When can BO evict with 24-36 hour's notice?

[arlosmine]

I have some friends who are being threatened with 24 hour’s notice eviction by BO if they discuss “problems” at barn with other boarders. They have paid through Jan, and gave their 30 day’s notice with the board check. The same BO is threatening to sue a boarder who already left for inciting others to leave. (calling it interference with business).

Obviusly this ia very silly, but yet another boarder who gave notice with her board check and had an agreement of partial-barter for a board reduction with the BO is now being charged full board, with the threat that the BO will “seize” the horses if she does not pay it.

Any legal eagles out there with a way to get the BO to back off?

[Lori_B]

Would you really want your horse to be at a place where the BO was capable of acting that way?

Friend better start shopping for a new location, double quick. Only recourse will be small claims, after the fact. You can’t ‘make’ someone (particularly a crazy-ish sounding person) honor the terms of a contract. What do you think? Do you think the sheriff is going to come out and give her a talking to? uh, not likely.

[Alagirl]

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Sheesh…
Just when you thought it was safe to board again.

I don’t see were you can press charges - or rather win in court under this premiss.

But I am no lawyer and have not seen a Holiday Inn in years.

If the information being passed around is truthful, that is.

And I suppose the boarder with the connection who left…I guess she just has to pony up the money and leave.

Aside from the fact why you would want to stay there anyhow!

I would not board with Xenophone Himself under those conditions!

[Valentina_32926]

It all depends on what the boarding contract says and, if no contract, what state law says.

BO sounds sue happy and doubt they would spend money on a lawyer for not a lot of money - but could go to small claims court (as could person they’re suing if it comes to that.

[Sport]

I understand the frustration with this, but if your friend has already given notice, why let it bother them. Just stay quiet about the place until the horse has been safely removed. Why would you want to bad mouth the place when your horse is still under this persons care?

Regarding the boarder with a barter agreement, this doesn’t really surprise me. The BO was helping them out and they are now leaving. No incentive for the BO to continue the agreement.

To me it is crazy that the barn owner is threatening litigation everywhere, but that may be the only way they feel any sense of control as their business is falling apart. A strange way to do damage control?

Not knowing the whole story, is there validity to what they are claiming with the first boarder that left?

[CHSatwork]

I would move my horses today and consider it a loss. Crazy BO’s are not worth the stress and aggrevation. There isn’t enough money at stake to fight about it anyway.

[OGM]

Wow, do we board at the same place?!

[SonnysMom]

@Sport;6065416

Regarding the boarder with a barter agreement, this doesn’t really surprise me. The BO was helping them out and they are now leaving. No incentive for the BO to continue the agreement.

Doesn’t sound like this BO is the type to “help out” a boarder out of the goodness of her heart.
It very likely is that the BO needed somebody to work around the farm.

Why not have a boarder do it rather than an outside employee? The boarder has a vested interest in doing a good job.
It may have been a very even trade of boarder time for reduced board. Or as it frequently is the boarding really gets less of a reduction on their board than their time is worth if they had been paid as an outside employee.

If the boarder was holding up their end of the bargain and the original agreement was fair the arrangement should be mutually beneficial to the boarder and the BO.

OP not much your friend can do while she is there. Gossiping, complaining and talking trash is never a good idea especially when it is about the person who takes care of your horse. The fact that she is leaving should speak volumes to anybody that really cares.

[cloudyandcallie]

@Lori B;6065361

Would you really want your horse to be at a place where the BO was capable of acting that way?

Friend better start shopping for a new location, double quick. Only recourse will be small claims, after the fact. You can’t ‘make’ someone (particularly a crazy-ish sounding person) honor the terms of a contract. What do you think? Do you think the sheriff is going to come out and give her a talking to? uh, not likely.

Good post. While in most states there are only certain offenses for which a boarder can be evicted in 24 hours, the BO can make it so bad that the boarder should leave. And the horse can be harmed or killed. It does happen sometimes.

