To collect payment from a customer who won’t pay, work through an escalation ladder: reminders, then a written demand letter with a firm deadline, then either a collection agency or a small claims lawsuit, and finally judgment enforcement tools like garnishment or a bank levy. What determines whether any of it works is documentation. Without a clear paper trail proving the debt exists and that you tried to collect, even a legitimate claim can fall apart in court or during a dispute.
Get Your Paper in Order Before You Start
Before you send a single letter, pull together every document tied to the transaction. You need the signed contract or service agreement, the purchase order if one exists, and every invoice you sent. Together these prove three things any court or collection agency will ask about: what the customer agreed to buy, what you delivered, and what they owe.
Each invoice should show the date of service, an itemized breakdown of charges, and the payment terms you originally agreed on. Confirm you have current contact information for the debtor — full name, mailing address, email, and phone. Chasing the wrong person wastes time and can expose you to liability.
Add every communication about the unpaid balance: emails, text messages, voicemails, letters. Note the date each payment became overdue and any late fees your contract allows. Completeness is what separates a straightforward recovery from a prolonged fight. A missing original agreement gives the debtor room to dispute the entire claim.
Start With Reminders and a Payment Plan
Most late payments aren’t malicious. People forget, invoices get lost in email, or the person who approves payments is out. Your first outreach should assume that’s what happened. A brief, friendly reminder sent through your invoicing system or by direct email shortly after the due date passes will usually shake the payment loose.
If a week or two passes with no response, follow up with something firmer. Restate the amount owed, the original due date, and any late fees that are accruing. Keep it professional but make clear this isn’t optional. Consistent follow-up at regular intervals signals that you’re tracking the account seriously, not sending automated notices that can be ignored.
If the customer responds that they can’t pay in full right now, consider offering a structured payment plan. Breaking the balance into smaller installments paid weekly or biweekly often recovers more money than an all-or-nothing demand that pushes the customer toward ignoring you. Put the new terms in writing and have both sides sign. That creates a fresh, enforceable agreement if the customer defaults again.
Send a Formal Demand Letter
When reminders and phone calls haven’t worked, send a demand letter. It should state the exact amount owed, reference the underlying agreement, set a firm deadline (typically 10 to 15 days), and spell out what happens next if payment doesn’t arrive — usually referral to a collection agency or a lawsuit.
Send the letter by certified mail with return receipt requested. Certified mail gives you signed proof of delivery, which matters if the debtor later claims they never received your notice.1USPS. Certified Mail – The Basics It’s not legally required in every situation, but if your contract has a “notices” clause specifying a delivery method, follow it exactly. Courts enforce those provisions. For extra coverage, send a copy by regular first-class mail and email so the debtor can’t dodge the certified letter by refusing to sign for it.
The demand letter is also where late fees and interest matter. If your contract specifies a late fee or interest rate on overdue balances, include those charges. If your contract is silent on interest, most states have a default statutory rate that applies to overdue debts, though these rates vary widely. Itemize the principal balance and any additional charges so the debtor knows exactly what they owe and why.
Know the Rules Before You Push Harder
If you’re collecting your own debt — a customer owes you directly for goods or services — the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act generally does not apply to you. The FDCPA defines a “debt collector” as someone who collects debts owed to another person, and it specifically excludes employees or officers of a creditor collecting in the creditor’s own name.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1692a – Definitions There’s an exception: if you use a fake company name that makes it look like a third party is doing the collecting, the FDCPA applies to you as if you were an outside collector.
Don’t treat that exemption as a license to be aggressive. Many states have their own debt collection and unfair business practices laws that do cover original creditors, and those laws often mirror the FDCPA’s prohibitions against harassment, threats, and misrepresentation.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Laws Limit What Debt Collectors Can Say or Do? Even where state law is silent, courts tend to look unfavorably on creditors who call at unreasonable hours, threaten legal action they don’t intend to take, or contact a debtor’s employer about the debt. Keep collection efforts honest, documented, and during normal business hours.
Reporting a delinquent account to the credit bureaus is one of the strongest tools you have. The threat of a damaged credit score motivates many debtors to pay. But if you choose to report, the Fair Credit Reporting Act imposes real obligations on you as a “furnisher.” You cannot report information you know to be inaccurate, and if you learn that information you’ve already reported is wrong, you must promptly correct it with the credit bureau.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681s-2 – Responsibilities of Furnishers of Information to Consumer Reporting Agencies You also need written policies and procedures for ensuring the accuracy of what you report.5eCFR. Part 660 Duties of Furnishers of Information to Consumer Reporting Agencies If the debtor disputes the reported information, you have to investigate and, if it turns out to be inaccurate, notify the bureau of the correction. Getting this wrong exposes you to FCRA liability, so make sure your records support every figure you report before you use it.
Turn It Over to a Collection Agency
When your own efforts haven’t worked, handing the account to a third-party collection agency is the next step. You transfer your entire collection file to the agency, and they take over all contact with the debtor. Most agencies work on contingency and keep a percentage of whatever they recover, with fees typically falling between 25% and 50% of the collected amount. Older or smaller accounts command higher fees because they’re harder to collect.
