Ever Had To Threaten A Client With A Lawsuit?

Assuming they're in the same state as you, go sue them in small claims. In NY it's just an arbitration process.

Granted, once you win your judgement it's still on you to enforce it which is a hell of a lot harder....

I've successfully sued a company, won the judgement and started hounding their accounting department to pay the judgement. We could have went to the marshals and had them seize the money from their bank, but to make more of a stink of it we threatened to have the marshals come seize assets from their office. Since they're a pretty well-to-do company they definitely didn't want marshals walking around seizing computers and proceeded to fedex a check.

Someone above said to contact relatives and tell them the person owes you money - I'm not a lawyer, but from my research that violates the fair debt collection practices act since you can't discuss the debt with anyone but the debtor. HOWEVER, you can call their acquaintances and ask them to have the person contact you. This is typically enough of a mind fuck to shake the person up any way.
 


rogerrabbit said:
Someone above said to contact relatives and tell them the person owes you money - I'm not a lawyer, but from my research that violates the fair debt collection practices act since you can't discuss the debt with anyone but the debtor. HOWEVER, you can call their acquaintances and ask them to have the person contact you. This is typically enough of a mind fuck to shake the person up any way.
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You're correct, however you need to realize that not making calls to discuss the debt, but rather to establish contact with the debtor. A typical call goes something like this:

"Hello"
"Hi, this is John calling from the accounts receivable department over at Acme. We're having a hard time getting in contact with Tony Lloyd and I was hoping you knew him"
"Huh? Accounts receivable? Tony Lloyd?"
"Yes, it's my job to follow up on unpaid bills to Acme. Do you know Tony?"
"Oh my, what does he owe?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to discuss the nature of the debt with you. Can you confirm his cell number is 555-555-555?"
"Sorry, I can't help you"
"Alright, well if you see Tony, please tell him that John from accounts receivable is trying to reach him"

Rinse and repeat with family, friends, neighbors and colleagues until you get your money back. Don't forget the occasional registered letter.
 
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It depends on who you are suing. If it is an individual or small business who has no assets, and very little money, suing is a waste of time. Called judgement proof. The only people that win in this case are the lawyers.

If the company has assets and/or lots of cash, and the amount that is owed is larger than what you can get in small claims, than you have to weigh your options. Be prepared to put up a bunch of cash for lawyers, and hope that the process happens quick.

Once you get a judgement, you are talking a whole other rigmarole.

I usually just skip the whole process and send in Ray.

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Fiver said:
I have a client who hasn't payed in over 6 months and neither emails or phone calls seem to help. She makes empty promises and then doesn't deliver.

At what point do you threaten to take them to small claims court to get your money back and how would/did you do it?
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Didn't read all the replies but there are two very simple ways to handle this with a 99% success rate.

1. Just draft a letter with legal letter head that threatens litigation unless payment is made by X date. If you don't have a lawyer friend who can do this, there are a ton of options you can find online.

2. If the above doesn't yield results, get a collection agency to go after them. All you need is your original agreement and overdue invoice. Even if they don't pay up front, their credit will be fucked until they do.

Good luck.
 
Nope, never had to. Back in the days was threatened with the lots though. Thankfully I didn't skimp on lawyer fees, and had a solid EULA written. I'd just send them that, which basically always shut them up.

The customers I liked the best are the ones who pretended to be their own lawyer. They'd just make up a name, and start firing off these angry e-mails pretending to be their own lawyer, when it's obvious they were the same person. Good times.
 
Or another idea, do all your backlinking for your clients through a 301 that you own. They don't fucking pay, you remove the 301, and they're fucked. You get a call 3 weeks later -- PAID in full and PLEASE reinstate the links baby, please!
 
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