All,

I have outstanding overdue invoices of about $10K with a small industrial lighting company in Oakland from earlier this year. There was no dispute regarding the deliverables or quality of work, and they initially paid about $12K before their payments became delinquent.

Their stated reason for failing to pay was that they ‘need to first grow more customer revenue’. I have numerous archived emails from them ‘apologizing and promising payment later’ with no mention on their part concerning any failure to perform on my part. Unfortunately the contract had an arbitration clause, which I’ve since learnt from legal counsel is effectively worthless and a hindrance (due to associated fees relative to the amount of the debt).

The client has since closed their Oakland office but the CEO moved to Taiwan earlier this year, but the CFO who signed the contract still lives in San Francisco. It appears they’ve changed their online company name, but their email address is the same. Around September they broke off all contact and haven’t since replied to emails or phone messages.

Is it possible to engage a collection agency without a court judgment, and if so how effective might this be? My understanding is that small claims court at best provides a judgment ruling, but one still has to collect.

Regards,

Jerry W. Rice