How to get Paid

Last Updated on Thursday, 14 July 2011 04:04 Written by Chris Griswold Wednesday, 1 July 2009 09:07

Brokers, realtors and everyone else:  getting paid isn’t always easy.  Whether it’s a purchase/sale or a lease that you’ve helped to close, sometimes, for whatever reason, the check just doesn’t come.  When this difficulty has arisen in the past, you’ve probably tried getting paid by either “working it out” with the other party, or, in the alternative, pursuing the normal, legal channels just to still come up empty-handed.  There is a better, non-legal and arguably more effective way to go about collecting your unpaid commissions and other fees.  Read more below….

How To Get Paid

As a commercial real estate attorney, I field calls from a lot of good people as regarding the difficulties they encounter in getting paid at the conclusion of a deal.  So, if you’re in such a position (or if you should ever find yourself in that position), just remember that you’re not alone.  In fact, we’ve all been there at some point (some more than others)!  After you get the news that you’re not getting paid, the normal drill ensues….  You write a letter, then you write a certified, demand letter, then you contact an attorney who tells you that everything “depends” and then goes onto tell you that collecting your money “…will be difficult at best…,” and then, ultimately, you wind up filing a lien upon the subject property.  This process takes a lot of time away from the other paying deals on your desk and it also takes away a lot of your positive, life energy.  Accordingly, I want you to walk away knowing about a better, non-legal and more effective way to go about collecting the money you’ve earned.

So, how does it work?  It’s actually pretty simple.  When your check doesn’t show and you call over to discuss it with the other party and they say “…blah, blah, blah…, we’re not paying…,” just hang up the phone and ask yourself this one question: “is financing involved in this project?”  If the answer is “no,” you need to probably do the normal drill.  However, if the answer is “yes” (and it usually is), you should just contact the lender(s) on the project and tell them about your potential lien on the property as becoming a cloud on title.  You’ve never seen such a shuffling of paper….  This method is really effective if construction or mezzanine financing is involved because the re-financing of the project (to a permanent loan) is inevitable.  This method is tantamount to settling a fight with your sibling by involving your parents.  Try it next time. ______________________________________________________________________________

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