Hi Al,

>I think Tamar has the right idea but you may not even have to go that far. Just tell him you're *going* to serve him papers. You might even be able to salvage the "relationship" if you blame a fictitious 3rd party e.g. "nothing personal - when my accountant went over my A/R he said that's what I should do". Be sure to set a hard, but reasonable date by which payment must be received - absolutely no excuses accepted.

You have something of an obligation to pursue this. I've encountered a couple of "serial bad clients" like yours. I'll bet you're not the first contractor this guy has treated this way. Because no one has read him the riot act, now he thinks he can act that way with everyone. So, you can let it go, for him to abuse the next contractor, or you can help end it now.<

Thanks for the thoughts. I have finally received the 1/2 payment.

Mel Cummings