How To Collect Overdue Bills

[lizzieb]

A follow up on my saga.  I finally received a check but for only $150.00, the total owed is $425.00 - she is going to pay the balance in a couple of weeks - wants to make sure there wouldn't be any more zipper malfunctions.  I sent a note with the latest statement telling her she never mentioned she was going to do this, I told her I was not a bank but a small business owner and if she was going to have a problem paying the bill that she could have discussed it with me and we could work out a plan.  I charged her 18% interest.  Haven't heard from her and it's been one week.  I am pretty upset, I live in a small town (2500 people) and service a geographical area of maybe 5,000 in the surrounding towns


I have learned a valuable lesson but, also struggle with not trusting people.  I don't want to seem like a hard ads but business is business.


















fi

[JuneC]

Discharge of debt is frequently considered income, but I'm note sure the circumstances where it can be claimed, nor how it's reported.  For instance, if you renegotiate the amount owed on your home or credit cards, you are quite likely to be taxed for the amount the debt was reduced - a reduction of $50K is $50K in taxable income.   

I've been stiffed - once - for over $900 and it took me years to be able to trust customers again.  You try to convince yourself that they're not all going to do that, but it's not so easy.  To a small business owner, every $ counts and it's not like we're living high around here (except for maybe Mojo and Gene  ;) ).

June