Small claims court

[eggy]

Well after three years of buisness and extending credit to commercial and residential customers it has happened the no payment....I have had plenty of late payments and zero no payments. This residential is not into me for a whole lot but it it still the fact she owes and has been dropped from the route, any advice you guys have about taking er to small claims court would be appreciated....by the way she is into me for 300.00. Thanks in advance.

[Guido]

Hey eggy, since its only a relatively small ammount, I don't see why she would choice court over paying it unless there is something else to the story.

Before I filed for court, I would try to meet with her in person, or a phone call. This way she can not avoid your claim. If all else fails, use the system. I just think thats a lot of hassle and money to recover the $300.00. Try to work it out with her before it comes to that. Sorry!!

Good Luck!! Let us know what happens

[parkwest]

To bad about the deadbeat.

We have gone the small claims route with one of our customers a while back. You are basically at the whim of the presiding judge. I would advise unless you have a written contract with this customer to just write it off as a hard-learned lesson. The judge could say its your word against the customers and all the customer would have to say is she had someone else do the job, not you. You could make more money in the amount of time it would take you to prepare for this case and going to court.

Also, for non-contract clients, establish a firm payment policy such as- Pay as you go - 1st week check not under the mat - Mow and leave a reminder to client to leave check under the mat. 2nd week no check-NO MOW!! Leave reminder to client you will resume services when balance is brought current. Then your only out one week pay. As an added incentive for timely payments, you might give a cash discount (say 5%)to the client and when they don't pay on time(even one day late) remove discount until balance is brought current.

Heres an old saying that works every time, "Only trust someone as much as your willing to lose and you will never be disappointed."
Good luck

[Edited by parkwest on 08-06-2000 at 03:20 PM]

[Finecut]

Eggy,

You have earned that money and deserve to be paid. If the customer owns the property you can put an attachment on her property...here in Illinois it costs $15.00 to put a lean on the property and takes about 15 minutes of your time to fill out the papers at the court house. Before the deed to the property can be transfered, that debt to you must be paid. It will be a debt until the property is sold, at which time you will be paid.

An other route would be a collection agency. To do that they will take about 1/3 of the money collected. The per centage they take is not a fixed amount and if you find someone hungry enough for businesss you might even barter your services for theirs. Good luck!

[parkwest]

Before filing a lien on a property, I would suggest you familiarize yourself with your state's lien law. The rules vary from state to state.

By filing a mechanics lien, the claimant has, in essence, reserved the right to later sue the owner of the property for payment and force the sale of the property, if necessary.

One thing to consider when a mechanic's lien is recorded too late or grossly inflates the amount actually owing, the recorder of the lien does risk exposure to a malicious prosecution suit by the party injured by the recording of the "unperfectable" lien.

You may want to see a lawyer before going this route.

[bob]

I took a customer to small claims. The entire proccess took about a year. I did get my money, but it was a lot of "leg" work. The next year I had 2 dead-beat customers, and told them I was taking them to a collection agency. They both payed in full with-in 7 days. The collection agency will do all the work for you. Try this route.

[thelawnguy]

Send via certified mail a copy of the bill and a copy of the small claims court application (not filed, yet) with a letter stating if payment not recieved in 5, 10, whatever days you will file the suit. You will get your money, unless, as others have said, theres more to the story than non-payment.

[Getmow]

I agree with parkwest. There is alot of time and effort involved using the system. With no written agreement you will be lucky to get 1/2 the amount owed. BEEN THERE - DONE THAT (with a preacher no less).
Sending a certified letter is a good idea but back it up with one through the regular mail. Deadbeats know this trick and often will not sign for, or accept certified mail.

[eggy]

hey thanks guys!! What I did is sent her a final notice saying if not paid in full within five days I will turn it over to a collection agency...I hope this works if not I will talk to a local collection agency..I doubht if I take it much futher since its such a small amount....the account was the worst one I had anyway....should have known...

