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Collect · Freelancers & agencies

A client won't pay your invoice

You did the work, sent the bill, and now you're getting ghosted. Here's how a New York attorney collects what you earned. (General information, not legal advice.)

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Freelancers, agencies, and consultants get burned the same way: you deliver, the client goes quiet, and the invoice ages. You don't have to write it off. Earned fees are a debt — and a debt can be demanded, sued on, and collected.

Your options, in order

1. Demand. A demand on law-firm letterhead tells a slow-paying client the free pass is over. Banksy drafts it free; an attorney can send it for $99.

2. Sue on what you're owed. If they keep stalling, we sue — on the contract, the proposal, or an account stated if they accepted your invoices without objecting. Where your terms allow, we pursue interest and fees too.

3. Enforce the judgment. New York's CPLR Article 52 tools — information subpoenas, restraining notices, bank levies, and income executions through a marshal or sheriff — turn the judgment into a payment.

Your records are your case. The proposal or contract, the deliverables, the invoices, and the emails or texts where they approved the work or promised to pay. Even informal agreements are often enough.

Whether the client is a business or a person

If your client is a company, we look for a personal guaranty and where it banks; if it's an individual, we look at wages, accounts, and property. Either way, the goal is a judgment that reaches real assets.

FAQ

I only had a verbal agreement — can I still collect?

Often yes — emails, texts, a signed proposal, or a record of the work and payments can establish the deal and the amount owed.

They say the work wasn't good enough. Now what?

A vague complaint raised only after the bill is due is a common stall. We assess whether it's a real dispute or an excuse, and pursue what you're owed accordingly.

What does it cost me?

Free demand letter; $99 attorney review & send; full collection on contingency — no attorney fee unless we collect.

Ready to get paid? Ask Banksy for your free letter → A New York attorney can review & send it for $99, or take the whole collection on contingency.