Finally!!

Last February I wrote about "C"! I watched her son "L" for a few months and she started having some personal problems and wasn't keeping up with her payments. I was willing to help her out because I felt bad...she was young, L's Dad left, blah, blah, blah!!! Eventually she stopped bringing L and I was still owed $150 from her. I was livid that she would do this after I gave her a reduced rate, let her pay me late, etc. So, I began taking steps to getting my money back because I watched L daily for at least 8 hours and deserved to be paid and C needed to take responsibility!!!

Here is what I did over SEVERAL months:

*Attempted to contact her numerous times by telephone with no call backs

*Sent her numerous certified letters stating how much she owed plus the late fees that she was accruing. (the late fee policy is stated in my handbook that I pass out to all parents) All letters went ignored and unclaimed.

*I mailed a letter to her house with copies of everything that I had been attempting to mail along with a letter stating that if she did not pay me by ...... then I would be filing with the small claims court. I knew I would have no proof that she received this but I just wanted to give her the chance to pay. At this point she owed me $350 with late fees and I was willing to forgive those also.

*I never heard from her so I attempted to call her on the date I gave her and she actually answered. Her reply was that she was going to use her income tax return to pay me. Once again, I was too nice, and told her I would wait until the first week in May and if I had no money than I would file the claim. Well, guess what she didn't pay me! Big surprise!!

*I went to the court and filed the claim and a certified letter was sent to C letting her know that she owed me $500 and that I filed the claim. This is the number that she owed me at this point and although I could still be charging her, I am not and I have kept it at this number. She ignored these letters.

*I then filed to have her served by a Sheriff at her home and place of work. The papers were hand delivered letting her know that she had to request a trial or just pay me the money owed. She had until August something to make this decision.

*Today I received a letter stating "case defaulted on Defendants (C) failure to answer claim or appear for hearing. Judgment for Plaintiff (ME)" YAY!!! Of course, this does not mean she will pay me, so the next step is to file something called a "Motion for Periodic Payments" after 30 days. The court will schedule a hearing that she HAS to show up for in person with cash in hand or a way to make payments for the judge to approve. If she does not show up for this then she will have a warrant out for her arrest.

I feel bad that it has come to this, but I work hard to take care of these kiddos and I deserve to be paid just like she deserved to be paid at her job. I just can't believe that she has been ignoring all these papers from the court!! I have sent her plenty of letters outlining what the end result could be, but I guess she does not care!!

During this process I found that she lies, A LOT!! Many things that she told me trying to get my sympathy were untrue. I just hope that she learns something from this and that despite her short comings that she is a good Mom to L!!