An invoice from you is a request. A demand on law-firm letterhead is a preview of litigation, and in New York it arrives with the math already done: 9% statutory interest running from the day payment was due, statutory damages on a bounced check after a proper written demand, and the home-improvement law that protected your contractor deposit before the contractor disappeared.
These letters are for businesses and individuals who are owed money under a contract, an invoice, a check, or a handshake loan that a Venmo memo proves. Each is a flat fee shown before you pay, signed by a New York attorney, and mailed within 48 hours. If they agree to pay, an attorney-drafted settlement agreement or payment plan locks it in.
Send a signed attorney demand letter first: it states the debt, the 9% interest accruing under CPLR 5001, and the deadline, and it costs a flat $349. If it's ignored, small claims court handles business claims up to $10,000 in New York City, and the Small Claims Filing Kit prepares the case for you to file yourself.
A collection letter from an agency is regulated as debt collection and carries no threat of a lawsuit the agency can bring. A demand letter from counsel is the first step in litigation: it is signed by a lawyer who can file, and recipients read it that way.
Yes. After a compliant written demand, GOL § 11-104 lets the payee recover the face amount plus statutory damages on a set schedule. The demand has to be done right for the extra damages to attach, that is the whole point of the Bounced Check letter.