signed a complaint of theft against a guy for $104. sent a bill for $160, this was including interest rates, and filing fees.when he got the letter from the court, he pooped his pants and sent a check for total of $160. i spent 2 hrs in court, it went as follows....judge calls us both up, he's shaking in his boots. judge says have you discussed this matter between yourselves? i say no, but, i'm willing to withdraw my complaint with the understanding that mr. x will pay court costs for today. judge says, done, i'm sure mr. x will be happy to pay your costs, you are free to leave, so, i left. mr. x's bill, of $104 ended up costing him $225. gentlemen please, for the sake of our very exsistance, DO NOT just turn the other cheek when they don't pay. either pull a paulie on them, or take them to court.
i'm going to file against 2 on april 1st. although we have been in operation for more than a decade, we just implemented a formalized collection system over the winter. a 30-60-90 days system. the 90 day threatens court and we send it via certified mail. 3 the 5 clients that got the 90 day gave in and sent payment. it will be my 1st time. hope things go as well for me.
charlies, follow procedure, send the same letter, one copy certified, one standard mail. wait 10 days(i would give it 14) then proceed with complaint. munipal court i think will go much faster than small claims court. it's all in the wording of the complaint. if u say so n so owes me $200 and i want it, i believe that is small claims. if you say so n so stole my service, i believe, because of xx reason,i believe they planned from the start to steal my service, this becomes a criminal matter(in the words of my attorney, god bless him) . good luck
Hey you could do what I did. I spent the whole winter piling up snow in front of the driveway of a guy that didn't pay his last bill. I plowed the house across the street. I got $100 worth of satisfaction out of it.
I took a deadbeat to small claims court a few years back and I brought in the original estimate,Invoice and receipts for materials along with my cell phone bill showing how many times I called the guy he never showed up for court I won the case and was awarded the maximum interest allowed by law and court cost.
I still have not collected from the guy they said they needed his bank records to attach his account so I can collect.
Congrats Bobby. I am just starting out and that is one thing that i have been trying to work out is how to handle deadbeats. Sounds like you have paved the road for a lot us. Thanks for the information.
Why not just make everyone pre-pay 5 week periods they pay the bill before the 5 weeks end or get no service i don't have time to mess with people that don't want to pay and this seems to work well, if they want lawn care they should have no problem paying, before or after the fact
I have this guy who owes well over a hundred dollars. My fault I didn't have him sign a contract but he works with my mother-in-law - so go figure. I've sent him invoice on top of invoice. What a scum bag!! If I see any one else cutting his lawn I'll be sure to inform the new landscapers of his "non payment technique".
I had a problem with a deadbeat. Go figure he was a lawyer. Well, I sent him notice that he had 10 days to pay or I was hading it over to the collection agency and he would have to pay me interest and still pay the collection agency fee's which i informed him was half of the total bill I submit to them. Don't know if that is totally legal, but it worked. Lawyers, go figure!
Originally posted by mtdman For those of you who take deadbeats to court, has the court ever asked to prove that the person owes you the money? If so, how do you prove it?
All that happened when I took one was the judge asked the deadbeat if indeed he owed me money and the customer replied, "well, ya" and started in on this long speil why he hadn't paid me FOR SIX MONTHS. Anyway, the judged decided the payment schedule and he paid his bill off including court costs and all other fees associated w collecting. When I took him to court, I was actually scared that maybe he would try to say that i had not provided quality service or something and try to weasel his way out. But, he didn't.
You can have the Court make him tell you where his bank accounts are. Find out where they work this way too and garnish wages. If the employer doesn't take the garnishment from their wages, the employer is liable.
File a "Request for Order for Disclosure".
File a "Affidavit in Support of an Order to Show Cause" if he doesn't fill out the disclosure statement.
You can also file an "Affidavit of Increased Costs" if it costs more to file more papers.
After you win in court, you have to follow through. If it's a business, you can have someone sit in the business itself and empty the till as it gets the customers money. They just open the cash register and take the cash.
You guys are LUCKY, you actually got your stiffs to show up in court. Mine never showed up. I got a "default judgement" for $677, which along with $1.07 will get me a Double Cheeseburger from McDonald's Value Meal Menu!
If I ever see my debtor again, I may fly you and some of your New Jersey associates in to help me collect. One broken bone at a time!
See my earlier post. If you get a judgment, and you know where the person lives, you CAN collect!
Use the court system in your advantage. Find their employer, and you will get the $$. Make them tell you a bank account number to draw against. File a lien against the property.
I had a Landscape guy we did some mowing and fertilizing for 3 years ago not pay us. Well he paid about $750 . He kept putting us off. Any way I filled small claims action and then he says he will pay. Gives me a Promisory Note which describes what he owes and the payment schedule. He makes one payment and 2 months later files bankrupcy. I lose $3300 and hes still in business. Moral of this story is dont be a nice guy like I was. Take them to court right away like Bobbygedd.
Originally posted by watatrp Hey you could do what I did. I spent the whole winter piling up snow in front of the driveway of a guy that didn't pay his last bill. I plowed the house across the street. I got $100 worth of satisfaction out of it.
I have done that. A buddy of mine had a guy who owed him $400 in plowing. The guy said he didn't want it plowed. He couldn't take him to court because he had no contract. So when he had a 2 footer last year. I paid the plow guy (he was in a cat loader) $50 to take all the snow in this 1/2mile street and pile it in his driveway. The pile was 20 foot tall by 50 wide by 100 long. The guy then called me (i plow with a kubota tractor with 3pt snow blower) to dig him out at $800 in cash up front. I dug a 8 wide path out in 2 hours. So i made 200 in profit, plus 150 in normal pay and it cost me $50 to do so. I was nice and gave my friend the $400 he was owed. I really get even in a non volent way. :blob3:
Well after reading this post yesterday I called the scum bag that owed money and left a threatening message on his answering machine saying I would do what bobbygedd did to his dead beat and the guy called me back an hour later scared out of his mind. Said he is sending check out in the mail today. I told him I would drop the small claims court issue after the check clears. Then he had the nerve to ask if I am still cutiing his lawn because he like the way I do it. I am still thinking it over.
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