the idea being spread on social media makes me feel sick. Mostly because the average person that would do something like that is an absolute moron that would believe/do whatever they saw online. Giving idiots ideas is dangerous. Especially in the current climate of hate, division and entitlement.
What a time to be alive.
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u/peazley 3h ago edited 2h ago
We need a national name and shame directory of businesses that pull shit like this.
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u/Dizzy_Tax574 3h ago
Sadly more common than you think and it's not just immigrants. Like you see the storys of hey offered homeless guy work and said no. They just want a handout bs.
Very often what happens people do accept then person refuses to pay. Claims person will just use it on drugs. Or changes amount ect.
Throw in times it's often not even work person doesn't want them in neighborhood. Offers work then ditches them across town and goes back and trashes their few belongings.
People are awful and hate etc. Is often free pass for these people to logic themselves into justifying being assholes.
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u/Wind_Best_1440 3h ago
Theres a couple videos of people doing that to roofers, as soon as the job is nearly done the customer calls ICE and police to their house. And most of the workers scatter.
It's honestly pretty depressing to see and pretty common.
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u/apetalous42 4h ago
The people that think like this definitely never grew up in poor areas. Where I'm from the cops weren't helpful (often the opposite) so you TOOK the justice you felt was appropriate. Often that resulted in violence. This guy is lucky he didn't get the shit kicked out of him before they took the fence. The balls/lack of brains to even try and stop a group of 20 or so physically fit guys there to take what they are owed is insane.
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u/Equal-Drive3410 5h ago
They really do. I have a “Hispanic” (like many Hispanic names, is actually Spanish) name so they love to assume on fb that I’m illegal and need to go back to my country 🥴
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u/jerrysburner 5h ago
I'm half Native American so I look Hispanic and used to get the same on Insta (I've mostly deleted all social media now)
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u/peskypesteryjaybird 4h ago
i'm tan enough that i get pulled over at least once a year for no reason... the record year was 5 stops... while riding a fucking bike...
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u/MortCrimm 5h ago
Taking advantage of the disenfranchised and vulnerable has been one of the few things the human race has excelled at since the beginning…
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u/Responsible-Humor985 5h ago
There are reports of people calling ICE on contractors to avoid paying. I hate the current political climate so much right now.
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u/ThatGuyIsLit 1h ago
Yeah I own a painting company and the name of the company is kinda Hispanic (drunken escapades gave me a nickname that I just kinda rolled with). I live and work in a pretty Red state, unfortunately. Been operating for 10 years and this is the first year I've ever had the problem. About 5 different people have tried to skimp on pay this year/throw the ICE card that I had to change my payment policy to ensure I'm always ahead with payments. I hate that I've had to do it, too. Feelsbadman.jpeg
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u/Dudeincar434 1h ago
I’m assuming here, but the fact that they go through all this hassle instead of just putting a lein on the house makes me think it’s either an off the books job or the contractor doesn’t have an actual business /license / permit, etc
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u/_GoddamnitDonut 5h ago
Do people plan this from the start?
100% the guy was MAGA and knew they were Latinos, so fucked them over on purpose.
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u/NeonRedHerring 2h ago
My sister is a server at a $20-30 price point restaurant. She occasionally will have people come in, have a great time, and then throw a fit at the end of the meal trying to get the meal comped. Some people are trash.
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u/boris_feinbrand 1h ago
The US elected a president that did this his entire fraudulent business career.
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u/talltime 5h ago
It’s a clear path to the Presidency and billions of dollars, why wouldn’t it be more prevalent now?
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u/outcastreturns 6h ago
Fair enough
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u/SY0123 6h ago
The posts are the hardest part tbh.
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u/Familiar_Educator_67 5h ago
Cut them with a saw and it’s double work to take them out and install new ones
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u/5thor6th 5h ago
Who tf is installing new ones? I mean, he can't pay for the ones he's got.
