Legal question regarding remediation service cost

[DixonHur 11,338]

So my stepdad died in January and wasn't discovered for a couple of days so I needed some light remediation work done after the body was removed.  I hired the first company that could remove the damaged chair and clean up any residual bodily fluids before I drove in from Texas a couple days later (house is in Georgia).  

The remediation consisted of removing the chair he was sitting in, cleaning the hardwoods around the body, and leaving some ozone fans for a week to get rid of the smell.

When I hired them they said the home owners insurance would cover it and they would deal directly with State Farm. 

Anyway, as part of the process, they sent me a copy of the bill for $22,000!  At that point I assumed it was like a medical claim where they way over billed and then settled with the insurance company for something much less.  

Apparently I was wrong.  The insurance company offered $15,000, and they are coming after me for the remaining $7,000.  In fact they hired an "independent adjuster" company that has put a lien on my house before even speaking with me.  I'm scheduled to have a call with them on Thursday, but I want to know if I have any recourse, or if I'm just SOL and on the hook for the $7k.

Thanks in advance.

[AnimationTaco 35]

Dude what? Insane. Following.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,515]

Might have been expensive in properly disposing of the chair according to the law. I don't know about 22K expensive though.

[DixonHur 11,338]

When I Googled it before hiring them the ranges I saw were between $3k and $5k, so not sure why this was so much more.

Does anyone know what type of attorney would handle this kind of thing?

[Elvis 3,371]

What does your contract with them say?  Did you agree to pay an amount whether or not insurance agreed to cover it?  Did you sign or initial a document that included lein language?  You don't really need an attorney to read a contract.

[DixonHur 11,338]

Thanks.  I'm trying to get copies of the docs now.  It was all done digitally and I was on the road using my phone to get it all scheduled.

Sounds like I may have made a dumb mistake in trusting them when they said insurance would cover it.  Could be an expensive lesson.

[gyroprotagonist 2,594]

is that part of your deductible from HOI policy?  Insurer is not going to cover 100% when the deductible is not met, right? 

[Bevo 13,579]

Did your wife sign? If she didn't agree to it, that may be a way out. Lawyers on here may chime in but I've heard of it being helpful with contractor disputes in Texas.

[DixonHur 11,338]

3 hours ago, Elvis said:

What does your contract with them say?  Did you agree to pay an amount whether or not insurance agreed to cover it?  Did you sign or initial a document that included lein language?  You don't really need an attorney to read a contract.

Looks like I'm fucked.  Below is the relevant language.  There's nothing specifically about a lien, but I think they have me by the short and curlys.  Based on my Google searches, I certainly wasn't expecting the cost to be in the $20k range when I signed, but...

---

4. Assignment and Payment: Customer hereby assigns and transfers all insurance rights, benefits, and causes of action under Customer's property insurance policy listed below to GCA. The Customer understands that GCA now owns the rights to the insurance claim (the "Claim") under the Policy to the extent that service is provided to complete the Project subject to the Claim. Any payments on the Claim issued by the insurance carrier will list Georgia Clean & Associates, LLC as primary payee.

Should any payments under the Claim for goods and services for the Project and/or for invoice(s) related to the Project, be issued to, or received by, any party other than GCA and not forwarded or assigned to GCA, then such refusal to assign and/or forward to GCA will be considered a breach of contract for non-payment as well as GCA will seek to prosecute the offender for Insurance Fraud.

This assignment applies to claims for payment for work performed by GCA at the above-referenced property, plus any applicable claims for bad faith, attorneys' fees, and costs owed by the insurance company pursuant to local, state, and federal law. Customer shall remain personally responsible to GCA or their assignee for payment of services rendered by GCA that are not paid by the above insurance company. Any amount not paid within 30 days of the invoice date shall accrue a late fee of 10% of the balance past due plus interest at a rate of one and one-half percent (1.5%) compounded per month until such amounts are paid.

5. Credit Terms and Guaranty: The Customer understands that in consideration of the work being performed that credit is being extended herein, it/he/she/they shall be personally liable for all amounts charged, ordered, purchased, received and incurred upon credit on open account, or otherwise from GCA or their assignee until such time as all amounts due hereunder are paid in full. Customer agrees that GCA or their assignee is authorized to make all appropriate credit inquiries regarding the Customer.

3 hours ago, gyroprotagonist said:

is that part of your deductible from HOI policy?  Insurer is not going to cover 100% when the deductible is not met, right? 

It was my parent's policy, which I don't have a copy of, so I'm not sure

3 hours ago, Bevo said:

Did your wife sign? If she didn't agree to it, that may be a way out. Lawyers on here may chime in but I've heard of it being helpful with contractor disputes in Texas.

I'm not married.  Bummer.

Anyway, thanks for everyone's input.  I guess I'm just fucked.

[torre 1,286]

1 hour ago, DixonHur said:

 I guess I'm just fucked.

Wouldn't go down without a fight.  

Though the contract is clear about your responsibilities,  if you haven't may consider contacting the insurance company to see if this is a fair charge and what options you may have.    Was it necessary to hire an attorney for probate or other legal matters involving your Dad ?   May want to consult with an attorney to get their opinion.

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by torre

[Gil Bang 25,974]

I'm a realtor. I just represented a buyer on a home purchase.  Previous owner died on the shitter and wasn't discovered for several days.  The bill was 15,000, and included a new toilet and new flooring in the bathroom.    PM me your email address, and I will send over the bill.

[TwiceHorn 31,495]

5 hours ago, Bevo said:

Did your wife sign? If she didn't agree to it, that may be a way out. Lawyers on here may chime in but I've heard of it being helpful with contractor disputes in Texas.

