Your Advice: How to Get a Deadbeat Client to Pay!

[TeeNee]

Seems like this topic comes up for me at least once a year, but this is the biggest one yet. My client owes me a good chunk of money for a project I did for him from Sept '08 to March '09, and after a letter from me, numerous reminders, phone calls, and a letter from a lawyer, I still have nothing. He even said, "When I have the money, you'll have it."

He's full of beans saying he doesn't have the money, as he brags about hobnobbing with the rich & famous on yachts and how his clients have to meet an income requirement to work with him.

What sage advice could you share in order to collect what's owed to me? I've exhausted most of my resources and don't want to waste any more time and money on small claims court if I don't have to. I'm not a creditor or a bank and I'm not a huge corporation that wouldn't hurt much by not being paid; I'm struggling just to buy groceries lately.

Thanks for your help!!

[JMB Marketing Group]

Did you have a written contract?

If not, let me know and I will send you one to use for future clients!

In the meantime, is there anyway you can hold him / his business hostage (suspend anything) until he pays up? Just a thought!

JMB

[Karen Connell]

Is there no way that you can use the stuff that you have created for him?

As a writer, I don't ask for any upfront payment but all my clients are told at the outset that payment is due within 24 hours of receiving their work.

If they don't pay, I simply throw up a blog and put the work on there, then add what I have written to a PLR pack and sell it or even give it away.

That way, they no longer have exclusive content - simply more PLR.

I have only had to do this twice and both times the client was outraged that I would use 'their' content even though they hadn't paid for it. lol

In the future I would complete the work and then send them a paypal invoice for them to pay before releasing the work.

If it's a long term project, then invoice your client at regular intervals before moving on to the next part of their project, at least then you won't lose too much!

Good Luck.

Karen

[myob]

You already showed he acknowledges the debt, and I assume you have billing records. Report him to the credit agencies. With a smudge on his credit report, that may get his attention. The amount does not matter for filing.

[Thomas]

If it was me, having exhausted all other "at a distance" avenues, I'd escalate things by turning up on their door step and asking for payment. He won't have it there-and-then, but tell him you'll call back tomorrow (or whenever he says he can get it). And then come back at that time.

However, sexist as it may sound, I don't recommend that a woman takes that route. Have you got any large meancing-looking male friends or relatives? Or, if you're willing to give up part of what's due, you can employ a debt collector that will take a portion of what's collected as payment instead of pre-payment.

So long as you stay within the law, you're perfectly entitled to take whatever action is necessary to collect what's owed to you.

Alternatively, although things may work differently in the US compared to here, it's possible to take someone to the Small Claims Court via registered mail for a total cost of about €20 (which, I think, is about $30). The Court will write to the person in question. They are obliged to respond. If they don't, a judgement is automatically made in your favour.

Tommy.

[Michael Motley]

Originally Posted by Thomas

If it was me, having exhausted all other "at a distance" avenues, I'd escalate things by turning up on their door step and asking for payment. He won't have it there-and-then, but tell him you'll call back tomorrow (or whenever he says he can get it). And then come back at that time.

However, sexist as it may sound, I don't recommend that a woman takes that route. Have you got any large meancing-looking male friends or relatives? Or, if you're willing to give up part of what's due, you can employ a debt collector that will take a portion of what's collected as payment instead of pre-payment.

So long as you stay within the law, you're perfectly entitled to take whatever action is necessary to collect what's owed to you.

Alternatively, although things may work differently in the US compared to here, it's possible to take someone to the Small Claims Court via registered mail for a total cost of about €20 (which, I think, is about $30). The Court will write to the person in question. They are obliged to respond. If they don't, a judgement is automatically made in your favour.

Tommy.

This sounds like a good plan. He's probably sidestepping you because you're female and he thinks he can pull a stunt like this. and yeah, small claims is like $20 but if you have no documentation you might be twisting in the wind.

[JMSD]

Originally Posted by TeeNee

Seems like this topic comes up for me at least once a year, but this is the biggest one yet. My client owes me a good chunk of money for a project I did for him from Sept '08 to March '09, and after a letter from me, numerous reminders, phone calls, and a letter from a lawyer, I still have nothing. He even said, "When I have the money, you'll have it."

