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Boarding
stables, even very high-end ones, occasionally find
themselves with customers who run up large past due
balances and refuse to remove their horses. As a
result, the facility finds itself essentially feeding
and caring for someone else’s horses for free.
Meanwhile, the deadbeat customer’s horses occupy
facilities that could be filled with paying customers’
horses. How can a Washington horse facility lawfully
sell a customer’s horses to satisfy a debt?
RCW 60.56.010
provides Washington persons and businesses with an
automatic lien on their customers’ horses to satisfy
debts incurred in caring for or providing services to
those horses, such as boarding and training. This type
of lien is sometimes called an agister’s lien, and it
means the facility can refuse to allow a customer’s
horses to leave until the bill for those horses is
paid in full.
While the
lien is automatic, the ability to sell the horses to
satisfy the debt is not. Here are the steps a
lienholder must take to be able to sell the horses:
-
The lien
holder must perfect the lien pursuant to
RCW 60.56.015
by:
-
Posting a lien notice in a conspicuous place
where the horses are kept
-
Providing a copy of the lien notice to the
debtor
-
Providing a copy of the lien notice to any
other lien holder (if the lien is more than
$1,500)
-
Within 180 days after the lien attaches, the lien
holder must file suit against the debtor in a
court that has jurisdiction over the area where
the horses are located
-
If the
court finds in the lien holder’s favor, the horses
may be sold pursuant to the requirements of
RCW 60.10.030,
which include prior notice to the debtor.
Frequently Asked Questions about Horse Lien
Foreclosure in Washington
Q: The
horses aren’t worth anything. Can I give them away,
sell them for a dollar, take them to a rescue or
donate them to a therapeutic riding facility?
A:
Not lawfully. If you give away or donate the horses
without the debtor’s permission, the debtor could
later sue you for what is called conversion.
Conversion is essentially the civil form of theft.
Even if the debtor doesn’t ultimately win their case
against you, you will still have to pay a lawyer to
defend you, which is expensive.
Q: I
don’t know where the debtor lives. How can I sue them
if I don’t know where they live?
A:
In order to sue someone, you will need to have them
personally served with a summons and complaint. That
means you’ll need to know where to find them. To find
the debtor, you may want to use one of the many free
online people finder services, such as
WhitePages.com
(which also has a reverse phone directory search). In
extreme cases, you may need to hire a private
detective to track down the debtor for you.
Q:
The debtor has several
horses, and one is worth more than the others. Can I
keep the valuable one and let the debtor take the
rest?
A: Yes,
but you can only assert a lien on the valuable horse
for the amount that is actually owed with respect to
that horse.
Q: Is
there any other way to sell the horses without going
through the lien foreclosure steps in the Washington
statutes?
A:
Only two: Getting the debtor to sign the horses over
to you, or getting the debtor to waive their rights
under the lien statutes. Equine Legal Solutions’
horse boarding contract forms
contain a lien statute waiver provision.
Q: The
debtor already took the horses from my property. Can I
still file a lien?
A:
Because the horses aren’t on your property anymore,
you no longer have the automatic lien provided by the
agister’s lien statute. However, you can still sue the
debtor to collect the amount owed, which is often a
more practical alternative to foreclosing on an
agister’s lien –
here’s why.
Q: Do I
have to keep feeding and caring for the horses that
are on my property, even though I’m not getting paid?
A:
Yes, or you run the risk of violating animal cruelty
laws. However,
RCW 60.10.030
provides that lien sale proceeds are applied first to
the reasonable expenses of holding the horses and
preparing them for sale.
Q: I’m a
vet, farrier or business other than a boarding barn.
Do I still have lien rights?
A:
Yes, as long as you have the horses in your
possession.
RCW 60.56.005
is broad as to whom it applies: “farmer, ranchman,
herder of cattle, livery and boarding stable keeper,
veterinarian, or other person, to whom horses…are
entrusted for the purpose of feeding, herding,
pasturing, training, caring for, or ranching.”
Q: Can I
go to small claims court and get an order to sell the
horses?
A:
No, you will have to file in regular civil court.
Q: Can I
foreclose on my lien without having to hire an
attorney?
A:
Technically, yes, but you may find the statutory
requirements difficult to navigate on your own, and
errors will cause additional delay.
Q: If I
hire an attorney to represent me, can I recoup that
cost from the debtor?
A:
Only if you have an attorneys’ fees and costs
provision in your boarding contract, training
contract, or other contract covering your care of the
horses – see
RCW 60.10.030(a).
All of Equine Legal Solutions’
equine form contracts
include this type of provision.
Still have
questions?
Contact ELS
to schedule a
telephone consultation
with an equine attorney licensed in Washington.
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