A note on this.  For a mechanics lien to validly attach to a homestead in Texas, both spouses must sign any improvement or construction contract.

This is a product of Texas having very strong community property and homestead laws.  Texas is absolutely psychotic about encumbering a homestead that is community property or has spousal survivor rights.

I'm not sure many if any states are going to have rules like this.

[DixonHur 11,338]

1 hour ago, torre said:

Was it necessary to hire an attorney for probate or other legal matters involving your Dad ?   May want to consult with an attorney to get their opinion.

Yes, I sent her the information this evening.  

[TwiceHorn 31,495]

Did a quick look at Georgia mechanic lien law and it's a lot less complex than Texas' even without a homestead involved.

Seems like most of them are going to be valid, while in Texas, most of them are not, because there's too many hoops to jump through.

The seemingly weird thing is assignment of a claim to a vendor would ususally be non-recourse, that is, without personal liability.  Regardless, unless Georgia has some law against it, your liability is probably "legal."

The amount, though.  Because you never signed an agreement with that amount in it, you could contest it, but it would cost in attorneys fees rapidly approaching the amount you could settle for.  The insurance company's payment is probably some evidence of what's reasonable.  Maybe make an offer to make it go away.  And ask for any billing documents (time, expenses) that would justify that.

[davidg 4,038]

1 hour ago, Gil Bang said:

I'm a realtor. I just represented a buyer on a home purchase.  Previous owner died on the shitter and wasn't discovered for several days.  The bill was 15,000, and included a new toilet and new flooring in the bathroom.    PM me your email address, and I will send over the bill.

You sold Graceland?

[deadshank 24,653]

Too bad you’re in a pinch. 
 

Falling prey to the “we will deal with the insurance company” line with a contractor versed in Insurnace claims and emotionally charged consumers is a transaction ripe for chicanery.  

From what I recall in my brief bidness forays into SECSECSECLand, Georgia, like most of the southeast, is a “lien first” state; whereby a mechanics lien can be put on real property upon contract execution and prior to work on said real property.

File the lien, do the work, get paid, release the lien.

 

[Elvis 3,371]

One tactic you might try. That language says they @own the claim”. It doesn’t say anything about your responsibilities for what insurance doesn’t agree to.  
 

Tell the mitigation company to talk to the insurance company and reconcile with them.  Tell your insurance company that they are over charging you.  
 

Your financial exposure should be the insurance deductible. 
 

Im an adjuster and a contractor. Reconciliation is a major part of my job.  They usually take what insurance pays. I’ve also seen Servpro stick a little old lady with $7k in crap we didn’t agree on. 

[C-Man 27,230]

5 hours ago, Elvis said:

One tactic you might try. That language says they @own the claim”. It doesn’t say anything about your responsibilities for what insurance doesn’t agree to.  
 

Tell the mitigation company to talk to the insurance company and reconcile with them.  Tell your insurance company that they are over charging you.  
 

Your financial exposure should be the insurance deductible. 
 

Im an adjuster and a contractor. Reconciliation is a major part of my job.  They usually take what insurance pays. I’ve also seen Servpro stick a little old lady with $7k in crap we didn’t agree on. 

This. But I have to admit this is a first for me in the insurance world. Let me ask a few colleagues if they've run across this and how it was handled.

First step is to find stepdad's State Farm homeowner policy and see what the deductibles are.

[gofuckyourself 8,339]

Obligatory "Just because we're bereaved doesn't make us saps!'

No one beat me to that? Really?

Besides that I don't have much. Other than my special lady friend does that type of emergency clean up work for a living. Hopefully it wasn't her company. They do make bank though. And clearly they're not alone.

[TwiceHorn 31,495]

10 hours ago, Elvis said:

One tactic you might try. That language says they @own the claim”. It doesn’t say anything about your responsibilities for what insurance doesn’t agree to.  
 

Tell the mitigation company to talk to the insurance company and reconcile with them.  Tell your insurance company that they are over charging you.  
 

Your financial exposure should be the insurance deductible. 
 

Im an adjuster and a contractor. Reconciliation is a major part of my job.  They usually take what insurance pays. I’ve also seen Servpro stick a little old lady with $7k in crap we didn’t agree on. 

Unfortunately, it does.  

"Customer shall remain personally responsible to GCA or their assignee for payment of services rendered by GCA that are not paid by the above insurance company."

[C-Man 27,230]

Talked to my primary account manger about this earlier today since I was in the office (a rarity these days). I think what's possibly happened is that the $7K gulf is the deductible on your stepdad's insurance policy OR State Farm deemed the remediation bill excessively high and only paid a portion. (Personally, that seems really, really fucking high.)

A couple of questions -- is there anybody else involved here from an estate standpoint? Is there an estate? I assume your mother is no longer in the picture. Who inherits the house? Are there are other siblings, step or otherwise, involved? If you're the only party, probably just best to bite the bullet and sell the house and "punt" the $7K. If there are others involved, I'd say you're well within your rights to add the $7K you seem to be out-of-pocket onto whatever you collect when his estate (or the home is sold) is ultimately settled.

Just my two cents.

P.S. My account manager told me a story about a relative who passed away out in the "country" a bit back. Lived by himself and nobody checked on him regularly so it was a week before they found him dead in his La-Z-Boy. She said he'd been there in his filth long enough that he'd attracted "bugs." I didn't ask if that mean maggots or something else. At any rate, the remediation company took the chair out into the front lawn and lit it on fire. That's remediation country-style. Yahootie!

[Bevo 13,579]

Calling a TV station may work also. Ultimately, it is buyer beware but shaming a company ripping people off when they are grieving seems like a pretty good option.

[Elvis 3,371]

Great advice Karen.