Utah business owners are in business to provide a service and make a profit. Running a business means investing ample time and attention to detail, and it means doing things you might not feel comfortable doing. When you work with customers who are billed, you always run the risk of nonpayment. Unlike owning a business in which you sell goods to customers and collect payment in exchange for the goods you offer, billing customers sometimes means you end up with collection problems. Whether your customers fell on hard times or simply forgot to pay a bill that was misplaced is easily determined when you make that first phone call.
You realize a customer hasn’t paid a bill, and you call them to talk about it. They either pay immediately, or they dodge your calls, bills, and collection efforts. This is a good indication their nonpayment was not just an oversight on their part. It means they’re not paying you, and it’s time for you to take action to secure the funds you’re owed. Many business owners want to know if they should call a collections agency or Utah collection attorneys to handle this problem.
Try Doing it Yourself
If you have someone on your client list not paying their bills, do what you can to secure payment first. You may end up paying even more money than you’re owed to secure a Utah collection attorney if the balance owed is on the lower end, so make this your last resort. Send a secondary bill or give the customer a call. If your calls go unanswered, your bills unopened, and no payment is made, then it’s time to get serious.
If no one responds, try sending an official-sounding letter in which you inform your customer you’ve made several attempts to contact them regarding a debt, and that you have no choice but to contact Utah collection attorneys if the matter is not solved by a specific date. For many people, the threat of legal action is enough to scare them into paying their bills right away. Others might decide you’re bluffing and continue to ignore your calls and letters, and that’s when you know it’s time to contact a collection attorney.
Lawyer or Collector?
You can call a debt collection company if you want, but these are not typically attorneys. They are people who will use their power as a debt collector to harass your customers, and they might end up costing you even more. The best solution is to contact a collection attorney who is familiar with the law, the forms that are required, and who can secure payment for you faster than anyone else.
The first thing your attorney will do is send an official letter from their offices asking for payment and providing a timeline. While this letter is not threatening, it’s one that comes across as official and scary to many consumers. Legal action is not ideal for anyone, and most people are unwilling to chance the fact that you might actually sue them. This means paying more than they already owe, it means a judgement is placed against their business, and it could affect their ability to obtain business credit in the future. This is all it takes to get many people to pay up so you can rest easy and secure the money owed to your business in Utah.
The Next Call is Up to You
You don’t have to sue the person who owes you money simply because your attorney is sending letters. They don’t know that, but the ball is in your court. If official attorney letters don’t net you payment from your customers, you can make a determination to file a lawsuit or let the matter go. If the debt is relatively small, it might be best to let it go. If it’s a larger debt, however, you want to handle the situation quickly.
Your attorney will advise you how to go about suing a client for money owed. They’ll discuss the cost of filing a lawsuit in a small claims or district court, and they’ll provide you with a detailed timeline of what might happen if you proceed with this course of action. From here, the decision is entirely yours. All you have to do if you decide to sue is turn it over to an attorney and allow them to handle the dirty work. This leaves you with time to run your business and handle the customers who are paying their bills. Your attorney will notify you of any changes in the case, provide you with payment if it’s made, and keep you updated when necessary. It’s up to you, but it’s almost always better to go with an attorney in Utah than it is to hire a collections agency without an acting attorney.