Please help

[Adrian 155]

I have been holding my own for almost 6 yrs. now with nothing but satisfied customers ( sometimes picky, but satisfied).

I have a customer who has gone missing on me( or dodging me) and owes me for services rendered. ( resi pw and fence resto) sidebar: he has been a real Richard head from the start.

I have contacted( mail, email, voxmail) him since Nov. 08 to no avail.

I am afraid taking legal action will cost more than the job is worth ($1500.00).

Any ideas on how to collect? Other than putting a hit out on him (kidding of course).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Doug Dahlke 114]

Can't you put a lein on the property?

[Adrian 155]

I may be able to but I am inexperienced in that field. I don't know how as I have pretty much only had compliant customers all these years.

Never ran into a customer like this. He has had bad experiences ( I'm sure due to his attitude) in the past with other contractors and seems to have towards me.

Maybe I should just move on and let him feel as if he got over on me.

It's not really the $$$$, it's the principle. He's a real jerk that seemed to look for issues before they are there if you know what I mean.

[Christopher 102]

I do not know the process but at the courthouse they can explain how to do the lien, that is what I would do before the property is sold, in case he is putting it on the market.

A lien will stop the sale until th lien is paid.

A lien might be put in the public record (newspapers), I am not sure, so everyone can see and then people that know him will see that and know what kind of person he is.

I would do this since he is dodging you and will not pay. A lien will let him know that you are serious and mean business.

I would send him a certified letter stating that you are putting a lien on his property and will now have to pay for the court costs, job costs and your personal expenses to do the lien now.

I think a lien is only good for 17 years but I could be wrong.

That is all I know about that which is not that much. hahaha

Good Luck!

__________________

Superior Power Washing

Chris Chappell

361-853-2513

Fleet Washing in Corpus Christi Texas

Exterior House Cleaning in Corpus Christi Texas

[Alexy 85]

Send him the bill and a demand letter giving 10 buisness days to pay the amount due or you will begin a civil suit against him. The letter needs to have your bill copy and needs to be sent registered mail retun recipt required ( will run about 13 dollars at the post office) The return is considered legal service to him of a debt owed and if he does not reply to it you then go to small claims court where you are licenced to do buisness and file a warrant in debt for the ammount in question. You will need to fill out the paperwork write out a bill of particulars ( what happened) and file it withthe court and pay fro the sheriff to serve it ( here in VA the filing is 35 dollars and the service is 25 dollars) ONCE SERVED IF HE DOES NOT PAY OR GO TO COURT ONCE THERE YOU CAN BE COMPENSATED NOT ONLY FOR THE BILL BUT YOUR TIME AND COSTS TO FILE THE PAPERWORK. If he doesn't show the judgement will be issued against him and any tax money he gets the following year will go to you first to stisfy the judgement and the court will enforce it you will not have to do any furter once the judgement is issued by the court.

[CCPC 26]

Send him the bill and a demand letter giving 10 buisness days to pay the amount due or you will begin a civil suit against him. The letter needs to have your bill copy and needs to be sent registered mail retun recipt required ( will run about 13 dollars at the post office) The return is considered legal service to him of a debt owed and if he does not reply to it you then go to small claims court where you are licenced to do buisness and file a warrant in debt for the ammount in question. You will need to fill out the paperwork write out a bill of particulars ( what happened) and file it withthe court and pay fro the sheriff to serve it ( here in VA the filing is 35 dollars and the service is 25 dollars) ONCE SERVED IF HE DOES NOT PAY OR GO TO COURT ONCE THERE YOU CAN BE COMPENSATED NOT ONLY FOR THE BILL BUT YOUR TIME AND COSTS TO FILE THE PAPERWORK. If he doesn't show the judgement will be issued against him and any tax money he gets the following year will go to you first to stisfy the judgement and the court will enforce it you will not have to do any furter once the judgement is issued by the court.

Sounds like you've been there, done that.

[Adrian 155]

Great!!! I will see what is involved on my end and see how it parallels with your advice. So basically, get the warning out first. Then Start the dirty work.

