I hired a nanny & paid her partially upfront. She quit. How can I get the $ back?

Question

How can I get the money back? Any Ideas? Small claims court costs $62 in my county -expensive just to return 150$ took. Unfortnatly It's not a guarantee that she return it, but it would be a bad mark on her credit. dmpe
I'm thinking I could try and scare her into returning it by sending her a certified letter stating that I will sue her if she doesn't return it by such and such date.... Somebody help me!

She is 22years old. We have written contract & I have all check stubs w/ dates time paid in the memo line.

Answer 1

First you can try to resolve this matter through an informal way.
If you know her address, then send her a “demand note” via certified mail. Here is a sample demand letter.

Date:____________(write date here)
__________________ (write name of nanny)
__________________ (write address of nanny)
Dear ______________________: (write name of nanny)
On ___________ date, I paid you a partial payment of $_______ as part of our verbal agreement for your services. Upon receipt of the payment, you have accepted the job as our “nanny” for the next _____ days / weeks / months. You have failed to uphold your portion of the contract and as a result I am requesting that the partial payment be returned to us via Certified mail within 30 days of this letter.
Unless the full amount received by cash within 30 days after the date this demand letter was mailed and $_____________, the cost of mailing this demand letter by certified mail, I will file a small claims court claim against you.
You may wish to contact a lawyer to discuss your legal rights and responsibilities. Please let this letter show that I have tried to resolve this matter through informal means.
Please send your payment to:
__________________ (name)
__________________ (address and phone number)
__________________(sign)


(Note this is a very rough draft)

If that does not work, go ahead and file a claim against her in small claims. Depending on the situation, the Judge may add that filing fees onto the final judgment. Furthermore, if she does not pay you, you can garnish her wages or go back to court. Good luck.

Answer 2

Do you have a friend or family member who's a lawyer? If so, have them write a letter to her on their law firm letterhead. Have them state that they are aware of the situation and have them give her a date to return the money by so that no further legal action needs to take place. Often times that alone will get what you want. People get scared when they see something from an attorney and usually tht's all you need. If that is not the case then you may want to either persue it further or drop it and chalk it up as a mistake you'll never make again. I am a part time Nanny too and I do it because I love it (NOT) for the $$$. Maybe it worked out for the best this way-who knows what she might have done to the kids,etc. had she actually been alone with them. Never pay anyone upfront again- pay them after their services are rendered. Do a background check on the next Nanny(Act 33/34 clearences) and call their references and ask very specific ?'s to make sure it' really a family that person worked with in the past. Good Luck!!!!!

Answer 3

You are obviously unhappy with the pay cut. Can you afford to quit? If you can't, perhaps you should line up another job before you make such a drastic decision that could effect your personal finances. There is nothing wrong with shopping around. You might find that there are not a lot of nanny jobs out there and you may want to hold on to that job, even if it means accepting a pay cut. I would personally hold on to the job until I had something else lined up, but that's just me.

Answer 4

Small claims court, violation of verbal contract.
If the babysitter is under 18 (16 in some states) then you did not enter a verbal contract with a minor, so there is little you can do.

Answer 5

Refuse to give her a reference.

Write to her asking for the money back. If that fails send her a letter from you Solicitor.

Or just forget about it - you won't pay anyone upfront again.

Answer 6

The only was is small claims court. In most places you can add the cost of filing to the suit.

Justin James
http://www.globalstaffing.org/

Answer 7

You probably wont see that money again. File it under "live and learn". Actually it's a good thing in a way......would you have wanted someone like that watching your kids? Small price to pay for finding out how she is in advance.

Answer 8

You can try the certified letter route, but are you willing to follow up if she doesn't respond?

Chalk it up to a life experience, and remember the adage, "Pay when served".

Just keep it in mind if you ever get a request for a reference.

Answer 9

you have evidence so just call her up and ask her politely, if she refuses, then talk to an attorney, or take her to court. keep record and proof that you tried to collect your money before taking her to court, good luck, and remember to never to that again

Answer 10

Call an attorney who offers a free consultation.