Newbie - legal question

[Techmd]

Hello All,
This is my first time post. We recently installed some audio for an existing customer. They haven't paid their invoice and are open for business. It's been over a month and the owner has been unresponsive. Is it legal from us to remove the equipment we installed?

[tallen]

I'm not sure you could un-install the equipment unless you had it in your contract / terms & conditions that the equipment would be removed if you were not paid (but I am not a lawyer). However, you might be able to place a mechanic's lien on their property. But before it comes to that, what other collections efforts have you tried? Have you considered hiring a collections agency? I think they probably work on a contingency fee basis (i.e. a percentage of what they collect).

[Freelancier]

It is not permissible to trespass for the purpose of retrieving stolen property. And don't take a gun with you for "protection", because you could end up being "OJ'ed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson_robbery_case)". Better to take legal action to force the issue than to attempt to retrieve the products.

[tinker9696]

Im certain that ever business is different depending on goods being sold. I only know that it is important to document everything that you send and be specific about what your next course of action will be..ie; We need to hear from you by ____? and if we do not we will be putting balance owed into collections. From my experience most people are aware that small business owners may not have a collections contract and will rely on this. Unfortunately.