Back in 2006 I hired someone to perform some professional services. He was small businessman running a limited liability company, came with good references and was recommended by some people that I trusted.
We agreed on a $2,000 month-to-month retainer to do some marketing work. I paid him the first month’s two grand, he cashed my check and then disappeared. Vanished.
So here are some things I learned from this experience.
- Trust is crucial. I do business based on looking someone in the eye and shaking their hand. You can’t do business without taking risks. Trust is a big factor in my decision making process, and this experience won't change that fact. But it does emphasize the importance of having a rock solid contract, and an organized file of every check that you’ve paid for services. A great convenience of today’s internet banking world is the fact that you can easily log on, click on a payment, and print out a front-and-back copy of the endorsed check. This guy took me for a ride, but I archived the paper trail and stayed prepared for round two. This ain't over.
- You can’t sue someone you can’t find. That was the big hangup in this case. I got all the prep work done to take my flaky business partner to court, but have never been able to serve him with papers.
- Don’t give up. The statute of limitations in Texas for civil cases is a leisurely four years. That’s an eternity. Take your paperwork and seal it in a file for safe keeping. And periodically take a look around – the creep might show up. Even though you've written off the loss it doesn't cost you anything to stay on the trail.
- Assume you’re going to court, prepare accordingly, and be ready to win. Once you track the guy down, hit him with a cool, well organized declaration explaining how you’re about to sue him back to the stone age. The other guy may be lazy and dishonest (which is why he stole from you in the first place) but chances are that he’s neither stupid nor insane. If you have your ducks in a row then nine times out of ten the guy will see the light and pay up before he suffers the indignity of being dragged into court. The small claims court process isn’t difficult. If you’re savvy enough to buy and sell houses then you’re savvy enough to manage a small claims court case (up to $10,000 in Texas). Go get a brochure from your courthouse and follow the instructions.
Happy Ending
So here’s what happened in my case: Every six months or so I’d take a look around for this guy online to see if he popped up somewhere. And last week – voila – there he was on www.linkedin.com, sort of a “facebook for professionals” (good website by the way, check it out.) No home address, of course, but he did list his current employer, and I was on the phone to his boss in a flash. Fear of professional embarrassment can work wonders, and now I have my two grand back – plus interest. Two years after the fact I closed the whole sorry mess in the course of a couple of days. It was like finding two thousand bucks in the back of my sock drawer.
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