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.