Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Day Care Provider Debt Collection

I am a daycare provider. I had a child that was in my care for 1 month 2 weeks of which the parent paid on time. The last 2 weeks the parent did not pay at all after I renedered the services to her. My Question is can I send correspondence to her place of employment since I do not have a current home address for her and I gave her a folder to fill out with a contract and other forms which she never brought back to me. Does this mean that she has gotten away with not paying me because she did not fill out the paperwork including the contract. She owes me $180.00 for 2 weeks can I take her to smalls claims court to recover my 2 weeks pay. What can I do in the future to deter parents from walking out without paying my wages after I have rendered them services i.e report them to the credit bureau or is there any other place that we can report them that would help providers know the kind of person they are dealing with before hand.

Thank You


Asked on 4/04/05, 6:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Day Care Provider Debt Collection

You can certainly send your letter of demand for payment to this nonpayer c/o her employer. If your demand remains unanswered or is responded to in a less than satisfactory manner, you could then file your case in small claims court for around $40.

To avoid such situations from occurring in the future, you might consider requiring a prospective client to deposit with you an estimated sum of money up front to cover the cost of your services before you actually provide any such child care services with the understanding that you would promptly refund any monies not expended(something akin to attorney practice of requiring a retainer from the client before undertaking any representation).

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Answered on 4/04/05, 7:00 pm


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