Collecting your fee when the claimant won't pay you.

by Eric F
(St Paul Mn)

What legal tactic's can be implemented when your operating out-of-state and the person you have processed a claim for doesn't pay you? Suing them is totally cost prohibitive, and is there for not a rational solution. How do you get them to pay you.

From Mark:

Eric, I'm not sure why you say suing is cost prohibitive. You have a signed contract with them. It should fall under the laws of your state. If you sue them in your state, they are obligated to abide by the rules. Most likely, they would not show up, you would win (which you would do even if they did show up), and they would have a judgement against them. That would stick with them until settled.

You could also get a collection agency to go after them, although they would take a percentage of what they recovered.

Rest assured, this does not happen often. Most people are so happy they actually received money and were not a victim of a scam that they happily pay!

I noticed you are in Minnesota. Did you know Minnesota pays you directly if you are a unclaimed money finder? You do need to be a private investigator to look for unclaimed money in Minnesota. You can either take steps to become a PI (if you are not already one), or you can partner with a private investigator, do the work under them, and share in the commission.

I hope this helps.