Any lawyers out there?

[DSilver]

I have a small travel trailer I rent out. Essentially it just pays for itself and I get to use it to hunt out of in the fall. My last renters absolutely destroyed it. They tore the AC unit off the top of the trailer but said "we were just driving down the road 15 mph and it just fell off". All 4 bolts were completely sheared off when they brought it back and it's obvious that they hit a branch or something as there's a decent scratch in the top right where the damage is on the AC.

I'm thinking small claims court as they won't file a claim through their insurance, but I'm worried because I don't have any great pre-trip photos. Yeah, I messed up there, but I'm hoping that all the evidence would say that they're liable.

Anyone have any thoughts they'd like to share?

 

[Cam@strawberry]

Are you a licensed and insured rental business with a signed contractual agreement between you and renters?

If yes, you can pursue a claim, spend way more money than the repair will cost on legal and court fees, eventually win, and find out that they didn’t have any money in the first place. At which point you’ll file an insurance claim, which after some debate they will pay on but only after you pay the sizable deductible and they raise your rates moving forward which costs you significantly more than the repair was in the first place.

If no, you can pursue a claim, in which case you’ll spend way more money in legal and court fees than the repair will cost, you will lose because there was no contractual agreement in place and you aren’t a registered/insured business with the state and your insurance won’t cover anything because the unit was rented, and they don’t cover rentals.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

 

[DSilver]

I have a licensed and insured business, but I rent through a company (similar to airbnb) however, this rental company would not insure these renters because they were not 25 yrs and older. I asked the renters to provide documentation from their personal insurance showing that the trailer would be covered under their policy which they did. I asked them to file a claim with their insurance, and it's been crickets ever since.

The AC unit is broken and I'm looking at ~$1000 plus labor to repair.

 

[coloradoman]

That right there is why I would never rent out my camp trailer under any circumstances.
I only have a couple people I would even let them borrow it.

 

[SS!]

1000 dollars? Better to just fix it and use it as a learning experience. People suck.

 

[elkassassin]

I've Only Been Mad Enough To Sue One Time!

Filled Out The Paperwork & Was Close To Court Time!

Had To Stop At The Cop Shop/Court one More Time to finish some Paperwork up!

As I Was Walking Out,A Cop In The Hallway Asks Me:

Are You Gonna Try & Sue Joe Blow?

DAMN STRAIGHT I Am!

He Says: Well I Shouldn't Tell You That But That JACK-ASS Has 3 Pages Of People That Have Sued Him & Won & Haven't Got a Dime Yet!

I Wadded The Paperwork Up In Front Of The Cop,Throwed It In A Trash Can & Said: F'It!

 

[Cam@strawberry]

I have a licensed and insured business, but I rent through a company (similar to airbnb) however, this rental company would not insure these renters because they were not 25 yrs and older. I asked the renters to provide documentation from their personal insurance showing that the trailer would be covered under their policy which they did. I asked them to file a claim with their insurance, and it's been crickets ever since.

The AC unit is broken and I'm looking at ~$1000 plus labor to repair.

In this particular case you could file a claim with your insurance, notify them of the details and if they felt like it was worth their time they could go pursue the renters/parent rental company.

For ~$1000 I wouldn’t waste the time. My business is heavily rental oriented and I can tell you from personal experience the only way I’d go would be to repair it and rent it out again. Just not worth the hassle for that amount of money

 

[txhunter58]

Hmm. Wonder why they don’t insure kids under 25?

Also, most likely their deductible is over $1000 anyway, so they would have to come up with the money out of their own pocket. Prob not gonna happen.

 

[DSilver]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, $1000 + labor isn't that big of a deal, but if I felt like I had a decent case I'd ask for more repairs to be done which could get a little higher. The waterproofing on the joint and some screws needs replaced, the floor has a big scuff/hole in it from where they put the AC unit. Probably looking closer to $2000. I just don't want to spend a couple hundred bucks on top of that to have the courts say "well, you don't have good enough pre-trip photos to prove it was them that caused the damage."

I have a personal "family" trailer that I wouldn't loan out to anyone. I bought this one specifically for a rental, as it's only 12' long and won't fit my family.

I plan on reaching out to my insurance company, then threatening a small claims suit, then deciding on what to do after they react. I do have a $500 deposit that I'm entitled to. It's a pride thing at this point, they say they didn't hit anything, when it's obvious they did. Take responsibility for your actions! That's what I'm struggling with most.

 

[elkassassin]

Renting Out Your 2nd House On Wheels Is A Tough One!

A Local Gal Bought Several Trailers & Had No Problem Renting Them Out!

But She Had The Same Luck As You!

And After A Couple Of Years Of The Same Ole BS Every-time,She Throwed The Towell In!

 

[roadrunner]

I had my attorney that practices business law (also has court obligations) review a complaint I had against a construction company that broke state law by stating they could contract and project manage for me without a state license. It is state law that you have to have a license to offer contracting services.

I could take them to court and most decidedly win, but, since they were out of state, good luck collecting. I could file a judgement lien against them, but unless that state honored the out of state judgment against them, good luck collecting.

Moral of the story, yeah, you may win but not really.

 

[SS!]

I've Only Been Mad Enough To Sue One Time!

Filled Out The Paperwork & Was Close To Court Time!

Had To Stop At The Cop Shop/Court one More Time to finish some Paperwork up!

As I Was Walking Out,A Cop In The Hallway Asks Me:

Are You Gonna Try & Sue Joe Blow?

DAMN STRAIGHT I Am!

He Says: Well I Shouldn't Tell You That But That JACK-ASS Has 3 Pages Of People That Have Sued Him & Won & Haven't Got a Dime Yet!

