[vls]

Hello,

Sorry this is related to our lawn company not our painting company...
however business is business and I hope some of you can still be of help on this issue...it could conceivably happen on any home service / maintenance contract.

We bill monthly for our lawn service, due on the 15th.
(At the time it seemed like the best compromise...if it was due on the 1st customers feel they are paying the whole month prior to receiving service, and due on the 30th would mean we would risk providing service the whole month without payment).

Some of our accounts are non owner-occupied, and they are dropping like flies....bankruptcies/foreclosures.
The problem is they are usually 30 days late before we find out (meaning 6 weeks of service provided and not paid for)
To correct this I have made a policy that non owner-occupied have to pay in advance.

I am very confused however by the bankruptcy paperwork we have received.

First of all, can they really list us as a "creditor"?
I didn't know you got to ditch every bill you ever had with bankruptcy.
I thought it was for mortgages, credit cards, stuff like that, shows you what I know!

Also, we got a paper Feb 23 for one client saying that there was a meeting of the creditors on Feb 28 in Seattle, WA (we are in FL).
No info on how to submit anything from afar.

So we are just SOL if we can't run to the courthouse in WA for a meeting...?
I don't get it.

Obviously they don't owe us enough $ for a couple months lawn service to justify putting too much time or effort into recouping it...as long as we prevent this from happening with too many accounts...

It is just the principle (and the irritation of it all) that is bugging me!!!

One in particular really fired me up...once I saw when the initial bank paperwork was originated...I thought he could have just as easily called us and cancelled service and he would have owed us about $50 instead of $200!!! That is plain rude and irresponsible.

Thanks for listening~
Jesyca

 

[NEPS.US]

Hello,

Sorry this is related to our lawn company not our painting company...
however business is business and I hope some of you can still be of help on this issue...it could conceivably happen on any home service / maintenance contract.

We bill monthly for our lawn service, due on the 15th.
(At the time it seemed like the best compromise...if it was due on the 1st customers feel they are paying the whole month prior to receiving service, and due on the 30th would mean we would risk providing service the whole month without payment).

Some of our accounts are non owner-occupied, and they are dropping like flies....bankruptcies/foreclosures.
The problem is they are usually 30 days late before we find out (meaning 6 weeks of service provided and not paid for)
To correct this I have made a policy that non owner-occupied have to pay in advance.

I am very confused however by the bankruptcy paperwork we have received.

First of all, can they really list us as a "creditor"?
I didn't know you got to ditch every bill you ever had with bankruptcy.
I thought it was for mortgages, credit cards, stuff like that, shows you what I know!

Also, we got a paper Feb 23 for one client saying that there was a meeting of the creditors on Feb 28 in Seattle, WA (we are in FL).
No info on how to submit anything from afar.

So we are just SOL if we can't run to the courthouse in WA for a meeting...?
I don't get it.

Obviously they don't owe us enough $ for a couple months lawn service to justify putting too much time or effort into recouping it...as long as we prevent this from happening with too many accounts...

It is just the principle (and the irritation of it all) that is bugging me!!!

One in particular really fired me up...once I saw when the initial bank paperwork was originated...I thought he could have just as easily called us and cancelled service and he would have owed us about $50 instead of $200!!! That is plain rude and irresponsible.

Thanks for listening~
Jesyca

Sorry, but you have to see the hand writing on the wall and be more cautious in your billing .... if you give the wrong people too much rope they will hang YOU! ... I've been there. It might be time to scale back and rethink your work and billing techniques. It doesnt matter how busy you are if your not getting paid. Good Luck!

 

[HomeGuardPaints]

unfortunately you are extending credit by not billing at service completion or prior to service, so technically you are a creditor. One thing that might help you get paid is mechanics lein on the property. its possible to recieve the money when the house sells(to clear the lein from the title)even in a forclosure. Look up your local law for rules on that. you should be able to call into the meeting of creditors to protest(and should). Also have the records ready because if they've stopped paying but rack up a bill, such as 6 weeks of lawn service or buy a whole house of furniture on credit card, then they may have they case dismissed for abuse.

 

[vls]

you are dead on

It doesnt matter how busy you are if your not getting paid.

Yes, it's the cold hard truth, isn't it.
Our knee-jerk reaction was to drop our non owner-occupied accounts as not worth it...

...but then I realized the problem is not servicing these properties, it is ensuring payment.

So will will just require advance payment from now on.

 

[vls]

Thank you!

I will have to make a couple calls on that in the morning...the paperwork sounded like you must be there in person...but that makes no sense. I can't imagine every creditor has someone to send to these meetings in every town...?

At least I'll be learning something...

unfortunately you are extending credit by not billing at service completion or prior to service, so technically you are a creditor. One thing that might help you get paid is mechanics lein on the property. its possible to recieve the money when the house sells(to clear the lein from the title)even in a forclosure. Look up your local law for rules on that. you should be able to call into the meeting of creditors to protest(and should). Also have the records ready because if they've stopped paying but rack up a bill, such as 6 weeks of lawn service or buy a whole house of furniture on credit card, then they may have they case dismissed for abuse.

 

[timhag]

Big lou is on the job. He'll take care of business for you.

 

[vls]

Now you're talkin'!

We have 3 businesses...so we are not strangers to collecting payments.
(Funny you might think, lucky I guess, that we have so little knowledge experience with the whole bankruptcy / lien / etc process, huh?)

Anyway, when my husband has to make a call or go somewhere to get a payment collected...that is always our joke before he goes...
"Make 'em an offer they can't refuse!"

So I'm new here, how does it work, does Big Lou just swoop in to help PaintTalk members in need? How do I do it? Hold down L-O-U on my keyboard and wiggle my nose 3x?

Big lou is on the job.He'll take care of business for you.

 

[NEPS.US]

Yes, it's the cold hard truth, isn't it.
Our knee-jerk reaction was to drop our non owner-occupied accounts as not worth it...

...but then I realized the problem is not servicing these properties, it is ensuring payment.

So will will just require advance payment from now on.

.....I'm not sure if I would a make a rule across the board....as it would probably hurt your business ... just be more selective in your customers .... Just think of all the time and money invested in those deadbeats .... You could of used that money and time to agressivley market a higher clientele ....less man hours but more money ...and getting paid in 30!

 

[NEPS.US]

Big lou is on the job. He'll take care of business for you.

That IS THE BEST PICTURE I HAVE SEEN OF YOU!!!!!!!:thumbup:

 

[vls]

I'm not sure if I would a make a rule across the board

To clarify, we are just making that rule for non-owner occupied properties.
We've never met most of those clients and they don't live locally.

I wouldn't adopt this policy with all our clients...many of whom we have done multiple jobs for with both businesses (painting and lawn, etc)

 

[The paint whisperer]

Vls,
I also do lawn services, but I only do 15+/- accounts each year.
On the none owner-occupied properties, make them pay in advance is the only way to go.

 

[Joewho]

withdrawn after re-reading original post.

 

[HomeGuardPaints]

Big lou is on the job. He'll take care of business for you.

:notworthy:

 

[ComRemodel]

Don't know if it still works this way and I don't know if it is just NY, but I have heard of companies that had to actually give the money back that they received during the 90 days prior to the customer filing for bankruptcy. And you think you have it bad!