Lawyers or attorneys please! legal advice? My customer failed to pay me!?

Yes...Hi, I am a small business owner. I paint homes for a living. I also attend college full time. I recently was not payed money owed to me for work that I performed. My customer with held my contract for several months without giving me the copy as promised (of course...that was a mistake on my part), but I had performed several extra projects for her..and not only did she not pay me for those..but she had not finished paying me for the original agreement either. What can I do? Lawyers or attorneys please! legal advice? My customer failed to pay me!?
Having a copy of the contract would help, but not having a copy doesn't mean you're without recourse.





Without documents, the customer may argue that the additional projects were within the scope of the original agreement, and may argue that you agreed to less compensation than the contract provided. It'll be up to the judge (or jury) to determine whose argument has greater credibility. So always be calm, dignified, accurate, and honest when discussing this.





If she's a deadbeat, she's probably been sued before. Your state probably has a way to look up civil suits online. See if she has other collections actions filed or judgments against her.





You have two options.





1. Small claims court. Different states permit recovery at different amounts. One state may only permit $3000 and another $5000. If the amount you want to recover is in your state's ballpark, look into bringing suit in small claims court. You can represent yourself, but do your research. You can probably bring her other adverse judgments in as evidence that she has a history of nonpayment. Bring photographs and all documents relating to the case. Be very organized and very calm. Wear a suit or something professional and remove all your jewelry besides 2 earrings.





2. Civil suit. If the amount you need to recover is more than the small claims maximum, you're going to need to contact an attorney and bring suit in state court.





Good luck.Lawyers or attorneys please! legal advice? My customer failed to pay me!?
You can talk more or you can sue. In some states, you will run into a problem. In my state, a painter is a contractor and must be licensed as a contractor and if not licensed he cannot maintain an action on the contract but can only recover the cost of the job.
She owes you the money. If your state allows it place a mechanic's lien on the property. This will get her attention, if she still doesn't pay, then bring suit.
you can simple go to small claims court. check with your local muncipal offices to see how you get a date on the docket..../
Well that depends on how much she owes you. If its less than the limit set forth in your location your only recourse is to take her to small claims court.
take her to small claims court