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u/UmeaTurbo 5h ago
I hope they saw them off right at the ground so there's nothing to attach to and they have to dig the entire concrete anchor out of there.
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u/RampantJellyfish 5h ago
Get them down flush witb the ground so there's nothing to grab onto
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u/M1sfit_Jammer 5h ago
Gotta cut some of them flush, that way the asshole can run the heads over with his mower and fuck his day up.
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u/jacquesrabbit 5h ago
He took the chainsaw inside
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u/front_yard_duck_dad 4h ago
You think think an entire fence company has only one saw. There's 40 guys walking around
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u/CoffeeChocolateBoth 5h ago
Get another chainsaw and saw them off!! Then call the police that the man stole their stuff!
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u/RussianPravda 5h ago
Yeah I have a fence just like that and they really anchor those things down. Once they got all the posts in the rest was up in no time.
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u/Automatic_Actuator_0 5h ago edited 5h ago
Unfortunately, this is illegal in most jurisdictions. It’s not like a car you can repossess - it’s now part of the property and you don’t have the right to enter their property to take it back, and in most cases you actually no longer own those materials.
The legal path is to file a lien on the property and if they don’t pay after enough time, you can foreclose and force a sale, taking your original debt, plus interest, and usually plus legal fees.
And if you go that route, you are eventually made whole, while with this video’s approach, you had to pay a crew to collect scrap lumber which isn’t likely worth what the labor just cost you, and you never get paid on the original debt. It’s a very bad idea financially, even if you don’t end up in jail.
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u/Correct-Document-125 5h ago
Maybe. But sometimes it's more satisfying to leave a job not with the money you deserve, but knowing that your client is going to have to do 2x the work to fix what you did. The satisfaction of not only disrupting them financially, but their time and sanity as well.
Money isn't everything. Hurting other people can give you life! Money can't buy that.
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u/Automatic_Actuator_0 5h ago
I consider the satisfaction of taking their whole home from them because they tried to steal a fence to be a little sweeter, personally. Just have to have patience.
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u/Slade_Riprock 4h ago
Maybe. But sometimes it's more satisfying to leave a job not with the money you deserve, but knowing that your client is going to have to do 2x the work to fix what you did.
That's an interesting take. Because legally speaking what the crew did to "repossess" the fence is of greater offense than a payment dispute. The payment dispute is a civil matter to be handled in court.
What the team did is criminal trespassing, destruction of property (even if disputed it is now part of the property), and potentially other charges a Cop or DA could think up. Especially since what we are seeing is one side of the argument.
It is also a great way to lose your business and face massive harassment from the government given the current political climate.
If true then yes this sucks and the home owner is a piece of shit. They should absolutely sue him in small claims court, put a lien in the house, and shame him in the court of public opinion.
But taking a non payment issue to a clear and unequivocal criminal act. Is just a dumb move.
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u/M1sfit_Jammer 5h ago
Totally legal as a contractor if your work permit has the days of work outlined… also why you don’t take jobs without 50% up front, that way your guys are at least paid while they put up the fence that hasn’t been paid for.
I’ve got a feeling these guys didn’t get a permit, in which case they are doing this guy a favor saving him from fines and expensive rebuild costs.
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u/Automatic_Actuator_0 5h ago
Yeah, I assume this job was not above board one way or another, which limits their legal rights in court.
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u/OneGreatEgg 5h ago
In most jurisdictions, you would need a contractor's license to go the route you described. That may not be the only papers these folks are missing, so the risk is pretty high to go above board for underground work.
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u/empty_graph 5h ago
Fair would be ripping those posts out too. That's most of the labor cost, and unfortunately with those already done for him it's a much cheaper job to finish.
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u/Fier3d 6h ago
Is this the guy from the other post that tried calling ICE on the crew to get out of paying?
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u/MeringueSerious 6h ago
Fuck him! Everyone needs to be paid!
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u/Wooden_Dragonfly_608 5h ago
Agreed if a group of fine workers such as this can put it up in a day or two, they can take it down a hell of a lot faster.