And yes, you can get a deputy to show up. I got one to help get my friend’s horse out of a bad barn situation one Friday night. Cops are there for all kinds of disputes, including those involving horses. I love law enforcement!

Tell your friends to get the horse out today or tomorrow. And only say things about that barn and BO that are true and can be proven. Like what happened between them and the BO, not what others told them happened with others.

Your friends can either sue in small claims court for the balance of the board and expenses, or they can just chalk it up to experience. Safety of horse is paramount. I’ve moved my 2 before and left a boarding check for a month as well as my notice. That way my horses were safely gone and not available for retaliation. Some BOs think that we are taking their money when we give notice. They get angry, even when they have not fulfilled their part of the boarding agreement.

[OverandOnward]

The BO can do that whenever the contract says they can.

If it’s not in the contract and they do it anyway - be ready to skedaddle, just to avoid the stress.

Regardless … your friend should hush about whatever the issues are for the mere 30 days until she is really gone for good. Or less time if she clears the premises earlier. IMO any boarder who has given notice can be classy enough to not poor-mouth the place on the way out, no matter how energized they are about why they are leaving. Think less about the barn and more about one’s own reputation - the barn is about to be rapidly-fading history, your reputation stays with you forever.

If anyone asks why she’s leaving, she can do as I did and say “call me on the first of next month” or whenever is the first day after she is out.

After one is gone it is still best not to get a rep for bad-mouthing past connections, so your friend needs to learn to edit herself, imo. It isn’t classy, and people who don’t know the details wonder what the person might say about them behind their back. The most harm might be to the wrong party. Look to the future and forget about past issues that are done with.

The last 30 days can be very tough. Other boarders are curious. The bo/bm/trainer/whoever seems to say endless things designed to get a rise out of the one leaving. Dumb things happen. IMO the goal is to just get out of the situation as smoothly as possible, and with a smile. Then go on to a happy future and forget about it.

[Gainer]

[QUOTE=CHSatwork;6065462]
I would move my horses today and consider it a loss. Crazy BO’s are not worth the stress and aggrevation. There isn’t enough money at stake to fight about it anyway.[/QUOTE]

Amen!

[rothmpp]

I’ve only had one really bad boarding experience, but it’s enough to make me not give notice again (my current place excepted - I have no concern there at all). I’ll chalk up my horse’s wellbeing to having to pay double board for a month if it comes to that.

When I gave notice at a barn, my horse magically stopped getting the feed that I paid extra for and was being fed the barn mix that he was allergic to, did not seem to be getting brought in at night, and on and on…

[Alagirl]

@rothmpp;6065815

I’ve only had one really bad boarding experience, but it’s enough to make me not give notice again (my current place excepted - I have no concern there at all). I’ll chalk up my horse’s wellbeing to having to pay double board for a month if it comes to that.

When I gave notice at a barn, my horse magically stopped getting the feed that I paid extra for and was being fed the barn mix that he was allergic to, did not seem to be getting brought in at night, and on and on…

In most cases the extras board and the possible vet fee cancel each other out (or body disposal…)

[arlosmine]

Thanks every one. As of today, four boarders who are financially secure did pay for Jan and then move out asap. The one who is doing the partial board reduction for work is very limited in funds,a single mom, does not own a trailer, and has two horses. (yes she can pay for board and vet needs, she is just very money conscious and careful and every penny counts). She is really the one who is wanting to stay for her 30 days. The work reduction was a big deal to her financially, and she is unprepared to pay full Jan board twice on two horses. Also: She is not a gossip at all: The BO is frantic because the barn is hemorrhaging boarders.

She wanted to know if she could sue for her unused January board if she left now, and if it was legal for the barn owner to demand full board and “hold” the horses if there was not full payment. There is nothing in the contract about that circumstance.

I think she should get out now and figure out her options later, but this did raise the question for me about getting asked to leave by a BO, and I do wonder what circumstances might make that a legal action?

