[hankejh]

Unfortunately, the only recourse is to have an attorney send a letter declaring a plan to file a lawsuit if payment is not made by a given date, which will cost around $300/hr for a few hours. The follow-on lawsuit will cost at least $3K to get started, and more likely $7-10K to close. It's important to note that choosing the lawyer option can cause the client to dig their heels in (they know how much it will cost you to run a lawsuit and might just let you burn the cash in an attempt to call your bluff). Freelance workers often require a retainer or upfront payment to reduce their risk of payment defaults.

[badclient]

Thanks. This is why I have remained very civil so far. Another option is to directly call up the company I was doing the project for which had hired my client. They always liked me on a professional level though I never tried to cut out the party that hired me for obvious ethical reasons.

Someone told me he may be indulging in fire fraud of some kind so I am exploring that angle.