How does this work? I'm sure it exists but I'm not certain of the terminology. Say I have a company/companies that owe me money, how do I go about tracking them down? Is there a unique identifier, similar to a person's SSN, that can be used to pin a debt on a company instead of a person? Is this what Dun and Bradstreet is?
D&B is a company that does credit rating for companies. In simple terms, think of them as an Equifax for companies. As for your question, how much cash are we talking about? You just hand it over to a collection agency or lawyer and hope for the best.
Tax I.D. number for a company, includes the last 4 digits of the owner/president's SS#. Not sure if or how that helps.
Depends on what it's owed for. If for trade work on their premises, you can get a mechanic's lein. If it's for services, or other stuff, small claims court or file a real lawsuit. No real way to force collection without going to court. Other option has been mentioned, sell the debt to a collection co for pennies on the dollar.
I guess it would be better to put this into context. My company primarily does business with other companies. A certain portion of these other companies are owned by people (generally not natural born citizens) who are prone to running up a bills, going out of business, and disappearing only to pop up later under a different name (both company and/or personal). I'm thinking there must be more we can do on the front end to help chase the debts on the back end if necessary. We're not talking tons of money, a few thousand per, but it still pisses me off.
I had a debt collector a few years ago. He got a bit over zealous trying to collect for someone else, and the debtor ended up in a dumpster in Pleasant Ridge. They found him about 3 months later and my collector went to prison.
So the issue is someone opening an account, running up a tab, and then closing it down... About the only thing you could do at the front end is mandate a personal guarantee tied back to the business owner. That would give you a bit more leverage on the backend when you are suing them. Or do what my company does and make everyone COD.
If someone is going to stiff you for a bill, they are pretty much going to get away with it no matter what you do. If the bill is big enough, they'll just declare bankruptcy and do it again to the next guy.
With a judgement, and a refusal to pay, you can go back to court to force asset sale to satisfy the judgement However, all of this costs you for the lawyers and court fees. Not worth it unless the amount A) can be recovered - the person or business who stiffed you has to have enough assets to cover the amount owed and legal fees. B) is large enough to be worth the hassle There are people and businesses who make their money by stiffing contractors and then fighting their attempts to collect in court with good lawyers. They essentially cause the small guy to give up or go bankrupt trying to collect.
I don't know what business you're in, but my distributors always do a credit check before opening an account. It took me ten years before I could say no to signing a personal guarantee and still get an account opened. I don't really care about the ramifications of a personal guarantee because I'm not going to flake out on my bill, but it's more of an ego thing at this point. I feel I've earned the right to get business credit without hanging my name on it.
We frequently experience this in construction. Its been a really long time since we've lost any money. Last year we had a client mysteriously disappear on a small siding job. ($1300). Ended up costing her almost $2,000 by the time it was all said & done. We would have offered "terms" with at least 50% down. There are jobs that we've done and never closed the permit out. Its hilarious when the customer tries to hire another contractor to "apply" for a new permit. Sorry Charlie. One day they will wise up & pay what they owe, plus interest.
