If someone owes you money, but doesnt pay, what can you do (Credit Bureau, fee)

[NJ Chutzpah]

if someone owes you money, but doesnt pay, what can you do

[M3 Mitch]

Being there in NJ, you know full well what to do...for a percentage of the debt, the Sopranos will help you out.

Bada bing, bada boom.

[NJ Chutzpah]

^^^

Yeh but my company is based in NY, and you know how those guys feel about us

honestly though sometimes I wish that were still the way things worked, eventhough I was not alive when does things were going down, but from all the stories, it sounded pretty cool

Seriously what can I do?

[M3 Mitch]

Well, OK I am not much of an expert, but if the amount owed is relatively large, and you have good reason to think they *could* pay, you can hire a lawyer to try to get them to pay. Sometimes a letter from a lawyer is enough, the implied threat that this could start getting uglier and more complicated.

If it's relatively small $, you might try small claims court.

There are debt collection agencies that will buy a bad debt for a discount, then go after the person who owes. Only do this if your *really* hate this guy.

If they can't pay or it's not worth the hassle to go after them, you can deduct it from your taxes I think, provided you made a "good faith" effort to collect the debt.

Needless to say I am not a lawyer, I don't even play one on TV, and even if I were one, I'm in Washington State, so would not be qualified to help you out in any case.

The state laws of the residence of record for the person who owes the money, *I think*, are going to be the rules of the game, *I think*.

[sskkc]

call Judge Judy

[jaindow]

Obvious question... is there a written and signed agreement?

[NJ Chutzpah]

Yeh there is a written and signed agreement

but the amount is less than $500

can I report it to the credit bureau to hurt this person's credit

[HappySpring]

You can take them to small claims court. Your written agreement will hold up in court. Small claims court isn't expensive and you can that fee added to what this person owes you as well.

On your written agreement, does it state how long you gave this person to pay you back?

[HappySpring]

One more thing, Small claims court are for claims usually under $5,000.
So your good to go.

[M3 Mitch]

Happy Spring is right, technically and legally. (I'm reasonably sure anyway) -

One final consideration though, what's your relationship with the person who owes the money?

If they are just some bum who you made an ill-considered loan to, well, "bombs away" IMHO.

If it's a relative, it gets more complicated.

If they are young, it might be worth involving their parents. Maybe.