Wondering about Collections

I just file a lien. Mechanic's Lien.

?ÿ That really wakes them up.?ÿ Car/House/property.?ÿ?ÿ Good fun. This is after playing nice of course.?ÿ But I have too much time.?ÿ ;)?ÿ

Collection agency might not want it if it's not got enough meat on the bone, and depending on what state you live in too, decides on how you can invoke the due process of your debt collections.

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Good luck, and that always sucks when people decide not to pay for something, especially if it's intentional.

Thanks, this is actually a commercial project and client to where we're a sub to a sub - so a lien may not be viable.?ÿ Slow payment is definitely more of a problem than non-payment.?ÿ Every company I know of threatens interest escalation for aging, and the clients always "agree" to that concept by way of accepting the Ts & Cs set forth on the short form - but absolutely nobody I know of actually goes after it.?ÿ If we collect the original amount we're happy.

One-off commercial clients always seem to pose the most risk.?ÿ Both in terms of payment and ability to manage cost vs. expectations.

Edit:?ÿ it is also funny the number of clients that you're sure you've damaged the relationship beyond repair trying to get paid for that first project and they turn into repeat clients. 🙂

Avoid oil people, horse traders and alternative energy people. ?ÿThat will reduce the list of tough collections in a hurry. ?ÿLLC's of any kind are tough to collect from via court. ?ÿAlso, avoid those who are on some form of assistance as you can't garnish most of those forms of income. ?ÿLearned that after doing a job for a couple who turned out to be living on disability (both of them). ?ÿOnce went so far as to come within one day of having an auction to sell the tract surveyed to satisfy the judgement. ?ÿCollected the original amount plus interest and plus my attorney fees.

Just say no to certain potential clients.

Life's too short to give away your goods to those who have no intention of paying no matter what the charge is.

I have collected every single penny I have ever billed. Have had to badger and annoy them and track them down at night and knock on their door. And I have done a few things that would have gotten me arrested had anyone caught me.

I would file a lien, sub to a sub is of no concern to me.

Judgement lien works too, again if you have the time.

AS I get closer to mid life(.....> 50) I'm less inclined to spend time in court unless I feel particularly passionate about legally body-slamming someone whom I feel really deserves it.

Then I'm like Jimmy Super-Fly Snooka from the top rope!!!!

had similar Client who signed our Agreement with 18% apr. ?ÿ Client was shady and evaded notices. ?ÿ Fast forward 10 years and was asked by purchaser of Client's property to flag corners on our plat which I did.?ÿ I called our attorney who advised to immediately go to the courthouse and file a lien.?ÿ I got paid the original amount plus 4 or 5 times that.

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I'm surprised you can collect from the new owner if the lien wasn't of record when they bought the property.

the purchaser contacted me to flag the corners prior to settlement.?ÿ Attorney said just flag the corners and file the lien.?ÿ I sent a copy of the lien to the closing agent.?ÿ I was pleasantly pleased we could get the full amount plus the interest for the original work we did by just flagging the corners.

Ah, so the lien was before the purchase closed.?ÿ Explains that.

I've only had two nopays in 11 years. One was a Banker, I sent him invoices for a BLA with his neighbor for almost 2 years. Then I gave up. A couple of years later while reading the legals in the newspaper I noticed his neighbor had died and her Lawyer was settling her estate. I emailed him the latest invoice and dang if he didn't pay it.

The second nonpayer got busted for selling drugs and is in prison. His trailer house and lot I surveyed got forclosed on. I doubt I'll get paid for that one.

A lien can be a good way to collect from a sub.?ÿ The property owner will be ticked, and that pressure will roll down to the prime with a threat to stop payments until the lien is cleared, and that will roll down to the sub with the weight of the wrath of the property owner and the prime behind it.

I was stiffed twice.?ÿ Both were contractors and I had been too slow to file a lien on either.?ÿ Both of those jerks thought it was laugh-worthy that they got away with screwing someone.?ÿ Each was only a couple thousand, which was enough to hurt at the time but not cripple my operation.

I had a couple of landowners from whom I was having difficulty collecting.?ÿ In each case, they were not avoiding payment with the intention of screwing me, but were genuinely having family cash flow difficulties.?ÿ I worked out a payment plan for each, putting a minor crimp in my cash flow.?ÿ But I eventually was paid my full fees in each case where I would have gotten little if anything had I taken a hard line with either.?ÿ In each of those cases, I could have placed a lien or gotten a small claims judgment.?ÿ Either way, the amount would have been no less difficult to collect than my fee without lien or judgment would have been.