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In my experience the main thing you should do is make sure that your contract is absolutely clear on the fact that you own all work until it is paid for in full
by Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
In my experience the main thing you should do is make sure that your contract is absolutely clear on the fact that you own all work until it is paid for in full.
If you get into paying late / non-paying scenarios, the main thing you want is leverage and in most cases this is the strongest leverage you're likely to be able to gain.
- anthonyb 14y agoIf you have a contract, you're already well ahead of the game. Most contracts will include all of this sort of stuff for you, and all you have to do with non-payers is wave a threatening legal letter at them. If there's no contract, the best that you can do is a cash leash (when they go over $x overdue, work stops) and set it low enough that you can cut them loose without losing your house. My take on dealing with "Squirrel" clients here: http://teh.oarsum.com/posts/you_are_all_squirrels.html http://teh.oarsum.com/posts/you_are_all_squirrels.html
- rmc 14y agoObligatory: Just because it's not written down doesn't mean you have a contract. Oral, implied contracts are still legally contracts. If it's written down and signed, it's much easier to know what everyone has agreed to, so that is much better.
- anthonyb 14y agoThat's right, but it would increase your cost of litigation substantially, since you'll have a much longer court case trying to prove that. It's not something that you really want to rely on. edit: Just an addendum - most of the deadbeat weasel clients know that verbal contracts don't carry a lot of weight, so the threat of being able to sue is really the important part. (Ideally you refuse the deadbeats upfront, but it's hard to tell sometimes)