I Wadded The Paperwork Up In Front Of The Cop,Throwed It In A Trash Can & Said: F'It!

So you quit? Here’s my surprised face ?

 

[elkassassin]

I'd Of Been Just Another Name On The THIEFS Sshitt List!

But I Did warn him After That!

Told Him Face To Face With A Law Officer Standing Right Next To Us:

There Will Be A Time I'll Get Even & Sometimes Life's A Real BITTCH!!

He Started BAWLING Like A Baby To The Officer:

He's Threatening Me,He's Threatening Me,Did You Hear Him?

Officer Looked At Me With A Smirk!

So you quit? Here’s my surprised face ?

 

[Vanilla]

But I Did warn him After That!

Told Him Face To Face With A Law Officer Standing Right Next To Us:

There Will Be A Time I'll Get Even & Sometimes Life's A Real BITTCH!!

He Started BAWLING Like A Baby To The Officer:

So…did ya ever get even?

 

[Weiserbucks]

So you quit? Here’s my surprised face ?

 

[elkassassin]

No!

Well Not Yet!

So…did ya ever get even?

 

[hossblur]

Are you a licensed and insured rental business with a signed contractual agreement between you and renters?

If yes, you can pursue a claim, spend way more money than the repair will cost on legal and court fees, eventually win, and find out that they didn’t have any money in the first place. At which point you’ll file an insurance claim, which after some debate they will pay on but only after you pay the sizable deductible and they raise your rates moving forward which costs you significantly more than the repair was in the first place.

If no, you can pursue a claim, in which case you’ll spend way more money in legal and court fees than the repair will cost, you will lose because there was no contractual agreement in place and you aren’t a registered/insured business with the state and your insurance won’t cover anything because the unit was rented, and they don’t cover rentals.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

Pretty much nailed it

 

[hossblur]

So…did ya ever get even?

He did send him a 40 line strongly worded letter in Caps,

So HeLl YeAH he DiD?

 

[Vanilla]

No!

Well Not Yet!

Well you’ve REALLY shown him then!

 

[elkassassin]

Pay Attention!

I Said:

Not Yet!

Well you’ve REALLY shown him then!

 

[travishunter3006]

Are you a licensed and insured rental business with a signed contractual agreement between you and renters?

If yes, you can pursue a claim, spend way more money than the repair will cost on legal and court fees, eventually win, and find out that they didn’t have any money in the first place. At which point you’ll file an insurance claim, which after some debate they will pay on but only after you pay the sizable deductible and they raise your rates moving forward which costs you significantly more than the repair was in the first place.

If no, you can pursue a claim, in which case you’ll spend way more money in legal and court fees than the repair will cost, you will lose because there was no contractual agreement in place and you aren’t a registered/insured business with the state and your insurance won’t cover anything because the unit was rented, and they don’t cover rentals.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

$25 and a ham sandwich will get you a claim filed in small claims court.

 

[desperatehills]

My biggest concern with the do nothing and fix it yourself route is there are no consequences and another young person gets a little more entitled. If this was me I would not hire a lawyer, even if you win you will lose money. I would absolutely file a small claims case. The court fees are minimal but more importantly it might scare them into paying. Get the highest estimate you can find for every scratch. It would not shock me to see a estimate for $3500. Send them a letter stating you will fix it yourself for $1200 but if you need to go to court you will be asking for more.

If you have a good relationship with your insurance agent you could go to them and tell them you do not want to file a claim but would like to know what to do. They have plenty of lawyers that your premiums pay for. They may sent the letters to them for you. I have done this twice and it worked out both times.

Also you mentioned a "airb&b" type service. Do they not help in this kind of case?

 

[DSilver]

My biggest concern with the do nothing and fix it yourself route is there are no consequences and another young person gets a little more entitled. If this was me I would not hire a lawyer, even if you win you will lose money. I would absolutely file a small claims case. The court fees are minimal but more importantly it might scare them into paying. Get the highest estimate you can find for every scratch. It would not shock me to see a estimate for $3500. Send them a letter stating you will fix it yourself for $1200 but if you need to go to court you will be asking for more.

If you have a good relationship with your insurance agent you could go to them and tell them you do not want to file a claim but would like to know what to do. They have plenty of lawyers that your premiums pay for. They may sent the letters to them for you. I have done this twice and it worked out both times.

Also you mentioned a "airb&b" type service. Do they not help in this kind of case?

They do, but this is a little complicated. They were under 25 yrs old, so outdoorsy would not provide coverage. Instead, they provided me their personal policy and proved that they would be covered. He should file a claim with his insurance, but I'm assuming he has a high deductible. He did finally respond to me, so we will see where it goes from here.

 

[heartshot]

Negotiate. Take the existing $500. Tell them if they pay $300 more you will let it all go and be done. Take the $800 and chalk up any shortage as a learning experience.

 

[stinky]

Renting Out Your 2nd House On Wheels Is A Tough One!

A Local Gal Bought Several Trailers & Had No Problem Renting Them Out!

But She Had The Same Luck As You!

And After A Couple Of Years Of The Same Ole BS Every-time,She Throwed The Towell In!

The only people that wind in court are the lawyers.

 

[txhunter58]

Haven’t read all the replies, so this may be a repeat.

I wonder if you even had liability insurance when you rented to them. If they have a wreck and injure/kill someone with your trailer, would the injured party be able to come after you? And you without insurance… something to think about.

 

[elkassassin]

There's A Couple Rules When It Comes To Renting Out Your Trailer:

Don't Ever Rent Your Trailer Out To Somebody You Don't Know!

Don't Ever Rent Your Trailer Out To Your Friends!