I guess it all goes back to the laws in your ,City, County & State.
The town I live in you can write a bad check to the landlords and there is nothing they can due about it. On that same note you would not get a lien on a rental property with out the owners agreement to do the work.
Not for carpet stuff but we use a local law office to collect larger amounts and they charge $50.00 for the first note they send out then everything else they do is covered with the 22% they take after collection.