<p>This is a first for me, in 25 years in the same industry.</p>
<p>I often do contract work, payable with a 1099, from public or municipal sources. As I’ve done numerous times in the past, I agreed to do a well defined piece of work, received a letter of intent (a contract) for the agreed upon fee, did the work (extraordinarily well, according to many!) and submitted the bill.</p>
<p>The letter of intent was February, the work was completed in late March, early April. It is now June 9, and I still haven’t been paid.</p>
<p>I emailed the administrator who authorized the contract in mid May, and was told that the business manager had a death in the family and was not able to sign a release of payment (Huh? I have a contract), but I would have my check within the week. No check. Over the past week, I have called the business manager and billing director a couple of times, and both say they will “look into it” and call me back, but then don’t call me. I am frankly irritated, since I am a well respected professional and don’t want to waste my time on this nonsense.</p>
<p>If they don’t call back and just ignore me, what can I do to get my money? I guarantee I won’t do work for this town again, but in the meantime, I just want my money.</p>
<p>It all depends. Many states have prompt pay acts requiring the state and localities to pay their bills within a certain period of time. Untimely payment can trigger an interest obligation even if the contract did not contain a provision for interest. Some states, (not many), also will let contractors claim attorneys’ fees. You can file a claim under the prompt pay act and force resolution. But then again it all depends on in which state the contract arose. You can contact the Bar of that state and ask for a lawyer referral. Usually these consultations with an attorney are at a significantly lower rate than the lawyer’s usual rate.</p>
<p>Very interesting, RS. Thank you. This is in Massachusetts, and I just looked up the prompt pay act, and see that they have to pay within 45 days, or assume 1.5% interest. I wonder if they care about the interest, since this isn’t a multi-million dollar contract LOL. </p>
<p>I have written demand letters for private pay before, and had to write off a bad debt or two (more expense and trouble going to small claims than just letting it go) but this is a first for a public contract. Would it make sense to write a demand letter with the prompt pay requirements outlined?</p>
<p>You might want to try a polite letter, delievered by certified mail, in which you gently mention that you certainly don’t want to have to impose the prompt payment requirements, so you’re sure this will be taken care of quickly . . .</p>
<p>Business owner who deals with this ALL the time. Next step is a certified letter stating the facts as you know them and giving a specific deadline. If I do not receive payment with ten business days (by xx/xx/xx date) I will be turning this matter over to my attorney and will pursue all available legal avenues including attorney’s fees and interest.
As our economy worsens our payment periods are taking longer and longer.</p>
<p>I don’t do work for public/municpal sources (just companies) but I DO sometimes have this trouble. The way I respond depends on how likely it is that I will do continued work with the company. I recently waited 3 months for a big check…but kept the communication/pestering friendly given that I saw more work coming down the road (things aren’t exactly booming right now).
Anyway, I agree that putting your request in writing makes sense as a next step. Can you email someone? If the email gets not action, then I would go ahead and send a certified or FedEx letter. It’s your choice how tough you want to word this particular letter. If you don’t care to work for them again or get a referral, go ahead and mention your attorney.</p>
<p>When I did freelance work, I often waited as long as six months for payment. If it was a client whom I wanted to work for again, I would ask after two or three months whether the check had been sent or whether there was some problem. In several cases, clients admitted that they had a cash flow problem. I was willing to wait, and I eventually got paid. </p>
<p>The only people I ever got tough with were those that I didn’t plan to work for again.</p>
<p>I would never write a threatening letter to a local government over a small amount of money. It does not come out of the employee’s paychecks and, thus, mean letters have little effect except angering the employee. I would write a letter suggesting I am seeking your (the locality’s) help in figuring how to get paid. I would document who I had contacted and asked if there is another appropriate person to contact. I would mention that it is my understanding state law requires prompt payment in 45 days and I was hoping to prevent the locality from unnecessarily paying interest on the amount due.</p>
<p>By the way, sending letter certified to a locality means nothing to them. They get those all the time. Sending certified letters to regular people may convey the “I am serious about this” message, but it does not convey that message to localities who get certified mail all the time.</p>
<p>File a small claims case (if it’s under $5k) and file it under a contract dispute, non-payment. It may cost you ~$40, but I’ll tell you that once they receive notice of intent to sue they will pay you. IF it ends up going to small claims court you can receive the cost of filing and include the mandated 1.5% monthly interest.</p>
<p>Given the circumstances, I don’t particularly want to work there again, but am not interested in burning any bridges unnecessarily. One never knows what could come up in the future, and memories are long.</p>
<p>There is a lot of excellent advice here. I thank you all.</p>