Mechanic's Lien in Illinois

[scca_stang]

hey guys... so I did work for a guy about a year ago.. his 1990 Oldsmobile needed lots of work and he payed me for part of it, but not all of it... I made him sign a repair order before I got started and that repair order included a price that he agreed to...
my mistake was that I released the car back to him before he paid me in full.
so I am concidering filing a mechanic's lien against his car to prevent him from selling it with-out paying me (he still has the car). unfotunately I am having a hard time because all I am finding on-line is stuff about filing a machanic's lien for home and business subcontractors for construction projects... is it the same forms? what are the statute of limitations here in Illinois?

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[SonicBlueDevil]

I would assume the money and time it's going to cost you to go after this guy would be more than what he owes you. See what you can dig up but it's probably gonna be one of those live and learn things.

 

[blck10th]

did you give him the car back or did he show up and take it with another set of keys?

same thing happened to my uncle. I don't know if it is different in counties or it is a state law. but he went back to the guys house and took the car. Cops showed up. he showed them what you did. cops told the guy to pay or leave.

Before you do something like that call the cops and make sure you have the same rights and keep the signed paper handy

 

[SVTLSC]

how much does he owe you?

 

[scca_stang]

did you give him the car back or did he show up and take it with another set of keys?

same thing happened to my uncle. I don't know if it is different in counties or it is a state law. but he went back to the guys house and took the car. Cops showed up. he showed them what you did. cops told the guy to pay or leave.

Before you do something like that call the cops and make sure you have the same rights and keep the signed paper handy

I gave it back to him because I thought I could trust him... He was a friend of a friend... at first he was keeping in contact with me, but now he doesn't answer the phone or emails or anything...

He still owes like $800
unfortuantely now he has run the piss out of it and the motor knocks, so the car is probably worth $300-500 if I were to get it and try to sell it...

my thing was that I was hoping I could place the lien and make it impossible to for him to sell it with-out paying me first.

 

[deviantlx]

the mechanics lien will cost around 300 to get. takes around 4-6 weeks. now,even if you did get the lien and the new title,you dont have possesion of the car. thats a whole separate process involving the police. now lets say you go through all that and you get the car.

you already know the cars a shitbox and only worth 300-500 so why would you waste your time?


chalk it up to a lesson learned.NEVER RELEASE THE CAR UNTIL THE BILL IS PAID IN FULL.

 

[scca_stang]

the mechanics lien will cost around 300 to get. takes around 4-6 weeks. now,even if you did get the lien and the new title,you dont have possesion of the car. thats a whole separate process involving the police. now lets say you go through all that and you get the car.

you already know the cars a shitbox and only worth 300-500 so why would you waste your time?


chalk it up to a lesson learned.NEVER RELEASE THE CAR UNTIL THE BILL IS PAID IN FULL.

yeah... lesson learned on that... next car I work on for money is getting locked in my garage until it is paid for...

sad thing is that when I was in school at UTI the instructors talked about mechanic's liens all the time... and they always told us that we do not have the right to hold the car and that we have to let the customer have it, but then we can file the lien and reposess it or force him to pay up before he can sell.

shows what they really knew about that eh...

and your right... I can;t sell it for what he owes, not with-out putting more money and time into it

 

[Flyn]

It would be cheaper to file a lawsuit against the guy in small claims court. He may get scared by the lawsuit and pay you or, if the case does go to court, you will win a judgement against him rather than against the car. That way he is legally forced to pay you the money he owes regardless of what he does with the car.

 

[blck10th]

It would be cheaper to file a lawsuit against the guy in small claims court. He may get scared by the lawsuit and pay you or, if the case does go to court, you will win a judgement against him rather than against the car. That way he is legally forced to pay you the money he owes regardless of what he does with the car.

+1Agreed.

he may only have to pay a bit per month depending on the judge and what he says he can afford but you will come out ahead.

Plus the cout costs are cheap and you can tack them on to him

 

[VIPERKILLER]

It would be cheaper to file a lawsuit against the guy in small claims court. He may get scared by the lawsuit and pay you or, if the case does go to court, you will win a judgement against him rather than against the car. That way he is legally forced to pay you the money he owes regardless of what he does with the car.

yep. in some circuit courts its around 117 to 220 dollars to file a small claims case Per Se. But when you win, you will recover that fee from the defendant. But you also have to pay apprx 45 for the sheriff to serve him, or 50+ for a process server. The certified mail route is so easy for people to avoid.