Another Successful Settlement

Just last week, I finalized an extremely favorable settlement for a client. A commercial creditor had filed a lawsuit claiming over $11,300 to be due from a sign company (my client). They were also seeking over $3,700 in attorney's fees along with a couple hundred dollars for court costs.

I was able to negotiate this entire claim down to a lump-sum payment of just $1,500... saving my client more than $13,800.
As with all cases, this one had some specific considerations that impacted the final settlement amount. In the end, though, both parties found the settlement to be acceptable and the lawsuit is being dismissed with prejudice (which means it cannot be pursued in court again).

All parties benefited from this settlement, including myself with a nice fee earned for my skilled negotiations.  My program material provides all the information needed for anyone to do the same.

Scott F. Soape

A Busy Time of Year!

This is usually a very busy time of year as companies scramble to collect payment of past due receivables before year end.  You will probably notice an increase in lawsuits from now until mid December (when things slow down a bit for the holidays).

I encourage you to "make hay while the sun shines" and hustle to land as many cases as you can comfortably work during this busy time.

Scott F. Soape

Non-Payment of Fees

I have successfully negotiated settlements to hundreds of cases over the past 16 years.  Out of all of these cases, I have only had problems getting paid 4 or 5 times.

Non-payment of fees is extremely rare in this profession.  My complete commercial debt resolution Business Plan System provides information on ways to ensure you get paid your fee as soon as settlements are accepted, before the creditors receive a dime.

However, there still may come a time when a client accepts a settlement but does not pay your fee.  This occurred with a recent client of mine.  In this specific situation, I thought it best to allow my client to delay payment of my fee so that they would not lose the extremely favorable settlement I had negotiated on their behalf.  My client assured me payment would be forthcoming and even went so far as to email me a pdf copy of a check made payable to my company in the amount of my fee.

Unfortunately, the check was never mailed and this fee is now over 60 days past due.  I have mailed a demand letter for payment within 10 business days and I will file suit locally if it is not received.

Sadly, I have now become just another creditor to this client despite having assisted with a much larger debt.

The good news is that these situations do not arise very often and can typically be avoided in the normal course of business.

Scott F. Soape

UPDATE:  Within a few days of sending my demand letter for payment and threatening a lawsuit, I received a check for my $1,000 fee.