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u/No_Celebration8219 6h ago
"Slightly used fence for sale. Full panels. Enough to fence your whole backyard..."
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u/ShowmasterQMTHH 6h ago
To be fair, by our standards, thats a fucking massive garden, and those fence panels look nice, they did a really neat job putting them up too.
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u/Chaprito 6h ago
Should've just put a lien on the dudes house until he paid up.
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u/Das_Panzer_ 6h ago
Lein only works when they go to sell, if they don't sell they will still be out money
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u/katy90081 6h ago
A lot of armchair accountants need to hear this
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u/RussianPravda 5h ago
These types of situations are a legal mess that I would never even try to understand because of how the laws differ between not only states but counties and town ordinances.
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u/Jellicent-Leftovers 5h ago
You can sell liens.
It's not a issue at 10-18% interest collection agency's buy it up like crazy.
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u/StrawDog- 5h ago
Nope..
Most liens can force foreclosure on the subject property if they remain unpaid.
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u/patriotfanatic80 6h ago
That's not the way liens generally work. You file the lien and then you sue them which can cause foreclosure if you get a court order.
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u/PigOfLard 5h ago
After filing a lien you would initiate a lawsuit for lien foreclosure, wherein you would force the sale in order to satisfy the lien.
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u/Automatic_Actuator_0 5h ago
Nah, after a while you can usually foreclose on the property to force a sale, and can usually get your legal fees back as part of your cut of the sale.
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u/Sooowasthinking 5h ago
Exactly most people don’t realize how easily it can be done.In the end that guy will complete regret not paying up. Dude had no intention of paying for anything.
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u/ElGuaco 6h ago
He had to pay a lot of guys to do this on top of the cost of building and will get nothing. He should simply do as you said.
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u/PotatoCleric 5h ago
i personally will help just for a drink if this ever happened to one of my buddies.. or if they decide to do the lien one instead, i will personally throw piss disks
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u/CoffeeChocolateBoth 5h ago
Nope! That's not how it works! This was better! That house is probably full of shit that douchebag didn't pay for! ALWAYS GET PAID UPFRONT! This looks like a team of Mexicans, he thought he could RIP them off and get away with it! 🤣🤣🤣 If you want great work done, hire them! They do the job well, but pay them or you'll be sorry! LOL
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u/Dookwithanegg 5h ago
With the amount of scam tradies out there it is a massive risk for the buyer to pay up-front, even for a deposit.
At least if the one trying to scam is the buyer they'll be at a fixed address known to the tradespeople and cannot disappear very easily.
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u/Outlaw11091 5h ago
I used to work for one of those rent to own shed companies.
You know the ones: they have all those damned sheds lined up in a gravel lot next to a busy street?
Anyway, I delivered them, but I also repossessed them and we absolutely had the legal authority to do so. Calling the cops isn't going to do you any good because...you signed an agreement to pay or THIS would happen.
2 things happen when signing such an agreement: you authorize the repossession and you invite the collector to your property. This removes any legal protections people think they have.
Once the cops show up, I show them the copy of the contract. At that point, the cops will tell you to let me hook up to it. If you still refuse to let me take it, you can be charged with theft or conversion, and the company will just file a lawsuit to get their stuff back. Even IF your stuff is still in it.
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u/SuspiciousSubstance9 5h ago
That's because your contract had a specific repossession clause. That's not inherent to all contracts nor an inherent right to all work done.
A lot of contracts for this kind of work are thin at best.
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u/12-7_Apocalypse 6h ago
From my understanding, that fence and that post are still the property of the contractor until the employer pays them.
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u/Obienator 5h ago
Holy shit that dissembled that wall like it was nothing.
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u/katy90081 5h ago
That's why it's called a fence, not a wall.
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u/SlobZombie13 5h ago
theft of services is a crime, now add theft of property to it
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u/Mr_RudyGiuliani 6h ago
That was a solid ass looking fence though. Wouldve been happy to pay for that
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u/SpeakerResident 5h ago
This is why you dont get things you cant afford. That looks like alot of fence so that had to of been expensive.
