Ridiculous Parent

[Aprilcampbell]

Ok I am new to this and all my parents have verbal contract pay at end of week and I never added late fees but really don't have to but one mom and she always had sob story and single mom and stuff but I am having to take her to small claims court she has just gotten to point she not gonna pay it's always something with her can I put late charges and non payment fees on there.

[DaveA]

You're unfortunately about to get the first lesson in running your daycare like a business. If you don't you will get absolutely ran over by your clients. You'll have very little chance in small claims court without a written contract. Cut ties with problem parent. For starters from now on-

1) written contract with parents. Be specific. There are several threads on contracts you can search for up top.

2) always get payment in advance. If they don't pay don't provide care.

3) payment is for enrollment not attendance. If you do part time (I don't) payment is due for the days agreed to.

Good luck with this. We've all been there.

[Cat Herder]

I don't think a verbal contract will hold up in small claims court. At least I have never heard of one successful case.

You really need to get a formal contract and handbook together. There are many samples here. I added some tags that will lead you to older posts that will help. (It is almost dinner time, here. )

[Gemma]

I agree with the above

There maybe nothing you can do to get this payment, but you can definitely do something to prevent this from happening again. Take the suggestions on this Forum, you won't regret it!
Good luck to you!

[daycarediva]

Originally Posted by DaveA

You're unfortunately about to get the first lesson in running your daycare like a business. If you don't you will get absolutely ran over by your clients. You'll have very little chance in small claims court without a written contract. Cut ties with problem parent. For starters from now on-

1) written contract with parents. Be specific. There are several threads on contracts you can search for up top.

2) always get payment in advance. If they don't pay don't provide care.

3) payment is for enrollment not attendance. If you do part time (I don't) payment is due for the days agreed to.

Good luck with this. We've all been there.

This.

[Ariana]

Even written contracts can be thrown out by a judge so the absolute best thing to do is get paid upfront either by a deposit or pay before the week of care as others have suggested. This way there is never a need to go in front of a judge. No pay, no stay!

It might be best to just let this one go and call it a lesson learned to do things differently going forward. We have all been there!

Take it to court. You may find a judge that sees through mom and orders her to pay. You may not get your payment or it will be a long time. Maybe you can ask the court to garnish her wages if possible. Get a written contract from everyone going forward. There are sadly always people who willl take advantage.