Gone 4 17 days neighbor wants me to pay $200 for the time i was gone is this ok?

Question

My bf at the time asked her to watch the dogs in the backyard He left his boxer pup with her at her home and my dogs stayed home Everyday she came by and fed them + gave H20 no walking or bathing. When he asked her to watch the dogs she made no mention that we were going to have to pay. He made this arrangement (I was going to have another friend watch my pups) upon returning home she said that she had called local animal boarding business and the would have charged me 460 for both dogs So she being a "friend" would cut me a deal of 220 I bought plenty of food for my animals He payed her for the "inconvience" of having a puppy in her house but my dogs stayed at my home she lives across the street from me this happened in June I told her that once I got a large sum of $ I was expecting I would pay her and since June she has been harassing me she tells my friend that she will take me to court There was no contract or agreement am i wrong to think i dont owe her what do i tell her

Answer 1

Whatever happened to just being a nice friendly neighbor. I would never had thought of charging my next door neighbor to do something so small. If she has pets maybe you could return the favor for her and if not see if there is something else you could do for her instead of cash. mow her lawn or something a couple of times. good luck

Answer 2

This is a civil matter and in civil court it is a "preponderance" of the evidence that has to be met. Essentially, this is her side, your side kind of question as there is no written or even a verbal agreement to pay for boarding.
This could go either way if you end up in court. The presumption is that it costs to board animals and to what extent did you have to expect that your neighbor would do this for free? In addition, it is rather "unreasonable" that you would NOT pay for her time, afterall, people do not work for free.
If the character of the plantiff is to be found sound, then her "burden" of proof is the premise noted above; No one works for free. On the other hand if the plaintiff can establish that there was indeed an agreement to pay for the "services rendered" then she will win.
Already, in a unbiased court of law, she does have favor, again, no one works for free.
However, there must be a meeting of the minds where there is nothing in writing. Depending upon her level of knowledge and yours in court room procedings and how to present a case in civil court, you may still come out ahead on this.
Since nothing in writing, be sure to have present a witness who can be cross-examined by the judge as to her statement of "payment for services" before the fact. Have any and all documentation that you may have provided to her on the care of the animals and any special instructions. But, be careful, for if it appears in the documentation that she was being "hired" you will blow your own defense.
Also, unless you have complained to her upon your arrival home of something amiss with the animals due to neglect, don't bring that up in court.
Another arguement that you could make if the case goes that way is that "IF YOU HIRED HER AS YOU WOULD A DOGGY DAY CARE, OR BOARDING, then you would have expected exercise, bathing, grooming, etc, which you say was NOT PROVIDED. This arguement may diminish her award, if it does not get her case dismissed.
As a note of caution: Again, if she was not notified or told about any sort of INAPPROPRIATE OR NEGLECTFUL CARE, don't file a cross-complaint, it will only make you look foolish.

Answer 3

To keep down peace in the neighborhood, I would just tell her there was a misunderstanding and that you will be happy to return a favor for her (help with lawn, etc) but since there is no verbal or written contract, I don't think it is something she can legally pursue. You may want to call your county magistrate court's clerk and run the scenario by them to see if the neighbor could try and take you to small claims court. Hang on to any receipts you may have (pet food, etc) for that period of time. Whatever happened to neighbors just watching out for neighbors? Good luck!!

Answer 4

Oh boy... First, I would call around yourself. Places around here only charge $10 a day, so that would only be 340. Second, there was no prearrangement for payment, so I don't think you are MORALLY obligated to pay her, especially since it was your bf who made the arrangments and you had someone else you were going to ask. Third, it would be NICE of you to pay her. Two and a half weeks is a long time to be in charge of someone elses dogs.

I think about $100 would be good. Hit your ex bf up for it if you don't want to pay. Or, offer something else like yard care or cleaning or babysitting or something.

Answer 5

Well, the way you are telling it, your friend is being pretty jerky, and I've got to say, she's handling this very cheekily. I think based on how she's handling it I'd be tempted to say "take a hike".

Now, I'm not saying pay her, especially if there was no agreement, but, I would say, if you're going to saddle someone, even a friend with watching your pets for over 2 weeks, it would've been better for you to offer some money for that. That's a pretty long time to take advantage of somebody's hospitality.

So while I'd say, specifically in this situation, you're in the driver's seat, in general terms, I'd say you should've offered.

Answer 6

I would feel obligated to pay her something for the care of my pets, but not $220.00. Animal boarding places supply Boarding. which you didn't need,(your dogs stayed home), and they also supply the food, which you supplied. That would be like someone coming into your home, making you a sandwich from food you have paid for, then charging you for bread, lunch meat, and rent for doing it. Nice gesture, but I don't think so. I might offer her $85.00. (That's $5.00 a day x 17 days). That's allot of money for just unlocking your door, bending over, then re-locking the door. What's that take, 5 minutes out of her day? If you're paying $1.00 a minute re:$60.00 an hour, I want that job!

Answer 7

She just sounds greedy.

She has no legal case. If she does take you to court, she'll be out money for court costs, and the judge would just rule it out.

Whether ot not you feel like she deserves any compensation at all it's up to you.

But here's something you can do:

Find people who pet-sit. Get them each to send you an written bid of how much they charge for similar services and average them. Present her with written proof and the amount she deserves.

Her request is the same as a camp ground wanting to charge you for services rendered at an expensive hotel. Illegal, and unfounded.

Good Luck.

Answer 8

Let her take you to court. If she expected money, she should have brought it up before the trip...however 17 days is a long time to be gone and not get paid for taking care of the dog.

Answer 9

There area words that I would like to say about this that I can't write on here. What? Who is this person? I would not trust my animals with someone like that ever again! If they do want money, I would be reasonable and offer maybe $50-you still have to live next to this person, but that is ridiculous!

Answer 10

if there was no written contract or agreement then you have nothing to worry about from court, just becareful that she don't try something to your dogs. I would just ignorre her and maybe she will leave you alone. Tell her that she made the agrement with your bf to get the money from him...