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Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>As a rental company, can I place a lien on a property where one of my customers damaged my equipment but failed to pay me for those damages?

As a rental company, can I place a lien on a property where one of my customers damaged my equipment but failed to pay me for those damages?

FloridaMechanics Lien

We rent heavy construction equipment to contractors working on job sites (skid steers, excavators, etc) and occasionally our customer (a renter) will damage our equipment or incur incidential charges such as fuel top up or cleaning charges. If the renter fails to pay us for the damages can we lien the property to protect ourselves?

1 reply

Feb 13, 2020
What can be included in a Florida mechanics lien claim is quite limited. The governing statute is Fla. Stat. §713.08(1)(g), which states that the claim can include "the amount unpaid to the lienor for such labor or services or materials and for unpaid finance charges due under the lienor's contract." Including any extraneous amounts could potentially expose you to liability for an exaggerated lien claim, which will not only invalidate the claim but is also a third-degree felony. Incidental charges and damages claims will typically be pursued under the terms of the contract. A vast majority of equipment rental contracts will either require a security deposit or include some form of "damages and losses" provision to protect themselves.
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