Consumption and Real Estate
Can you be sued for a service you performed but were never paid for?
Question : Can you be sued for a service you performed but were never paid for?
I have a termite inspection company and we performed an inspection service for a client nearly 3 years ago. After performing the service back in 2006, it took nearly 4 months to collect payment because the client contended we did not “do a good job” We performed the service within the guidelines and scope of our contract and threatened Small Claims court. Finally they paid, but only 80% of what was owed us; figuring we didn’t do a “good job”.. “so take it or leave it..you can come sue us for the full amount if you choose”.. so we never filed a small claims action. However, we just now received a call from them saying we “missed something that we should have seen” and they are threatening small claims court..after living in the property for almost 3 years and never FULLY paying. Do they have the right to sue?? Or a valid case?
Statute of Limitations for our State is three years; so we are just inside of that by one month… and perhaps that’s the reason for the timing of the call now??
property inspection services
Best answer:
Answer by Teekno
It may well be beyond the statute of limitations. It’s hard to say because you never told us where you live.
EDIT: Well, if they are calling, and not suing, ask them for documentation to back up their claim. Odds are, they don’t actually have anything. In any event, you can try to run out the clock.
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#2 written by Gabriel 1 year ago
No, “doing a good job” is subjective, especially when dealing with pest control, no one can claim that it was or wasn’t done. If you offer some sort of “termite free guarantee” they could seek action under that guarantee, if not, you’re in the clear. They can still sue but they’ll never win.
“Hey look what these idiots missed three years ago.”
“We didn’t miss that, termites can do an incredible amount of damage in a very short time period, that damage is clearly new. How do I know? Because we would have never missed such obvious damage. Trust us, who’s the expert on termites here?”
See, easy case.
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#4 written by hillarystarbright 1 year ago
You can’t sue on a contract in most states after two years, and the idea that three years later they FINALLY realized you didn’t do something right is pretty laughable. Tell them to try to take you to court, they’ll lose – especially if you can prove they never fully paid and took three years to “discover” you messed up. It seems to me that they’re late and wrong all at the same time.
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#6 written by living in harmony 1 year ago
no they don’t have a case. people threaten all the time. 3 years is way too long to find something wrong. i would take them to small claims, get it over with and file harassment charges with it. but that’s just me. i also think i’d win. the law is on your side. people can’t just pay what they want. yes, you did the service, now go get paid the full amount and stop wasting time and years over it. you may have already reached the statute of limitations. you have a business, run it like you have one
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#8 written by Sarteka 1 year ago
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Anyone can be sued for any reason. The fact that they did not pay is irrelevant because they cannot prove that you did a bad job. If you had a recognized level of training and used the training to do the best job you were able to do, they have to case. If they opt to sue, I would definitely counter-sue for them to pay the remainder of the bill. With the inspection being done three years prior, there is no way to prove that what they claim you missed did not occur later.