goodday

A group of us had to pimp a ride for a video shoot for a picture company.They gave specifications on the different jobs to change the vehicle to be used in this video.We did get quotes we only had 7 days to these changes.We would send them the invoices for the jobs and they pay and we pay the shop or person as soon as the job was finished. For the smaller jobs we used guys that had the knowledge and was cheaper than a registered company .They all signed their receiptes as we paid them.We where pushed for time ,we delivered in time and all was fine.The video shoot was done.

First they said we keeping the car afterwards,then a new person would communicate with us with a different story.End of the day WE HAD NOT CHARGED THEM FOR OUR LABOUR.They agreed on R50 000.Descember everybody closed,we put the vehicle in storage we did not know when are they goiing to pay.now they say we did not pay out all the money on jobs there is R50 000 LEFT WE MUST TAKE THAT.

We do have the proof of everybody we paid,they do not want to accept the entrepeneurs we paid that donot work from a shop.All off them will testify they did the jobs and i mean the car is there,you can check every job is done.

We are not prepared to give them the car before they pay us,nobody works for free.

All correspondance was verbaly and on whats up, NO DOCUMENTATION between us.A few emails when the workers has passed it to their seniors.we only used one person for communication.

they persist they want to collect the car with the police or legal way.

We feel they must pay us ten collect the car.

Charmain

Hi there and thank you for your question,

I am a practicing attorney based in South Africa and I will assist you with your question. Please feel free to ask as many follow up questions in order to clarify your question. If you have a new question, you must please open a new thread.

I think that you are perfectly, and 100%, legally correct. They say possession is 9/10ths of the law, meaning, rather be in possession of the item in dispute than give it up.

This is not a criminal matter. If the SAPS contacts you, you must tell them that. Show them the invoices, explain that you did work on the car. Tell them that you have a lien (yes, spelt correctly) over the car as your security for the work that you did on the car, and that you will only give the car back once your invoice has been settled in full.

Tell the SAPS that this is a common law lien that you are legally entitled to, and the SAPS can't arrest you because you didn't do anything wrong, criminally.

Also, you don't need to hire somebody who gives you an invoice for it to be legal. Any receipt issued by that person is good enough. It is good enough for SARS, so it should be good enough for this company! 

Then, I suggest that you tell the company that you are not criminals, and that you will deal with SAPS, and that you will then sue the company for your money. Tell them about the lien over the car, and that you are holding the car as security!

Do not let anyone collect the car. Refuse to tell them where it is!

If there is a part of the answer which you need more advice on, or clarity please continue in this same thread instead of opening a new question.

Att. Patrick

Please remember this is a dialog if you have follow up questions please use the REPLY button and ask. If I did not answer the question you thought you were asking, please respond with the specific question you wanted answered. I hope you found my answer helpful, and you have finished asking your questions, please click on the GREEN ACCEPT button in order to mark the question as closed.