If they were all like him I wouldn't think twice about becoming a milkman right now.

Thank God they are not. He's a real class act.

[CCPC 26]

I guess I've been lucky so far. I've a few slow payments, but never had a customer flat out not pay. Good luck with it, and if all else fails; sneak onto his property when he's not home, and throw a few gallons of paint on his deck, and house. That will show him.

[Adrian 155]

he he

I have made jokes in the past that "if you are not happy with our performance, we will give you your dirt back"

[MMI Enterprises 289]

No mercy mang! Call the guy when you know he is in there and leave message that you'll be over in 30 minutes for your "" meeting. Get a few big rough looking guys with hoodies on and have them park their Continetal across the street when you know he up and around. Have them stand there staring at his house for a few hour. Then you come and make a bunch of motions to them as if your telling them what ya want done. They should be shaking their heads and shaking your hand and comforting you. Pay them a C note right there if ya like...LOL

Then hook up with him when he heading to work, going to store, etc. and tell him in private he needs to pay up or them guys are gonna straight up ruin his life in unbelievable ways...

Personally I'd say just tell him the facts of what's gonna happen and tell them ya know where they live or that a restraining order doesn't actually keep them breathing..lol

I'm a big enough scary guy to get away with it myself..unsure about you so... Trick is to talk really weird and crazy not in a threatening way but in a factual way. Helps to let them know that your not one to take it to the judge or to be taken advantage of. Could explain to him that your principles just do not allow you to forget this and that you'll have to get him in the most imaginitive ways when he least expects it. Sure fire method of getting paid is to walk up to his wife somewhere and tell her what's gonna happen to her wonderful husband that doesn't pay the bills.

Collections are best handled off the record.

[Adrian 155]

.....in consideration Kevin. But, I'm such a runt.

[CCPC 26]

No mercy mang! Call the guy when you know he is in there and leave message that you'll be over in 30 minutes for your "" meeting. Get a few big rough looking guys with hoodies on and have them park their Continetal across the street when you know he up and around. Have them stand there staring at his house for a few hour. Then you come and make a bunch of motions to them as if your telling them what ya want done. They should be shaking their heads and shaking your hand and comforting you. Pay them a C note right there if ya like...LOL

Then hook up with him when he heading to work, going to store, etc. and tell him in private he needs to pay up or them guys are gonna straight up ruin his life in unbelievable ways...

Personally I'd say just tell him the facts of what's gonna happen and tell them ya know where they live or that a restraining order doesn't actually keep them breathing..lol

I'm a big enough scary guy to get away with it myself..unsure about you so... Trick is to talk really weird and crazy not in a threatening way but in a factual way. Helps to let them know that your not one to take it to the judge or to be taken advantage of. Could explain to him that your principles just do not allow you to forget this and that you'll have to get him in the most imaginitive ways when he least expects it. Sure fire method of getting paid is to walk up to his wife somewhere and tell her what's gonna happen to her wonderful husband that doesn't pay the bills.

Collections are best handled off the record.

I wouldn't recommend going this route, but in a world without consequences it sure would be a fun way to handle it!

[All Surface 24]

Sounds like you've been there, done that.

That is exactly what I was gonna post until I scolled down and saw yours.

[Douglas Hicks 128]

You need to get a copy of the lien laws, how to file a lien, the time limits, what you can do and cannot do. You need to know what the fees to you will be and what can be passed on to your former customer.

You may be able to file a lien, but that just gets the process started. You need to know the next step, is it small claims court, forclosure? What can you do and what does the lawyer need to do. After small claims, or forclosure, how do you collect. How long does the process take, how much money will it cost.

Remember, every state is different. The law is like our trades, go to a professional.

When this is resolved, come and tell us, it will help the rest of us.

[Christopher 102]

Good Luck Adrian, let us know how it proceeds and the steps you take.