Thanks again for the input

[cloudyandcallie]

Yes she can sue. But, she needs evidence. An email threatening to do something from BO. A demand by BO for her to move without a legal reason.
Tell her to get some evidence. She can even carry a small tape recorder or use her cell to get the evidence. She just needs something besides her own word vs. BO. Cause all those other boarders aren’t going to help after they get out.

What BO is doing is called an eviction without good cause. BO is breaching the contract. The boarder can move and allege breach of contract and sue for balance of board. But she must have evidence to present to a judge in small claims court. Not just her word against the BO’s, if boarder is to WIN in court.

If BO has told her to leave now, she can leave now an sue later. But she must get this either in writing (including email) or recorded orally to win in court.

I once paid full board for Cloudy and Callie at 2 barns, because I moved the day I gave notice. Expensive, but peace of mind and safety of horses prevailed.

[Trixie]

Tell her to get some evidence. She can even carry a small tape recorder or use her cell to get the evidence. She just needs something besides her own word vs. BO. Cause all those other boarders aren’t going to help after they get out.

Be careful with this. It isn’t always legal to record someone without their consent.

Honestly, she could wind up spending more than board trying to “sue” even though this person is acting unethically.

In the horse world, of course, reputation is everything.

[cloudyandcallie]

@Trixie;6065940

Be careful with this. It isn’t always legal to record someone without their consent.

Honestly, she could wind up spending more than board trying to “sue” even though this person is acting unethically.

In the horse world, of course, reputation is everything.

It’s legal to record a conversation to which one party consents. For example, if the person carrying the tape recorder, here the boarder, consents to recording the conversation herself, it is admissible in most courts. This is NOT like bugging someone’s home or office or barn and then leaving the recorder unsupervised. I’ve tried wiretaps and had witnesses tape conversations, all legally. The right of privacy does not extent to public places either. And does not extend to a situation where one party consents to the recording of the conversation.

To sue someone in small claims court is not expensive at all. The judge and the clerk will help fill out forms. Collecting on a judgment is harder, but possible. Like getting liens on a barn or house or car or trailer. Liens get filed, go on the title, etc. . To sell property, the person must satisfy that lien first.

[HeartofGlass]

Wow, what a sucky situation. Seems to me that airing your opinion about a place should be our first-amendment right, but it doesn’t seem to work out that way.

I also have experience with a vindictive farm owner (actually she just rents, but whatever). When we pulled our horses from her farm due to bad conditions there, I was a fool and paid what she demanded that I pay, thinking that at least she wouldn’t be able to say that I owed her money.

That, in spite of the fact that there was no contract, written or verbal.

We had 3 horses at the time, so it was a chunk of change!

I was a fool, because to this day she swears that I left owing her a bunch of money, making me look like a dead-beat. People that I thought were my friends believed her, I guess, because they still board there. They don’t seem to have noticed that she is a pathological liar. Or that every time a boarder leaves, she always has the same story, that they left owing big bucks.

To be fair, they might be afraid to try to leave after what happened to us. But I don’t really think so.

Anyway, my experience has taught me that you keep your mouth shut when necessary, and keep your receipts!! And sometimes you have to bite the bullet and spend the $ to get your horses out of there.

[HeartofGlass]

Oh, and every time I read the outrageous stories she posts on the internet, I have to sit on my hands so hard…

Some of them are pretty funny. Like when she talks all about her barn and indoor when all she really has is a run-in shed. lol

It’s tough. I could write a book about this person, but it’s just not worth the hassle, I guess. Though every once in a while I have to talk myself out of posting screenshots of emails between us that would prove she is lying. It would make ME feel better, but would it really make any difference in the long run? Probably not.

[coco]

Think only about your horse

[QUOTE=CHSatwork;6065462]
I would move my horses today and consider it a loss. Crazy BO’s are not worth the stress and aggrevation. There isn’t enough money at stake to fight about it anyway.[/QUOTE]

This. Your priority is to get the horse safely off the property.

Don’t even think about anything else at this point. Once the horse is safe, then you can try to get your money back. Not before.