Once an agency takes over, the FDCPA applies in full. Within five days of first contacting the debtor, the agency must send a written validation notice stating the amount owed, the name of the original creditor, and the debtor’s right to dispute the debt within 30 days.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1692g – Validation of Debts If the debtor disputes it in writing, the agency must stop collection until it obtains and sends verification of the debt. This is where your file pays off: the more complete your documentation, the faster the agency can respond and resume collecting.
Choose carefully. Ask whether the agency is licensed in the states where your debtors live, what their recovery rates look like for debts similar to yours, and whether they carry errors and omissions insurance. A rogue agency that violates the FDCPA can create liability for you as the original creditor.
Sue in Small Claims Court
Small claims court offers a relatively fast, inexpensive way to get a judgment. Jurisdictional limits vary by state, generally ranging from $2,500 up to $25,000 for the maximum amount you can claim. Filing fees also vary but most fall between $30 and $75 for moderate claims. You file a complaint at the local court clerk’s office, pay the fee, and the court schedules a hearing.
After filing, the debtor must be formally served with a copy of the complaint and a summons. Service is usually handled by a process server or local sheriff, with fees typically running $20 to $100 depending on your area. If the debtor doesn’t show up, you can often win by default. If they do appear, bring your entire collection file — the contract, invoices, payment history, demand letter, and proof of delivery.
Most small claims courts are designed for people without lawyers, and in many jurisdictions attorneys aren’t even allowed to represent parties. If your business is a corporation or LLC, check your local rules. Some courts allow a non-lawyer employee or officer to represent the company, while others require an attorney for business entities. Confirm this before you file, because showing up with the wrong representative can get your case dismissed.
Collect on a Judgment
Winning in small claims court gives you a judgment — a piece of paper that says the debtor owes you money. It doesn’t give you the money. Collecting on a judgment requires additional steps the court doesn’t handle for you.
The main enforcement tools are wage garnishment, bank levies, and property liens. Federal law caps wage garnishment at the lesser of 25% of the debtor’s disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment At current minimum wage levels, a debtor earning $290 or more per week can be garnished up to 25%, while someone earning $217.50 or less per week is exempt entirely.8U.S. Department of Labor. Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) If your state’s garnishment law is more protective, the lower amount applies.
For a bank levy, you request a writ of execution from the court, then deliver it to the local sheriff or marshal along with instructions identifying the debtor’s bank and, ideally, their account number. The sheriff serves the bank, and the bank freezes any non-exempt funds. The debtor gets a window, usually 15 to 20 days, to claim that the money is exempt. Social Security deposits, for example, generally can’t be seized. If no valid exemption is raised, the funds are released to you.
You can also record an abstract of judgment with the county recorder’s office, which creates a lien against any real property the debtor owns in that county. The lien doesn’t force an immediate sale, but it must be satisfied before the debtor can sell or refinance. For debts large enough to justify the wait, this is one of the more reliable collection tools available.
Watch the Clock: Statute of Limitations
Every debt has an expiration date for legal collection. The statute of limitations sets a window during which you can file a lawsuit to recover the money. Once that window closes, the debt still exists, but you lose the ability to enforce it in court. For written contracts, the typical range across states is three to six years, though some states allow up to ten. Open accounts and oral agreements often have shorter windows.
The clock usually starts on the date of the last payment or the date the account first became delinquent, depending on your state. Here’s what catches people off guard: in many states, a partial payment or a written acknowledgment of the debt can restart the clock entirely. A token $100 payment on a four-year-old debt may reset the statute of limitations to its full length from the date of that payment. This cuts both ways. It can help you if you’re the creditor, but a debtor’s representative might also push for a partial payment specifically to buy more time.
If you’re sitting on an old receivable and aren’t sure whether the limitations period has run, check your state’s rules before filing. Suing on a time-barred debt can backfire. Some states treat it as a violation of consumer protection laws, and it can give the debtor grounds for a counterclaim.
Write Off What You Can’t Collect
When a debt is genuinely uncollectible, you can deduct it as a business bad debt, but only if you previously included that income on your tax return. If you use the accrual method of accounting, where you record revenue when it’s earned rather than when it’s received, you’ve already reported the income and qualify for the deduction. Cash-method businesses generally cannot deduct unpaid invoices because the income was never reported in the first place.9Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 453, Bad Debt Deduction
To claim the deduction, you must show that you took reasonable steps to collect and that there’s no realistic expectation of payment. You don’t have to sue first. The IRS specifically says a court judgment isn’t required if the judgment would be uncollectible anyway. Report the deduction on Schedule C if you’re a sole proprietor, or on the applicable return for your business entity.9Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 453, Bad Debt Deduction Take the deduction in the year the debt becomes worthless, not the year it first went delinquent. Waiting too long can cost you the write-off.
One boundary worth noting: if you’re an applicable financial entity and you cancel $600 or more of a debt, you’re required to file Form 1099-C with the IRS.10Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt Most small businesses collecting on unpaid invoices won’t meet this threshold, but if you’re forgiving a large balance as part of a settlement, check whether the filing requirement applies to you.