::: A question about delays in payments.

[mikaelian]

Hello,

Will somebody kindly provide an advice about the following situation:

1. Assume you completed a project for, say, $1000 for a client and he should submit the payment at the end of the project.

2. But for some reasons he does not do pay for a few months.

3. A few months later, however, you find a method to convince him to pay.

Now the question. Do you theoretically have the right to require not $1000 (the initial amount) but more? A few percents per month, perhaps?

Yes, I understand that 99% of all flashers would not try to require that additional amount. But my question is whether there exist theoretical/legal/official reasons to do that.

Thank you in advance for your information,

Vahagn

[mouse111]

i dont think that an extra charge would be appropriate, unless in your contract or agreement, the client agreed to pay within a certain amount of time and didnt - only in that case should you charge extra

[rafiki55]

Did you send them an invoice? Some invoices should/do include a little statement at the bottom saying something to the effect of "If not paid within 30 days of date, a 5%/month interest will be charged". Even if you don't collect on the interest, it's a good way to scare clients into paying quickly.

[nocrapchurch]

What the two previous posters have said is good advice. Unless you've stated in your contract or invoice that interest will accumulate, don't throw it all of the sudden.

After two months, it's time to harass the client continuously and start talking about court action. That is ridiculous.

Scott

[Agent_Coop]

No contract. No penalties.

A court judgement may award you interest... but you're not allowed to make up a %...

Some States have limitations on interest charges, with most set around 1.5% per month max.

However, if you have a signed contract, you could stipulate almost ANY interest rate. That's why rental contracts are often so steep. $5.00/per overdue day, or 20%/month, etc... because it is agreed upon ahead of time.

[OddDog]

i smell a loophole in a contract that needs filling ...

[nocrapchurch]

Originally posted by OddDog
i smell a loophole in a contract that needs filling ...

Possibly.

[Agent_Coop]

This is where a 5pt font snuck in at the bottom can work wonders....

[nocrapchurch]

Originally posted by Agent_Coop
This is where a 5pt font snuck in at the bottom can work wonders....

lol. I hate those little clauses.

I worry about pissing off the client by doing stuff like that. It's as though I'm not being entirely upfront with them or I'm trying to hide something. That is, at least, what I think about people and their too-small-to-read clauses.

Scott

[OddDog]

in our contract we have an entire article on penalities.

and we charge the interest as an APR ....

[nocrapchurch]

Originally posted by OddDog
in our contract we have an entire article on penalities.

and we charge the interest as an APR ....

Okay, guys. This is going to be the new clause in my contracts:

If company fails to make payment within specified amount of time, Scottmanning.com will send over Razormedia to remove one finger from the CEO of said company. Every month thereafter, company will receive another visit from Razormedia who will remove another finger from said CEO until the originally-agreed-upon-payment has been made plus the accumlated 2.5% monthly interest of the original payment.

What do you think?

Razor gets to keep the 2.5% and the fingers.

Scott

[mikaelian]

Hello,

I am very much thankful to you for valuable comments (by the way, these thanks do not mean that you should not erite any more ). Notice that the initial topic is whether or not the web developer has the right to require additional payment (and not: whether or not it is a good idea to do that).

Thank you and keep writing!
:-)

***

If we get enough info it would be great to put them together in one of the important sites like scottmanning.com, etc.

Thank you,

Vahagn