Collecting unpaid debt

[PILOON]

Then there is the ones that work for the government, often revenue services that say they won't pay any taxes, like 'under the table.
RUN!
In home renovation margins are not always what you'd like them to be and materials represent 50% of job totals so over the last years I get the client to open an account at the lumber yard with me named as the approved buyer.
I tell the client that this way he'd save the markups that I would be obliged to take on the materials.
This lessened my exposure to credit woes and in the case of any uncollectables made losses more tolerable.

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

How many of you business owners have had trouble collecting for work you have done. We did some spraying and mowing for a guy at the end of last summer and have yet to collect the bill of around $4,000. I have only been able to reach him one time and he told me I would have my money in 10 days. I have left a dozen messages on his phone and sent an invoice every month. I have stated that if their is a problem to please let me know and that I would work with him. After months of no response I feel the only thing left to do is see my attorney. I don't really want to do this, but what else is left. We agreed on the price and he told me he was well satisfied with the work. We always make sure the the customer is happy or we will fix it. We resprayed 20 acres last year at our own expense to keep a customer happy and had that been the problem here we would have done the same. I am thinking we may have to start collecting before the we do the work but I don't like that idea either. I don't like to pay for a service I have yet to recieve so I have a problem doing that to someone else.

Had a similar situation when I used to live in Chicago.
If you file a mechanics lien, you will tie up his property, but you then have to "perfect" the lien, in other words take him to court, to prove your case.
If you don't think he is going to sell the property soon, a more efficient method would be to follow the small claims route, just be aware that small claims is usually called "liars court" .Hopefully you have something in writing spelling out the terms of your work.
Hope it works out for you.

 

[cowboy357]

How many of you business owners have had trouble collecting for work you have done. We did some spraying and mowing for a guy at the end of last summer and have yet to collect the bill of around $4,000. I have only been able to reach him one time and he told me I would have my money in 10 days. I have left a dozen messages on his phone and sent an invoice every month. I have stated that if their is a problem to please let me know and that I would work with him. After months of no response I feel the only thing left to do is see my attorney. I don't really want to do this, but what else is left. We agreed on the price and he told me he was well satisfied with the work. We always make sure the the customer is happy or we will fix it. We resprayed 20 acres last year at our own expense to keep a customer happy and had that been the problem here we would have done the same. I am thinking we may have to start collecting before the we do the work but I don't like that idea either. I don't like to pay for a service I have yet to recieve so I have a problem doing that to someone else.

Have you tryed to contact him in person ? Does he even own the property that you did the work on or could he be leasing it ? No matter really , but would make a difference on if its even worth going after it with an attorney or SC court .

Personally I,d make a few attempts to contact him face to face , either at his house or even make sure you run into him by accident at the grocery store or whatever or corner gas fuel station .

Give him the benefit of doubt . He,s either having rough times like most or just a deadbeat . A FTF meeting will give you a better idea of which it is . If He,s just having a hard time , You might offer to discount for the work done & try to recoop your expenses at least or work out a payment plan or maybe a barter of sort . I,m not sue happy like most folks & Im not a fan of lawyers or the court system as well .

Getting any part of it is better then nothing & will help in the future if it goes to collections of some sort . If that doesn,t work go to plan C & make sure theres no witnesses , . Best of luck . Bob

 

[pitt_md]

I courteous personal visit may shed some light on the situation. Gas is cheaper than lawyers.
Just my .02

If it were me I would avoid a face to face meeting even though that seems to be the right thing to do. He could accuse you of making threats or harassment of some kind.

 

[joes_427_vette]

I thought this forum was about tractors....... Not collecting bills. You need the attorney forum. Lets get back on track.

 

[blueriver]

I thought this forum was about tractors....... Not collecting bills. You need the attorney forum. Lets get back on track.

Tractors ... yes, also this guy wants advise. I see nothing wrong with that ... Find him, get as much cash as you can and see what he has to trade ... maybe he's got some equipment he don't want and you can credit the bill and then sell the stuff ...

 

[AndyMA]

I thought this forum was about tractors....... Not collecting bills. You need the attorney forum. Lets get back on track.

Joe, it is about tractors and tractor related business. This guy is trying to collect a debt on tractor related business. This topic is much more tractor related that a lot of stuff posted on this site.

Andy

 

[deere755]

I talked with a lawyer yesterday. It was money well spent as far as I am concerned. He told me to try and contact him a few more times before we took action but to let him know that I was planning on taking action if I got no response. One problem is he lives in another state so he recomended a lien against the property. If we were to file a suit in Illinois and get as judgement I could have trouble getting it thru in another state if I understood right. The best place to file the suit would be in his state and hire a lawyer from there. So today I left a message informing him that I was going to take legal action against him if I got no response by this Friday. We will see what happens. Thanks for all the advice there are some good ideas on here. I would except payment in the form of equipment. The only problem with that is I wouldn't want to sell it LOL.

 

[Pops15]

If you end up taking equipment in trade be sure that he actually owns it free and clear!
Putting a lien on his property and collecting your money are two different things. You have to place the lien within a prescribed amount of time. Then you have to go to court and get a judgment. If you get the judgment then you can sell his assets to recover your money. This all comes with a price.
If he files for bankruptcy and you have a lien other creditors will try to get your lien thrown out.
I hope it works out for you.
Pops

 

[scesnick]

. If we were to file a suit in Illinois and get as judgement I could have trouble getting it thru in another state if I understood right. The best place to file the suit would be in his state and hire a lawyer from there. .

Actually, transferring a judgement from one state to the other wasn't all that hard when I did it. The hard part is actually collecting the money. I sued my contractor that built my house in 2003. My house is in Maryland and he is out of West virginia. Transferring the judgement was a piece of cake. This joker owes me $110k and I STILL haven't seen a single dime. ( and not for lack of trying) Good luck and hopefully you have better luck than I have had.

 

[dodge man]

Do you have a contract with him? If you don't you can still collect, but think about them in the future. They can be very simple, a page or less. Check the laws on liens in your state, it may or may not be to late, some states have a time limit after the work. Liens can be very effective, and will usually help you collect, although it may take years. You could also try a collection agency, they keep alot of the money, but they don't cost anything unless they collect. They can be very aggresive and will most likely hound the guy badly, but he may have it coming from your point of view.

Good luck.

 

[deere755]

I recieved a call from the guy who owes me finally. He says he can pay me this coming Friday. I guess I will wait and see if he does before I go further with legal action. He says he is having a tough time. I explained to him that I understand these are tough times but he can't just ignore all my calls and invoices. I need to hear something or I will be forced to take legal action. I also explained to him that I would take payments for the work. He says he would like for me to do some more work for him in the future. I explained to him he would have to pay this bill in full and that I would only work for him if he payed in advance.

 

[two_bit_score]

I have a story to tell... just so you don't have to read the entire thing, the lessons are as follows:


texasjohn, I gotta tell ya......after reading your post I was inspired. I got a SCC judgement against a couple renters a few years back and never collected it and thought it was history. After reading your post ( well, the whole thread up until then also) I thought 'what the heck, give 'em another shot'.

The deadbeats now are living in the adjacent county and are running a small business. From the records I found they may have recently bought a home. Anyway, I've located them and will soon be closing in for a little attempt at collection.

 

[2manyrocks]

Check to see if you can file a lien without going to court and what the deadlines are. Often, there are very short deadlines to file mechanics liens.

Find out as much as you can on your own about the guy's ability to pay you, but you may have to resort to small claims court.

Bad economy--lots of bad debt goes with it.