is this legal

[tams104]

What is the name of your state? Tennessee. My business partner rented some floor machines for a job and told the owner he would be using them for a few months, He returned the machines on a Tuesday and told the man I would be in on Wed. or Thursday to pay him. Well he didn't tell me this. So Friday the man shows up at our job informs our boss that we owe him money for the use of the floor machine and tells our boss he contacted my business partners parents and friends trying to collect the monies. He also wrote in on the invoice the company's name we were working for, the original invoice didn't have that information on it. He led this company to believe we were trying to make them pay this bill, by writing in their name on his copy of his invoice. This man has ruined our reputation and embarssed us beyond belief. Is he allowed to do this? He also stated he didn't have any phone numbers to contact us, he has caller ID in his buisness and I called him myself a few times to let him know we were still using his equipment so he did have away to contact us. We couldn't pay anyone until we got paid which we tried to explain to him. Now the company is taking his money out of our check and sending it directly to him. We had no contract with either one of these companies. We were not going to beat him out of his money we had to wait until we got paid for the job to pay him. We have rented floor machines from this rental company tons of times so its not like he didn't know my partner and we have always paid him. Is this legal to slander us and do what he did today ??? Thankyou

[Debt Guy]

Your question is really confusing? Or maybe it is just too late in the day and I am tired.

Can you rephrase and ask again? This time use some sentences and paragraphs to break up that great big glob of type - it really is hard to read.

[tams104]

state tennessee.. sorry it was late when I was posting my question slash story.. Ok question can a business owner you owe money to, come into your place of work and tell the people your working for with everyone standing around you owe him money, and you are here to collect. Plus tell them that he has contacted parents and friends to collect the money. Then this same business owner put on his copy of the invoice the company name we are working for and made it look like we gave it to him and they were going to pay this bill. The only saving grace was that we had our copy of the invoice to and it was totally blank. When I stated everyone standing around there were no less then 15 people standing there that heard everything being said. Is this legal ??

[ecmst12]

The only thing you posted that I DON'T think is legal is that your employer is taking money out of your paycheck to pay this bill. They shouldn't be allowed to deduct anything from your paycheck except under specific circumstances...do some searching under the Wage/Salary forum for more info.

[Debt Guy]

Since the entity collecting is not a collection agency, they are pretty much free to do whatever they want to collect the debt.

They cannot make up a lie (which might be slander or libel) but it sounds like the debt reall exists and is owed. The creditor has the right to demand to be paid.

I am still confused. You say your business partner made promises. But, then you say the creditor came to your place of work and told your boss about the problem. How do you have both a business partner and a boss? My guess is that you meant to say that you are a contractor and the "boss" is really your client.

Strictly speaking, I think that the client would have the right to pay the machine guy directly and hold that sum from your payment. Most states give a mechanic's lein to suppliers and those liens attach to the real property if they are not paid by the contractor.

I know this has gotten messy and I am not defending the guy who owns the machines. But, it seems to me the real culprit here is your partner who made a commitment and then did not keep it. My guess is that the owner of the machines has had difficulty collecting what he was owed from someone else on multiple occassions and decided to be very aggressive.

Even if what he did was illegal -- it would be a civil matter instead of a criminal matter. That means the cops are not going to get involved and you would have to hire a lawyer and sue him for damages. The burden of proof would be on you.