How do you guys handle a client who is two months behind in payments?

I am building a website for a local business and the owner is very far behind in paying. I am a bit behind in the development schedule, but he is in the know about the status and progress of the website and I’ve reminded him multiple times.

What country are you and the client based in?

Well in my opinion i stop working on this project until he pay. I guess his project didn't reach production phase right ?

I'd continue to dev, but not deploy anything till he made those 2 payments... that way you can keep making progress, and updating him about this... Telling him that he can see it deployed after the payment...

@Mba3gar not yet...

@FrodoSwaggins if u don't deploy you are in control of the code

So it should never be released live then

On my contracts I specifically state only to deploy what has been agreed upon once what was agreed upon is both finished and paid for ... Simple as that

Deadlines are just for people to piss over and bitch about, if you want quality, pay for it

Stop working. Fuck this guy.

Not a freelancer, but our company goes ahead and finishes the build as far as we can but refuses to show them anything until payments are up to date. In the last year I've built 6 WP sites that are waiting for payment and sitting in limbo.

If you are missing milestone deadlines, the client may be holding out until you're back on pace or done.

The only way to really make anything happen one way or the other though is for someone to take it to court for breach of contract and if you aren't meeting your milestones then you're not likely to win that fight.

@karma In control of code nobody else cares about. I'd he doesn't pay, you've only screwed yourself over.

Never work for free.

Stop work, file suit.

if he can't pay for your time, start using it for other things that will... 2 months isn't a short amount either

Assuming you had an agreed payment schedule, then it is a breach of contract on their part.

In the UK you can charge statutory interest and a late payment fee even if this isn't explicitly stated in your contract (or if you didn't have a contract), unless you waived your rights.

If you're a serious freelancer with high value projects, this is where insurance comes in too. Your insurance will pay fees for you to recover fees + costs, OR if the prospect of doing so is low the insurer just compensates you for loss of fees.

However you structure it, if you are assigning IP to a client this *always* is on receipt of cleared payment in full.

In other words, "Fuck you, pay me!"

@Root he is missing 2 months of pay... So I guess he already did work for free