__________________

Superior Power Washing

Chris Chappell

361-853-2513

Fleet Washing in Corpus Christi Texas

Exterior House Cleaning in Corpus Christi Texas

[814jeffw 71]

First off, that sucks having to deal with that,...and in the end it really is about the money, otherwise it would be a non-issue. But with that being said, handle it professionally, (tough I know), especially if he's not communicating at all. Ask what the reason behind his refusal to pay,..give the option to break it into 3 payments over three months. Not sure what was paid up front but, ask at least be reimbursed for out of pocket expenses and you'll move on. Talk to his wife if possible, she may not realize you haven't been paid. But once you exhaust all of the free options, I would just move on and not spend more money for the principal of it. It could possibly consume a lot of time and still not get anywhere. Just my opinion. Like you said, doesn't happen much, so don't let one knothead consume any more your life.

Jeff

Edited January 25, 2009 by 814jeffw

[Alexy 85]

Great!!! I will see what is involved on my end and see how it parallels with your advice. So basically, get the warning out first. Then Start the dirty work.

If they were all like him I wouldn't think twice about becoming a milkman right now.

Thank God they are not. He's a real class act.

When you write the letter be sure you write out exactly the amount due and when it needs to be to you. DO NOT ACCEPT a PARTIAL PAYMENT. When you do this you have then extended him credit to pay the bill and can not pursue the judgement in the same way. ( You can but it is much more involved).

If you want a example of the letter I use PM'm me and I will e-mail it to you. I do commercial exhaust cleaning only so it is diffrent as far as who you are sueing ( a buisness as opposed to a person) and the judgement can be attached to a bank account their sales tax bill or state income tax returns. I have actually been luck I did this to a restaurant that closed and had a judgement against the corp for the amount. when they filed bankrupcy since my judgement was allready in place I was paid first and got my money . If you did not have your money by 12-31-08 you can write the bill off as a loss on you 2008 taxes but it must be documneted as both income and a loss to claim it.

Edited January 25, 2009 by Alexy

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

www.lienlawonline.com is a good place to find information regarding your states regulations provided for this tool to help you collect unpaid debt.

You can also get a collector to act on your behalf with only a marginal fee out of the total collected. Better than nothing.

Rod!~

Edited January 25, 2009 by Beth n Rod
correct url link

[Adrian 155]

Thx all. I've just hired a hitman.....KIDDING KIDDING.

I'm working on it. Not much I can do over the weekend, but this is by far not over.

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Tell him you've given him some time and if he still needs more time to scrape funds together that you'll set him up with a payment plan instead of taking him to court. But condition him that he needs to put some money up to hold you off and that he needs to stay current to the schedule.

..likely a pipe dream though as people with integrity and charactor would have explained to you whatever issue they have. Scum of the Earth I tell ya...this type stuff keeps food from babies mouthes and suffers people. Needs a beating I tell ya!

[CleanPortland 14]

I had a client last year that would not pay for months and it was a small gutter cleaning job $250. What we did and have done for other clients is to write a letter with an invoice letting them know that they have 30 days to pay and the next time that they are contacted it will be by a collections agent... if they care about their credit they will most certainly pay immediately.

I have not had to go to the point of putting a lien on a house but that would be my next step.

Good Luck!

[Brad Corns 14]

I have been fortunate with customers paying on time. If they dont a stern collection letter usually works. You should be able to put a lien on property for small cost.

[Adrian 155]

...I'm still actively pursueing the situation. Liens really will do nothing as he is not selling the resi. But, I do have legal action pending. Although it is on the back burner at this point as we approach the 90 day mark, I have not given up. I generally have faith in most people, but unless this guy has passed away or in financial straits, or on his death bed cancer ridden, well, he just sucks IMO.

It's far from over though.

[Douglas Hicks 128]

http://www.nationallienlaw.com This address reads National Lien Law, not Nation alien law. You can plug in your state and get an idea what you can do. It would still be a good idea to talk to an attorney. My attorney wrote me a letter outlining what I can and cannot do and when to call him to handle the problem.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Adrian,

A lien also shows up on your credit report. I believe you can also file a credit report with any of the bureaus after 3 months of non-payment to create a credit history.

I''d check into it since this person does not care about your business, why not return the favor?

Rod!~

[Adrian 155]

Bump.....

Just wanted to thank everyone for their input and help on this one.

........ paid in full.