I have a customer that is set up for terms of Net 15. Meaning after each mowing - she gets 15 days to have the payment to me. I have mowed her grass 7 times now (She is now about 50 days past due), and no longer am mowing. I put 2 statements in her mailbox saying we are unable to service her lawn until payment is made, Her grass is now about 6-7" high. I havent heard freom her. SHe gave me a whole line of excuses on why she hasnt paid,. and she wont pay via Credit Card either. Any help on what to do? She owes $140. Every time I go by she doesn't answer the door or istn home. LMK steps I need to take.
SharpEdgeLawnCare
Drop by when she has company. Be polite. She'll pay, so as not too look like a thief in front of someone else. I had one that owed me from last season, I stopped in when I saw a guy with a mower, AND company in the house. Paid in full. My record of always getting paid is intact.
Crawdad payup
Crawdad payup
Sharp,
Although small claims court is an option I have a better and faster idea for you. Go to your local police department and find out what the laws are regarding Theft of Services in your state. If you have such a law and you have allowed for all the requirements of the law, you can then advise her that she will be subject to an arrest warrent issued in her name. The police can and will show up at her door or pull her over while driving and take her into custody where she will be processed as a thief.
Gas, water and cable companies all use this versus small claims court as there is no way they can recover the actual stolen services. What she has done is no different then someone running out of the restaraunt without paying, and is a prosecutable offense.
I'll bet once advised she'll pay up fast.
PS: Dont cut her anymore.
Follow up on your post to let us know what you did.
CMerrick
Although small claims court is an option I have a better and faster idea for you. Go to your local police department and find out what the laws are regarding Theft of Services in your state. If you have such a law and you have allowed for all the requirements of the law, you can then advise her that she will be subject to an arrest warrent issued in her name. The police can and will show up at her door or pull her over while driving and take her into custody where she will be processed as a thief.
Gas, water and cable companies all use this versus small claims court as there is no way they can recover the actual stolen services. What she has done is no different then someone running out of the restaraunt without paying, and is a prosecutable offense.
I'll bet once advised she'll pay up fast.
PS: Dont cut her anymore.
Follow up on your post to let us know what you did.
CMerrick
Send her a certified letter stating you need to have full payment by X date. If she does not comply either take her to small claims court or contact a lawyer. A lawyer will handle this matter for you but want to take a piece of the pie but this leaves you free to work on your other clients.
Gravely_Man
Gravely_Man
I agree with the above. Except I will add, if she still didn't pay I would just walk away. A lawyer will not want a piece of that pie. Its only $140. The lawyer fee will eat up most of what she owes you. Its not worth it. $140 is just not enough to go to much trouble over.
Exactly what Gravely Man and Hoss said. Whoever stipulated above that if you don't have a contract, you are sol, is not right though. In contract law, regular services being rendered under a verbal agreement IS a contract. Small claims may be the best bet, and if you have your documentation - dates of cuts and previous bills, then you are in good shape. You WILL win. The courts always favor for guys like us. Also, there is a site that has some good legal documentation info on it. Someone from HERE gave this to us, I wish I could remember who it was. Try this.
https://www.legaldocs.com/docs/con_de_1.mv
Good luck with it!
https://www.legaldocs.com/docs/con_de_1.mv
Good luck with it!
Do you have a contract?
No............you're screwed.
Yes...........You're not screwed, but it will cost you some time and money to chase the customer down, all of which is recoverable IF court cost's and attorney fees is part of the fine print on your contract.
No............you're screwed.
Yes...........You're not screwed, but it will cost you some time and money to chase the customer down, all of which is recoverable IF court cost's and attorney fees is part of the fine print on your contract.
Here is what I have done in the past. I've only run into a hand ful of customers in 5 years that Ive had any problems with.
First, I always get a contract. Once somebody starts getting behind, I call and give a freindly little reminder. I also jot down when I talked with them, what they said, and i keep that. I also send another bill. If they still dont pay, I call them or stop by again. This time I inform them that they have 3 days to pay, or they go to collections. They way I see it, the collection company gets 35%, but I still get something, and something is better than nothing. I give all information to the collection agent. The more info, the better.
I only have one person that I havent gotten my money from. Its somebody I used to work with. She owes me $50.00. I know I'll never see it, but then again, she will never get any loan of any sort until it is paid-so I atleast get some satisfation.
Doug
First, I always get a contract. Once somebody starts getting behind, I call and give a freindly little reminder. I also jot down when I talked with them, what they said, and i keep that. I also send another bill. If they still dont pay, I call them or stop by again. This time I inform them that they have 3 days to pay, or they go to collections. They way I see it, the collection company gets 35%, but I still get something, and something is better than nothing. I give all information to the collection agent. The more info, the better.