[sunrise]

we use a collection company that if they dont pay in ? number of day that they sue and all of the charges are on the customer. if no money is recovered then they get nothing
if the win court cost and legal plus 18%

[Runner]

Eggy, I wouldn't use the collection agency unless you did it as a LAST resort. You have earned that money, and if you keep decent records (dates, etc.) and you show this to a judge, You will get your judgement. A verbal contract is STILL A BINDING CONTRACT IN THIS CASE! Good luck with it!

[thelawnguy]

"Sending a certified letter is a good idea but back it up with one through the regular mail. Deadbeats know this trick and often will not sign for, or accept certified mail. "

When sending a letter like this certified you always put as the return address some sweepstakes distribution center, new york city, bla bla but be sure to put your own address on the green return card. (Only the post office sees this, after its removed from the letter). The customer will always sign for it and not know the real sender until they open it.

[Toddppm]

I just sent a certified letter today , no return address on outside, hopefully she signs for it. I put in the letter that we will take her to small claims court and/or file a lien on her property. Not even sure she owns the property, but i did have a signed lawn service agreement with her. Bit## owes me about $530 bucks i didn't even add late fees or anything , i just want to be paid for what we have already done. She already gave me the i didn't recieve your bills story, so i hand delivered copies and still didn't hear anything. Hopefully i'll get paid and never hear from her again.

[yardsmith]

Had a deadbeat last year & multiple letters & calls sent with no luck. SO I took him to court, & they didn't even have it ready on the 1st date, so 3 hrs. lost on my part. 2nd hearing was a no show, so I was awarded the victory so to speak. Put it on his bank acct. to get the funds. All my court costs & filing fees were added to HIS bill; I ALWAYS specify beforehand that if it goes to court, THEY will be responsible for ALL MY fees & court costs.
Judgement was rendered in my favor, but that was in early March, & haven't heard anything. It's a freakin' long drawn out process, but I'll be darned if I'm gonna let someone use me-I've got too many expenses to work for free.

[Stinger]

Eggy: I heard last year that a residence stiffed a small LCO in a neighborhood where we work. Drove by the residence one day in mid Spring and everything in the front yard was dead. Later on found out that the company applied liquid herbicide and killed the lawn as result of non payment. Man that homeowner had to get someone from out of town to renovate the lawn, none of the locals would touch it. This is very unprofessional and I wouldn't recommend it because everyone loses. Try a collection agency + documment everything, phone calls, registered mail, etc. Good luck, and let us know what happens.

[Runner]

Hey Stinger, Is that like the old Roundup water balloon trick? I once heard of someone actually writing some profane messages in the customer's lawn with a sprayer. Hey that'd look good for business if they got caught! lol

[Stinger]

Runner: That someone with the sprayer was probally me,(just kidding)! I've seen this also and it has to make one think about highschool mantality being portrayed at an adult level. Quick toilet paper the trees too before anyone sees us.(lol)

[Barkleymut]

The really juvenile person is the one who doesn't pay their bills. Hey look at me I'm an adult but I can't balance a checkbook. If the a hole ain't gonna pay I'm gonna spray.

[Toddppm]

Finally got the lady to pay, haven't cut her lawn in a month. I let her call 3 times before i called her back, got paid up to date and she stills wants us to cut her grass?Was thinking of charging her extra since it hasn't been cut , but it doesn't look too bad. Hopefully her check clears, i called her bank to make sure she had enough as of today she does. Haven't got the certified return yet, don't know if she's seen it yet. She tried to tell me she'll pay if i cut her grass, i almost laughed at her, told her no cut until paid in full.

[thelawnguy]

Dont put yourself thru the aggravation again. Payment in advance from now on or else find another customer, one that pays.

[Alan]

Well, I've got one who has stiffed me for plowing done last winter. Not enough to take to court, communication isn't happening here either. SO,, while it may be in violation of some law on the books, this jerk is due to get UNplowed this year. After the first time I'll even be nice enough to send him a credit for the UNplowing and see if he gets the hint. I know I'll probably get in trouble for it, but at this point I don't really care