Question about handling "contract" dispute

Question about handling "contract" dispute

"Tony"	11/21/2004 9:49:49 PM
I'm posting this because it affects people in my neighborhood, but not me specifically. The subdivision I live in does not have a HOA, but most of the people in the area cooperatively chip in for various costs of things like street lights, groundskeeping of the subdivision entrance, etc. We meet regularly, although informally. A little over a year ago the lawn service that the subdivision used went out of business (owners retired) and another company was selected. All interaction with this other company is managed by a designated resident. These people also use this company for their own lawn work, as do many others in the neighborhood. Our town was hit very hard by Hurricane Ivan. Since that time the community has done well handling things, but there has been some innappropriate profiteering by some companies. It seems like this lawn company is one of those companies. Several residents who use their service got bills for "hurricane cleanup"--the only problem was that in each case the residents had done the cleanup themselves. These bills were outrageously high, and this special work was not approved in advance. In one situation the company sent out a bill, and the resident called with questions. (They were charged $500 to clean up just a front yard area that is well under 1/3rd of an acre. And I know it was cleaned by the residents.) The company was very obnoxious and said that the contract the resident signed covered special situations like this and the company was authorized to do what was necessary to maintain the lawn. This was their standard line with others who called as well. The problem here is that there actually was no written contract at all with any of these people. In each case the resident had hired the company to mow the lawn at an agreed upon price, but nothing beyond that was ever discussed or put into writing. Here's where it gets weird. The lawn company has gotten very aggressive, to the point of even threatening people in the neighborhood. Many residents have refused to pay and have found this company reporting information about this on their credit report. The owner has been very obnoxious, yelling at people on the phone and using very strong language. When several residents asked to see the agreement that they signed giving the company authorization to do this, they were cursed at and then hung up on. It was not until a recent neighborhood gathering that people started realizing that this wasn't an isolated "misunderstanding" but multiple people in the neighborhood had the same problem with this company. I had my wife mention to someone who was affected by this that if it is true that this is showing up on a credit report, then it would seem like a strong case of slander of credit. Until that happens, though, I wouldn't think any of this would be actionable in any way. Many people will probably file complaints with the BBB just to get this on the company's record. Is there anything else anyone can recommend as far as a way to handle this situation? Tony



"Clark W. Griswold, Jr."	11/21/2004 9:23:23 PM
"Tony" <tony_pitt.nospam@bellsouth.nospam.net> wrote: Many people will probably file complaints with the BBB just to get this on the company's record. Is there anything else anyone can recommend as far as a way to handle this situation? Yes. You need to hire a lawyer immediately. At a minimum to protect yourself. The lawyer may offer you a break if all the residents band together.



Kent Wills	11/22/2004 5:43:48 AM
I see that on Sun, 21 Nov 2004 21:49:49 -0600, "Tony" <tony_pitt.nospam@bellsouth.nospam.net> wrote: [...] When several residents asked to see the agreement that they signed giving the company authorization to do this, they were cursed at and then hung up on. I suggest getting a lawyer. Based on what you've written, it seem this guy is trying to take advantage of the hurricane for his own personal gain. It was not until a recent neighborhood gathering that people started realizing that this wasn't an isolated "misunderstanding" but multiple people in the neighborhood had the same problem with this company. I had my wife mention to someone who was affected by this that if it is true that this is showing up on a credit report, then it would seem like a strong case of slander of credit. Until that happens, though, I wouldn't think any of this would be actionable in any way. Probably not, but getting a lawyer to write a letter asking for the pertinent details, like the alleged contracts, would probably stop all other actions. Many people will probably file complaints with the BBB just to get this on the company's record. Is there anything else anyone can recommend as far as a way to handle this situation? Reporting them to the BBB wouldn't hurt. If nothing else, potential future clients of this service might be spared a lot of trouble. Kent



"Todd Copeland"	11/22/2004 12:39:26 PM
"Tony" <tony_pitt.nospam@bellsouth.nospam.net> wrote in message news:cnrnik$onu@library1.airnews.net... Our town was hit very hard by Hurricane Ivan. Since that time the community has done well handling things, but there has been some innappropriate profiteering by some companies. It seems like this lawn company is one of those companies. Several residents who use their service got bills for "hurricane cleanup"--the only problem was that in each case the residents had done the cleanup themselves. These bills were outrageously high, and this special work was not approved in advance. Many people will probably file complaints with the BBB just to get this on the company's record. Is there anything else anyone can recommend as far as a way to handle this situation? YES! Contact the Dept of Financial Services post haste! They control price gouging as a result of the hurricane situation in Florida. They treat this offense _very_ seriously! You can also contact the Florida Attorney General who can investigate the situation. Make sure they know about the credit reporting situation as well. You _need_ to do this in order to send a _clear_ message to people who are out to steal a buck at someone else's misfortune due to a disaster. If what you say is correct, I have no doubt the lawn service will be dealt with severely. You can also dispute the charges with the credit bureaus. Point out to them that you are located in a disaster area and have been "price gouged" by this lawn service and that there was no contract to provide the service you mentioned. But I have a question... an entire community hired a lawn service and paid for the service with many peoples money and never obtained a contract? It sounds like there was a contract for this and that the lawn service many be applying this contract to the other service they rendered in the area. It would be a good idea to review _any_ contract with this lawn service to see if it addresses the situation.

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