Unpaid invoice...what do I do?

[Anonymous]

I signed a contract with a company last year to do some of their web development. The first couple of projects I did for them was paid, no problem. The third one I'm still waiting on, I emailed the owner a few months ago and he apologized and said that he will pay as soon as they can. I emailed the owner again last week and no response. I'm going to call him today, but I'm almost sure that won't work.

Not sure what my next steps should be....any suggestions?

[Anonymous]

How overdue are they? Is it a lot of money? You can always sue in small claims court, but that will burn your bridges. Before that send a letter asking for payment by a certain date.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice, the amount owed is 5k and it was due May 19, 2012. At this point, I don't mind burning this bridge as I definitely will no longer take any more projects from them. Do you think I should send them a certified letter so that I know they received it?

[Anonymous]

maybe you could sell the claim to a collections agency?

[Anonymous]

Call the owner once a week. Keep calling until he pays. Make it twice a week after a month.

[Anonymous]

Yes, send them a demand letter by certified mail. That's a legal term (lawyer here). Just set out that you expect payment of X amount for the X work you did on X date(s), and they have until X date to respond. Make this last response date for them about 2 weeks after the date on your letter. Here's an example:

Dear Mr. --

Pursuant to our contract, I made 20 widgets for your company on January 5 and 10, 2012. I sent you the widgets on January 15, 2012. You agreed to pay $100 for the widgets, due on receipt. To date I have not received any payment. You have until March 1, 2013 to pay for the widgets. If I do not hear from you, I will take appropriate action.

Sincerely,

X


Make several copies. Send it off by certified mail.

When you don't hear from them (doubt you will since they have owed this money for so long) take yourself to your local small claims court. Their jurisdictional limits vary, $5k I believe is the upper limit for small claims court in DC. Not sure about VA or MD. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for the advice! Love this forum.

[Anonymous]

I bill clients monthly and at 15 days past due (we give them 30 days to pay) I send a reminder with a copy of the bill. That usually does the trick but I will keep sending if needed. My billing system can produce and track the reminders so that helps. Sometimes people have just misplaced the bill so make sure you've sent copies along with your reminders.

You can also try the accounting staff - just send it directly to them for processing.

[Anonymous]

You might also want to offer the alternative for them to pay you by credit card. That way if cash flow is a problem the owner can put if on a cc and you get paid. Talk to your bank about if they could do this for you on a one time basis. If not look into Square or other online options. Then as lawyer pp mentioned send the letter.

[Anonymous]

OP, please post when you take action. Would like to know how it turns out! (PP lawyer here). Don't be afraid of small claims court - it is a good way for you to recoup your funds. I have had to go to small claims court myself (did work for a company and they wouldn't pay), so this is not just theoretical advice.

[Anonymous]

OP here, I'm going to send the demand letter but I went back and saw that I actually don't have a contract with them. I signed their agreement and they faxed it back to me....silly me didn't look at it to see that they didn't sign it - only me. I do feel though that I have enough to go after them since I have the owners email stating that he was going to pay me as soon as he could. I also have an estimate for this particular project, which was approved by them (via email). Will keep posted...

[Anonymous]

Sometimes I try to set clients who have a cash flow problem up with a payment plan. Agree on cc suggestion.

[Anonymous]

you did work for them with their knowledge and agreement and they haven't paid you for it. they still owe you money whether they signed the contract or not. lawyer yere.

[Anonymous]

OP here, so I sent the demand letter via certified mail and never received anything back - I just checked online and it said "Notice Left (Business Closed)". March 1st was the deadline. Guess I need to look into small claims court but for the city the business is in (Alexandria) it says that the max is $5000 (the unpaid invoice is for $5200). Do you know if I can just sue for $5000 so that I can go to small claims? I obviously have no idea what I'm doing at this point....

[Anonymous]

You document every communication about this that you've had with them. If you didn't document previous communications, you retroactively do so (cell phone record, emails, lists with dates and actions taken).

You send a certified letter, spelling our all of your prior attempts to collect in a list form (you should attach these to the letter) and you set out dates and deadlines that have passed, your new deadline for taking action, and you spell out what actions you will take (e.g. if you do not respond to work out a payment plan within 10 days of receipt of this letter (which you'll know because you'll get delivery confirmation) I will file in Alexandria City XYZ Court, for the amount of ABC + late fees + postage + attorney fees). Then you stick to that. Do you have a lawyer, or an experienced friend who can help you write a letter? My DH is a lawyer and has done this for me, quite successfully, twice.

Make it as easy for them to pay as possible. Reduce the amount owed to $4,500. Give them access to a paypal account they can deposit it into with a credit card if you usually take checks.

No idea about Alexandria's small claims limitations and reducing the amount solely in order to be eligible for small claims.

--Been there, it sucks.