I only have one person that I havent gotten my money from. Its somebody I used to work with. She owes me $50.00. I know I'll never see it, but then again, she will never get any loan of any sort until it is paid-so I atleast get some satisfation.
Doug
Well, this doesn't happen any more to us thankfully (thanks to AutoPay) but it used to once in a while. And I would try the methods above (except court - which I feel is unnecessary and a waste of time and resources). I'd try stopping by, calling, giving every opportunity to pay, etc. But when it's time to get really nasty - here's all you need to do;
Write a lein letter like the one attached below. It states that you intend to take out a worker's lein on the property if not paid soon. Leins are sometimes tough to get depending on your state and county regulations. And they are even harder to get for just service related things (e.g. no materials were used to install anything.) But none of that matters. The client is totally clueless about how easy or difficult it would be for you to get a lein. For all they know, you know EXACTLY how to get a lein on their property and how to do it quickly. I've had to pull this card out 5 or 10 times over the years and EVERY SINGLE TIME I've had a check within a few days for the full amount. See letter attached below.....
Write a lein letter like the one attached below. It states that you intend to take out a worker's lein on the property if not paid soon. Leins are sometimes tough to get depending on your state and county regulations. And they are even harder to get for just service related things (e.g. no materials were used to install anything.) But none of that matters. The client is totally clueless about how easy or difficult it would be for you to get a lein. For all they know, you know EXACTLY how to get a lein on their property and how to do it quickly. I've had to pull this card out 5 or 10 times over the years and EVERY SINGLE TIME I've had a check within a few days for the full amount. See letter attached below.....
Don't use a lawyer. Go to the web site of your local courthouse. They probably have the forms. If not, they will help you in person. Lawyer is not needed.
Start charging late fees and finance charges, these will add up.
Send a letter indicating new charges and demand payment.
Indicate a $100 collection fee will be applied if court is necessary.
Go to court for all of the amounts + court costs. If they don't show, you win. State your case to the judge, plain and simple.
Start charging late fees and finance charges, these will add up.
Send a letter indicating new charges and demand payment.
Indicate a $100 collection fee will be applied if court is necessary.
Go to court for all of the amounts + court costs. If they don't show, you win. State your case to the judge, plain and simple.
Taking her to court will cost you far beyond 140 ,it cost about 250 just to file on them in the county I live in , I have had good success in the past threatening them with filing a Lien on their property , you can't file a lien on someone's homestead but 90% of people don't know that...........TACO and by the way ,you can file a Lien on commercial property
In MA it's $25 to file in small claims court.
Here is a clip from the Homestead declaration for MA. If the person does not file the declaration they are not covered under the homestead act. Also, I'm not sure of the "exceptions", but as you can see it does not protect you from everything.. but is a good idea to get, especially for sole proprieter business owners...
Massachusetts law (Chapter 188) allows homeowners to obtain "an estate of homestead" in the home they occupy as their principal residence. This estate of homestead exempts up to $300,000 in the value of the home from creditors - with some exceptions.
Homestead protection is usually obtained by filing a written "Declaration of Homestead" at the Registry of Deeds. Homestead forms may be obtained from the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds.
Here is a clip from the Homestead declaration for MA. If the person does not file the declaration they are not covered under the homestead act. Also, I'm not sure of the "exceptions", but as you can see it does not protect you from everything.. but is a good idea to get, especially for sole proprieter business owners...
Massachusetts law (Chapter 188) allows homeowners to obtain "an estate of homestead" in the home they occupy as their principal residence. This estate of homestead exempts up to $300,000 in the value of the home from creditors - with some exceptions.
Homestead protection is usually obtained by filing a written "Declaration of Homestead" at the Registry of Deeds. Homestead forms may be obtained from the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds.
Not so plain and simple. A judgement doesn't do anything if they are a deadbeat. It just goes on their credit as a bad mark (which they probably already have plenty of and don't care) and a judgement doesn't get your your money. It just gets you a legal document saying they owe you the money. Actually getting the money is very difficult. Have you guys who are advocating small claims stuff every really done it? Because I have. I've STILL got a judgement from a guy from like 5 years back. To this day we've still never received a dime from him and we've never been successful tapping into his bank accounts because there's never money in there or the bank account gets closed.
Not to mention I wasted countless hours filing papers, going to court, trying to collect, etc. It was an ENORMOUS WASTE OF TIME!!! With the hours I spent trying to collect from this bum, I could have spent them doing more work, landing more jobs, building my business and I would have actually MADE MONEY. Lots of it!!!