He's full of beans saying he doesn't have the money, as he brags about hobnobbing with the rich & famous on yachts and how his clients have to meet an income requirement to work with him.

What sage advice could you share in order to collect what's owed to me? I've exhausted most of my resources and don't want to waste any more time and money on small claims court if I don't have to. I'm not a creditor or a bank and I'm not a huge corporation that wouldn't hurt much by not being paid; I'm struggling just to buy groceries lately.

Thanks for your help!!

Hi

You're based in the US so I don't know if what we have here in the UK would work there.

This applies only if your debtor is an incorporated company (eg a Limited Company in the UK or the equivalent, perhaps, in the US. You'll have to check what applies in the US).

I had such a client (a CEO of a company) who owed me in excess of £15,000 in fees for executive placements with his company. When the time came to pay, he pleaded poverty but I found him swanning off to Japan almost weekly on business (First Class, of course - I knew his PA). When confronted with this, he claimed that my terms to which he had attached his signature in agreement were unreasonable and that he'd pay me after 90 days as he paid his "other suppliers."

I sent him a brief and polite letter by special delivery on that day in which I stated that unless I received cleared funds on the following day by 12.00 Noon, I would commence a Winding Up Order. This can have serious and almost immediate effect on the offending company.

He sent his PA to our offices the following day with a Banker's Draft at 11.50 am! Rumour had it that his board of directors admonished him for his cavalier conduct and forced him to honour his contract with our firm.

Had he called my bluff, then the result would not have been positive for us but as it was, the threat was too serious for him to fool around with. Did he do business with us again? Yes! But I sent him a pro-former invoice and received payment before I began any work for his firm.

You could find out what the equivalent process might be for you in the US. Incidentally, I'm no lawyer but had read quite a few business and legal books and picked that tip up from an accountant!

I had need to use that threat only twice in 20 years of business and in each case the client continued to seek our services.

James

PS - I did not even have to consult a lawyer before I wrote the letter of warning to the client so the cost to me was my PA's time in typing the letter and the special delivery postage fee.

[Michael Motley]

What is a winding up order?

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by Michael Motley

What is a winding up order?

It's creditors' liquidation; a Court Order forcing the closure of a business and the sale of assets to pay creditors.

[TeeNee]

Thanks so much for all of your wonderful advice! There were a few things you brought up that I hadn't thought of, like using the content publicly. Maybe I'll put an e-book together or start posting tidbits on social networking sites.

I don't have a written contract, but all of my business is conducted via e-mail, it clearly states on my invoices that funds are due upon receipt of the invoice and I do charge a monthly late fee.

It was an ongoing project and I did invoice him monthly. He had a habit of not paying right on time, but he always did pay in the past, so I kept going with the work so I wouldn't fall behind since this was an established client whom I'd worked with for several years already, and he had proven to be trustworthy in the past.

He has not received all of the content I transcribed for him. When he was not sending payments, I stopped sending him transcripts, letting him know that he needed to pay first since the bill had grown significantly.

I would certainly show up on his doorstep myself if I had the means and funds to get there! I think I'm quite menacing myself, as I stand 6 feet tall! We're separated by many miles, in different states, and it really wouldn't be worth my time to travel that far. I had given him a substantial discount and when all is said and done, my profit, after paying my helpers, was around $80. That is already gone in my time and in bartering transcription services with my lawyer friend to send the letter.

[seasoned]

Originally Posted by TeeNee

Thanks so much for all of your wonderful advice! There were a few things you brought up that I hadn't thought of, like using the content publicly. Maybe I'll put an e-book together or start posting tidbits on social networking sites.

I don't have a written contract, but all of my business is conducted via e-mail, it clearly states on my invoices that funds are due upon receipt of the invoice and I do charge a monthly late fee.

It was an ongoing project and I did invoice him monthly. He had a habit of not paying right on time, but he always did pay in the past, so I kept going with the work so I wouldn't fall behind since this was an established client whom I'd worked with for several years already, and he had proven to be trustworthy in the past.

He has not received all of the content I transcribed for him. When he was not sending payments, I stopped sending him transcripts, letting him know that he needed to pay first since the bill had grown significantly.

