If you are owed for delinquent accounts receivable, issues with unpaid invoices or other unpaid obligations, your business must follow state and federal guidelines for collection. Failure to do so limits your ability to collect on the past-due payments and may also result in costly fines.
Review the best practices for Ohio debt collection to improve your success rate and avoid expensive legal complaints.
Consider wage garnishment
If you have given the debtor 10 days’ notice and have not received your payment, you can seek restitution with wage garnishment. Ohio allows you to contact the person’s employer directly and divert up to 25% of his or her take-home pay toward the outstanding debt.
Look into the levy process
Ohio also allows creditors to place a levy on debtors’ bank accounts. With this process, the person’s bank receives a court order to withdraw funds to repay the debt. Under Ohio law, you can place a levy on all but $425 of a person’s checking or savings account.
Know who you may contact
You can contact only the individual and his or her attorney about the outstanding debt. You can also call the person at work, but not if he or she specifically requests that you not do so.
You can reach out to family members and acquaintances of the debtor, but can only ask how to find that person. You cannot address the specifics of the debt with third parties or contact them for any other reason.
Though you can sue to collect on your debt in Ohio, you only have six years to do so. After that, the court will dismiss your case and you will no longer be able to collect your funds.