I am sorry, I just don't like the small claims court / judgement except for maybe larger amounts (e.g. thousands of dollars). Because otherwise it just has the potential of being a huge waste of time and resources that would be better spent elsewhere.
Finally, my experience has always shown that the lein letter above worked perfectly and quickly with relatively little effort and time.
But can you actually file a lien without winning in court? I agree, try the letter, even if it's a bluff. Pretty cheap way out if it works.
I agree, winning in court is not collecting money. I just filed court docs today; they are pretty simple in MN. I am planning on winning in court, then filing a lien against the properties. I have two, both in the same county so they will be the same day. Total amounts are ~500 each, lots of that in late fees, finance charges and collection fees. You also get awarded any courts costs.
Minnesota is $35 court fees for under $2500.
If someone doesn't do it, there is no incentive for anyone to pay. Besides, it's a good learning experience for those of you that have not gone to court.
I agree, winning in court is not collecting money. I just filed court docs today; they are pretty simple in MN. I am planning on winning in court, then filing a lien against the properties. I have two, both in the same county so they will be the same day. Total amounts are ~500 each, lots of that in late fees, finance charges and collection fees. You also get awarded any courts costs.
Minnesota is $35 court fees for under $2500.
If someone doesn't do it, there is no incentive for anyone to pay. Besides, it's a good learning experience for those of you that have not gone to court.
this situation is the only reason i will bad mouth a person in the neighborhood. got no respect for a person that lets me sweat and dont want to pay.plus u are letting the folks around know ,she is a deadbeat..
got a horse boarding operation that new to the area ,that is deadbeating me now. itll cost him more than it will me.
got a horse boarding operation that new to the area ,that is deadbeating me now. itll cost him more than it will me.
I seems like you are getting worked up over a small amount of money. I agree that there is no amount of money that is good to loose. If I am out on mowing, I consider that to be labor, as the other customers can pay for the equipment. I also get at least a 50% depsoit on landscape jobs to help pay for materials. If I do not get paid for hardscape/landscape work, I am out labor charges. For $140. I would not work real hard at getting paid. Just use this a lesson learned. If it was 1400 or 14,000 then I would try a lot harder to get the money.
I don't see anything wrong with getting worked up over money owed to you. It's the principal - not the amount that determines whether or not you should feel upset about it. And the principal is that it's wrong to not pay for work rendered.
That being said, the amount of money should sort of dictate the measure of response. However righteous, there comes a point where the time you'd spend chasing the money is worth more than the money itself. In other words, you'd make more money to just not pursue it any further. And for 140 bucks, that point comes after maybe a few phone calls, stops by the house, a few letters, and maybe a final demand letter or intent to lein letter. Anything further is just not productive and your time and money is better spent to just forget about it and go about your business. However, on a $1000 or $5000 amount, your time may well be better spent pursuing that person further.
That being said, the amount of money should sort of dictate the measure of response. However righteous, there comes a point where the time you'd spend chasing the money is worth more than the money itself. In other words, you'd make more money to just not pursue it any further. And for 140 bucks, that point comes after maybe a few phone calls, stops by the house, a few letters, and maybe a final demand letter or intent to lein letter. Anything further is just not productive and your time and money is better spent to just forget about it and go about your business. However, on a $1000 or $5000 amount, your time may well be better spent pursuing that person further.
I wouldn't waste too muchy time with 140.00, I agree it's the principal but that amount of money isn't worth to much effort. If it's easy enough to get without getting to wrapped up with I would let it go. I have one guy that owes me 1500.00 and another that owes me 500.00 both from last year. To me thats worth persuing but I can make 140.00 in an hour. It's still the point that is aggrevating but you have to figure out if it's even worth you time and effort.
I do agree that 140.00 is not much money to spend alot of time fighting over.
However, In he county i live in, the cost is a mere 35.00. Whoever was saying 250.00 ... wow i would hate to live there.
Once aclient receives the summons to appear in court, this usually does the trick. They pay up, and very little effort was used. You may have to eat the 35.00, but the extra time you save well makes up for it.
The property lien sounds good, but what about the inevitable?Sooner or later someone is going to call your bluff. Its a gamble I'm not sure id be willing to take. I cant say for sure because i haven't a clue on how to file a lien against someones property.
However, In he county i live in, the cost is a mere 35.00. Whoever was saying 250.00 ... wow i would hate to live there.
Once aclient receives the summons to appear in court, this usually does the trick. They pay up, and very little effort was used. You may have to eat the 35.00, but the extra time you save well makes up for it.
The property lien sounds good, but what about the inevitable?Sooner or later someone is going to call your bluff. Its a gamble I'm not sure id be willing to take. I cant say for sure because i haven't a clue on how to file a lien against someones property.
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