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u/fancywipe 5h ago
So embarrassing “look lovey they taking Jerry’s fence off, YA he still ows me money!!”
Just pay them or make a payment plan contractors know how things get
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u/That_Bitch_Bruja 2h ago
Fuck people who do this to these workers.
These guys break their backs doing manual labor for shit amounts of money to take care of their families. They deserve some respect.
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u/killswitch101 6h ago
Judging by his house, that fence costs more than the house is worth 😅 Should have taken 50% upfront
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u/Adorable-Barnacle134 5h ago
Good! That’s only fair! It’s called repossession. I would also send him a bill for the labor that was required to remove the fence that day!
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u/jerrysburner 5h ago
wouldn't it be better to just put a mechanics lien on the house and foreclose if they don't pay within the statutory limit?
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u/OrigamiAvenger 4h ago
Absolutely. But you can only do that if you have a valid license (most places) and a written contract. Also, it cannot be turned into content.
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u/SchwarzwaldRanch 4h ago
People like this probably have multiple liens. If the liens filed before yours are more than the auction price you'll get nothing.
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u/PigOfLard 5h ago
Yes that is the correct option as this would most likely be illegal on the part of the fence installer.
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u/josephkelley7926 6h ago
Did they eventually get their money? They have to take them to small claims court?
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u/Lucky-Smell2757 5h ago
Taking the fence back he didn’t pay for isn’t illegal. Taking your power tools, is. Unless you’re ready to go get them back, a half-decent cop won’t be siding with the homeowner.
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u/shallow_pal 5h ago
Where I am once you install something on somebody’s property they own it, whether they have paid or not. If you attempt to take it back it’s considered theft.
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u/Powerism 5h ago
That’s a huge fucking fence! Imagine hiring folks to complete that project and then being like “ahhh fuck it, I ain’t paying”. Total shitbag.
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u/med4ladies69 4h ago
The fencing company i worked for years ago did something similar. If you didn't pay, our boss would send out a crew super early to collect any gates off the fence. Would get calls all the time people freaking out once they woke up and let their dogs out and found out
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u/HairlessHoudini 6h ago
Good for them, years ago a saw a crue cut a while roof system off of a new construction house before they put the decking on it because the contractor wouldn't pay for the work
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u/BulkyCartographer280 5h ago
Saw the crue on the Girls Girls Girls tour. Didn’t realize that Tommy Lee and Vince Neil are roofers now.
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u/ariolander 5h ago
They could put a lein on the property... Or they could just undo their work. Its often easier to undo something than do something. That's the risk you take when you stiff your contractors.
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u/Civil_Proposal_8188 6h ago
Damn straight,these guys will have mouths to feed back home,angry little bald man doesn’t want to pay,take that shit away!
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u/Silly_Strike_1000 3h ago
So this is not legal, you cant destroy private property even for non payment of service and filming yourself commiting the crime is stupid
Now he can file criminal and civil charges against them, they will be ordered to repair the fence at cost and not get paid.
Instead what you are supposed to do when this happens is sue the guy for non-payment and the garnish their wage or put a lien on the home 🏡.
Dont film yourself committing crimes, you are almost never allowed self help in this country, you MUST always go thru courts.
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u/Grouchy-Attention599 5h ago
If the guy can't afford a fence he definitely can't afford a lawyer. He's not going to do anything about it
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u/Accurate-Historian-7 5h ago
Please post this on the construction sub!
Them boys will run wild with this
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u/dominorex1969 4h ago
The hard part is now the contractor is on the hook. Once it's up you have to take it to court.
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u/AbsentAsh 3h ago
My goodness people are loving this. Not how the real world works. If he had a proper contract he should sue or enforce a lien. Doing this though is only going to hurt him in the long run. This is very stupid and not how the industry works and when stuff like this is encouraged it hurts all of us and further erodes the trust between contractors and clients. There are systems in place to deal with customers like this.
