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Comment by tjic | Hacker News Reader

Debt collectors are a reasonable approach, but take one more step before you do that.

1) find a lawyer who you can hire for an hour or two for $200-$400. You're paying for his letterhead, not his skills.

2) Get him to write a letter saying "you have 14 days to pay 2/3 of the amount. If we receive that, the debt is discharged in full. IF we don't receive that by 14 days from today, we're going to court, and we're asking for the full amount of the debt, lawyer fees, and damages. Please pay now."

I've collected LOTS of debts in my time, 95% successfully.

This technique works.

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Have you ever taken someone to court successfully?

Have you ever used a collections agency?

(Not challenging you; you just said you've collected lots of debts, and I'm interested in your experience. I've been a witness to a couple incidents, but I don't have a lot of experience.)

> Have you ever taken someone to court successfully?

Yes, I've been to small claims court 15-20 times. I won every time.

Folks who force you to go to SCC in the first place tend to be flakes, therefore they tend to not even show up. 75% of the cases that I've had, and that I've witnessed, in SCC, only have 1 party show, and that party wins by default (at least in MA).

> Have you ever used a collections agency?

Not yet. I plan to, though.

Did you have the problem the other commenter in MA suggested, where it was hard to collect the judgement after winning the case?

I've collected maybe 90% of the time.

I've done something similar to this and it's worked the 2 times I've done it. I think the problem I had was that it was obvious I was a one-man shop and they thought they could push me around. As soon as they realized my lawyers were more expensive than theirs they both changed their tunes very quickly.

I think your suggestion is a good one. However, I'm not prepared to spend the time and legal fees to take them to court and I don't make empty threats.

You don't have to intend to sue, the debt collection agency has that option. And while the collection agency probably won't do that, they might. Never know.

I don't make empty threats.

Why on Earth not? Make empty threats!

What are you afraid of, that these guys will learn that you're capable of bluffing and then push you around? That appears to have happened already.

Though I actually agree that you shouldn't bluff a lawsuit. You should give fair warning and then file the lawsuit. What are you waiting for, someone to cheat you out of twenty thousand bucks?

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