Small Claims - "Nursing?"

[johnsoncm]

What is the name of your state? MI

My father recently had knee replacement surgury and required some assistance at home in his apartment for about 3 weeks. He asked an acquaintance from his church, whom he'd done several favors for in the past, to help since it was going to be difficult for me (I'm his son w/working spouse and 2 young kids) to give him the attention he felt he needed 24/7. He made it clear to her that he didn't have any money to pay her as his income is fully based on Soc. Sec. Disability. He had her use his credit card for some purchases so there would not have to be any settling of anything financial when he became self sufficient. She stayed at his place (normally still lives with her parents) and helped him out for 3 weeks while eating food on his coin, almost doubling his normal cash outlay for the month. She now claims my Dad owes her $500 for her "nursing" services during those 3 weeks. She left me a voice message telling me that "things were going to get ugly" if I didn't pay her. I called her back to clarify her position explaining that if any funds were going to have been agreed upon, my Dad would have cleared it with me first because the money would have come from me helping him out.

She threatens Small Claims court for $500. I have no idea where that figure comes from. I'm of the firm belief that we have nothing to worry about here. No financial agreements were made. Do I stand on firm ground?

Thank you.

 

[dcatz]

Nothing is guaranteed, but you stand on pretty good footing.

From your post, there is no contract or other written agreement. Hence, anything that she alleges is “he said-she said”.

Also from your post, there is no basis for the calculation of the value of services.

It can as plausibly be argued that this was gratuitous assistance for favor previously done.

Nobody can predict how a trier of fact will hear that, but your argument is as good or better than hers.

Should she decide to file in any event, file a cross-claim for the value of food and lodging. An alternative would be to claim it as an off-set, but a cross-claim seems a better tact. If there are judgments, off-set one against the other. (It would be ironic if food and lodging came to $500 or more, wouldn’t it?)

Finally, while I would hope that it never became an issue for your father, he is judgment-proof as a practical matter. Income from SSDI is 100% exempt, while she is likely to be more vulnerable post-judgment.

Unless she alleges that she made an oral agreement with you and makes you a defendant instead of or in addition to your father, she would have collection problems, if she were to prevail. If she claims that the agreement was made with you to pay for your father’s care and he is not under your legal guardianship, she has a potential Statute of Frauds problem.

Bottom line? Anybody can sue anybody for anything, but she has a lot of problems with this one and runs the additional risk of being sued herself for a greater amount.

 

[johnsoncm]

Thankyou "D."

Correct: From your post, there is no contract or other written agreement. Hence, anything that she alleges is “he said-she said”.

Correct: there is no basis for the calculation of the value of services.

Correct: It can as plausibly be argued that this was gratuitous assistance for favor previously done.

Correct: Income from SSDI is 100% exempt, while she is likely to be more vulnerable post-judgment.

HOWEVER: He does own a car. Couldn't they put a lien on his car?

Note: She never made any oral or written agreement with me and like I stated earlier, IF she had made an agreement with my Dad, he would have cleared it with me first because the funds would have had to come from me.

 

[dcatz]

He does own a car. Couldn't they put a lien on his car?

Yes, they could. It’s called a Judgment Lien on Personal Property. It requires doing a UCC-1 filing with your Secretary of State. All that I can say is that, while it’s common between businesses to address the possibility of bulk sales, and by a lender to a business to ensure there is no attempted disposition of secured property and similar situations, it’s so uncommon in your hypothetical that I’ve never seen it done.

To have it affect a transfer of title, if your Dad wanted to sell the car, someone would have to know to search for a recorded JLPP.

A more germane concern would be that she attempted to seize and sell the car. That can be a difficult and expensive proposition in any state. I don’t know if the car is fully-paid but, if not, any existing financing would have to be paid. If there are personal property exemptions in your state, the value recovery after sale would have take that into consideration, as well as the cost of seizure and sale. An equation looks like this:
cost to clear title + personal exemption + cost to seize + cost to sell = X. You must realize X + $500 from the sale to make it make any sense at all.

I don’t know the make, model and value of the car, but the process can seldom be cost-justified.

I think you’ve got a sound defense and an equally sound counter-claim. Assert the counter-claim, if she files. Make her think about her own position. Cross the other bridges when and if you have to.

 

[res_ipsa]

He does own a car. Couldn't they put a lien on his car?
Yes, they could. It’s called a Judgment Lien on Personal Property. It requires doing a UCC-1 filing with your Secretary of State.

Lien's on motor vehicles are perfected by filing at the DMV, not in the state's UCC system. It's not that uncommon for a judgment creditor to file a lien on the judgment debtor's car. Most importantly the car couldn't be sold because the DMV wouldn't issue a new title without a release from the lien holder.