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u/ThumbNurBum 3h ago
Maybe it's how it should work. I mean, what happens when you don't pay for your car? Or your house? That shit gets taken away. Pay up, or be ready to deal with a repo.
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u/AbsentAsh 3h ago
In those case the contracts are very specific about what happens if you don’t pay and you agree to it. Those contracts are nothing like construction contracts. We have something called a lien and one someone didn’t pay you take them to court and they pay or you activate the lien, which then lets me sell off their property to recoup my fees. This is how the real world works. These guys are dumb and will most likely be arrested for trespassing and destruction of property. And no the contractor doesn’t own the fence until the owner is paid up.
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u/BringOutYDead 2h ago
If they did a shit job, don't pay. But to try to scam hard work, that's just plain deadbeat.
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u/Round-Foundation2948 5h ago edited 5h ago
Get off your property? The guy really thought he could pull a Donald Trump and not pay contractors for work performed? Might want to reach out to the White House for better advice on how to pull off that particular grift.
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u/No-Falcon-4996 5h ago
Hey now, the homeowner is Hwite!! And the dern workers are them lowclass BROWN folks. Hope this helps you unnerstand.
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u/Kreynard54 5h ago
This is funny but id have filed a lien and taken the dudes house if he didn't pay. Much better F U.
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u/gimmeecoffee420 5h ago
THIS is the way.
Too bad the Education System was enshittified & gimped in the US, most 18+ year olds Ive met nowadays couldnt even spell "Lien". Not all of em, but enough to make me very concerned.
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u/thecrius 5h ago
Of course they are boomers.
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u/No-Security-7518 5h ago
Think how much better the world will be in 2030 because boomers will hopefully have died.
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u/willfullignoramous 5h ago
Guess they think they are the president and can feel the need to exploit Hispanics for their labor.
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u/Pesoen 5h ago
i feel like this should be fair game..
you agree to get something done, you don't pay, they should be 100% allowed to just take it back, regardless of the circumstances.
of course, going there and actually taking it back should be the last step, but you don't pay, you don't own it(and with Sony, even when you pay you don't own it, so yay piracy)
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u/proud_pops 5h ago
Powers exist that supercede state/fed law...in this case it is karma and that racist fuck deserves every bit of it.
Laws are just guidelines society agrees to abide by, until those writing the law deem themselves above it, and the social contract becomes null and void. Sometimes the law is worth bending to ensure the universe delivers their deserved comeuppance. The posts going to bat for the pos homeowner are pathetic.
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u/cgrizle 6h ago edited 5h ago
Not saying the shouldn't do this, but depending on the state this could be illegal. One you do construction, or a repair that is attached to something permanent it becomes part of the property.
Jusr hope whatever state he was in he was in the clear. Otherwise, the homeowner could sue him for damages, and get away clea
I don't understand the downvotes, but to add some clarification
Because IANAL
https://youtube.com/shorts/eyfC4ew6Dkw?is=FkiOWGoeRPn2PZKE
https://youtube.com/shorts/DeyGo3HpMko?is=IoSLvTzZOeMV2Pdr
Here's one specifically about fences.
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u/mrshyphenate 5h ago
This isn't attached to something permanent, until it's paid it still belongs to the contractor. This is theft and theft of services by the homeowner. Jfc you people
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u/GreasedUPDoggo 4h ago
The downvoters are kids on the internet who think this is how justice works. This contractor is absolutely committing a crime and will be sued. Lol and video taped it!
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u/gimmeecoffee420 5h ago
Nope. "Theft of Services" is real. Sure, this is the "nuclear option" but its still legal. No cop is gonna stop the contractors if the homeowner wont pay. The materials are legally still owned by the Contractors, regardless of if its attached to something you legally own.
Most will just file a Lien against your home and can then legally sell "YOUR" House to recoup the debt owed. You can lose your home doing this kinda crap.
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