Debt collection

Hi,

We have a small business in Seattle.  We provided a service to an attorney at her home in July of 2007 and have not received payment to date.  I have sent repeated overdue letters to her at her home and office.  We have called her repeatedly to remind her of her obligation to pay and she is now blocking our calls through her assistant.  I left a letter on her doorstep recently because she refused to respond.  She responded to this by telling us that she was going to sue us for harassment.  What is the Washington State statute on first party debt collection?  Can she sue us for harassment?  She has called us to tell us that she knows that she owes this debt but has not sent payment.

Hopefully it is not too late to sue her in small claims, which is what you should have done a long time ago.

The WA statute of limitations is 6 years on written contracts and 3 years on oral contracts.

So you still have time to sue.

Anybody can sue anybody for anything so, yes, she can sue you for harassment. She would just not be able to make it stick. She's blowing smoke hoping to scare you away.

Joane:

What is the Washington State statute on first party debt collection?

There is no such thing.

She owes you, she won't pay, you sue her. Period.