I would certainly show up on his doorstep myself if I had the means and funds to get there! I think I'm quite menacing myself, as I stand 6 feet tall! We're separated by many miles, in different states, and it really wouldn't be worth my time to travel that far. I had given him a substantial discount and when all is said and done, my profit, after paying my helpers, was around $80. That is already gone in my time and in bartering transcription services with my lawyer friend to send the letter.

Well, going there COULD be considered harrassment, and there ARE some laws against such things. A height of 6 feet, by itself, doesn't make one manacing.

BTW people that crow the loudest often have the LEAST to crow about! I have had well connected friends with LAVISH lifestyles that ended up BROKE!

One person I know started a NATIONWIDE internet service, and had offices in nearly EVERY state. He had special arrangements with manufacturers and internet companies. One day, he showed us(SEVERAL working with/for his company) the TV commercials he was about to run.

He was ALSO slow to pay, but did. I eventually noticed that they were paying latter, I confronted them and "got paid". One day I heard a RUMOR that his company was going to go bankrupt. It DID!

Of course, ONE friend called me to apologize that a client HE got me paid so late. He was SHOCKED when I said they paid on time. It turned out that UCLA(the university) paid earlier than normal because it was the end of their fiscal year, and they wanted to clear the books!

By contrast, I have known people that seem to be middle class or less, but turn out to be filthy rich. HEY, look at steve wozniak! Woz.org...Everyone is Welcome

One company was flat broke and ran a HUGE advertising blitz in the 80s! MAN were they lucky it paid off and made them practically a household name. Of course, they ended up going to court SO much that many now consider them HAS BEENS! Of course, there is the story about a guy that acted a bit bratty, made it sound like he was rich, though he really wasn't, and got jailed, etc... He has lost a LOT of his worth, TENS of billions, and is STILL the #1 guy on the forbes list.

Well, I guess the moral is DON'T judge a book by its cover!

Steve

[HeySal]

TeeNee - If you are writing, when you accept an assignment make it very clear, in writing, that the copyright stays in YOUR name with rights to be released to them upon payment only. Also make it clear that work not paid for within X amount of time the agreement will be null and void and the copyright will stay in your hands and the material will be used as YOU see fitting. Make them sign that agreement. If they won't sign, you have a problem from the get.

If you don't feel easy with the arrangement, go one step further and ask for 50% down as retainer.

[TeeNee]

I don't really care if someone claims to be "rich" or not...plain and simple, this guy asked me to do a job for him and didn't pay me for it. It makes me so angry that he doesn't seem to respect me enough to even make monthly payments on what he owes.

I do have awesome clients who pay on time and if they are going to be late, they at least make payments until their debt is paid in full. I don't mind that at all.

Maybe I should establish some kind of contract with the terms clearly stated and not rely on e-mails to be the written agreements.

If I ever go to knock on his door, I'd take my dad (6'8") and brother (6'6") with me if this here large woman ain't scary enough!

[jacktackett]

TeeNee - if it comes to the point where you don't expect to get payment ever - ie you have nothing to lose, then one thing you can do is create a 1099 for the amount he owes you and send him a copy and the IRS a copy. he then has to pay taxes on that 'income' or face an audit.

IANAL or an accountant, but I've heard this suggested at several events here in RTP for small businesses.

Of course the mere hint you might do that could shake lose some $$$.

Sorry you have to go through this - but it happens to a lot of vendors - Good luck!

best,
--Jack

[seasoned]

Originally Posted by jacktackett

TeeNee - if it comes to the point where you don't expect to get payment ever - ie you have nothing to lose, then one thing you can do is create a 1099 for the amount he owes you and send him a copy and the IRS a copy. he then has to pay taxes on that 'income' or face an audit.

IANAL or an accountant, but I've heard this suggested at several events here in RTP for small businesses.

Of course the mere hint you might do that could shake lose some $$$.

Sorry you have to go through this - but it happens to a lot of vendors - Good luck!

best,
--Jack

OR, he could possibly get TeeNee in trouble for PERJURY!!!!!! although the IRS DOES have barter and donation laws that provide for the recipient of a benefit, and tax on "fair value", I DOUBT the 1099 applies. Of course, I am not an accountant or lawyer, but you should be aware that such a thing IS a posibility, ESPECIALLY if he isn't actually using the stuff, or you have no real proof.

Steve