A $2,400 demand letter, one sentence at a time.

CPLR § 5004 · CPLR § 5001

The facts we are working with.

Maya is a freelance graphic designer in Brooklyn. In November 2025 a small restaurant group in Manhattan hired her by email to design a menu and signage. She quoted $2,400, they replied agreed, she delivered the files on December 12, and sent an invoice the same day with payment due in 30 days. The restaurant used the menu. Maya emailed twice in January and once in February; the owner replied once, in January, saying the check is coming, and then went silent. It is now April 2026.

This is the most common demand letter we send, and it happens to be one where New York law adds a lot: Maya is a freelancer, and the Freelance Isn't Free Act applies. We will write the letter the plain way first, as a contract claim, and then show how the statute changes it. The general structure is on how to write a demand letter in New York.

The heading, the subject line, and the first sentence.

At the top: Maya's name and mailing address, the date, and the recipient, which should be the business's legal name and address, not just the owner's first name. If the restaurant is an LLC, the letter is addressed to the LLC, attention the owner. Then a subject line: Demand for payment: $2,400 invoice no. 1047 dated December 12, 2025.

Why: the subject line tells the reader in one glance what this is, how much, and which document. A recipient who sees a specific invoice number knows the sender has the paperwork organized, which is the first signal that this will not simply go away.

Then the opening sentence: This letter is a formal demand for payment of $2,400, plus interest, for design services I provided to Harbor Hospitality LLC under our agreement of November 3, 2025, by the deadline stated below.

Why: one sentence, and the reader knows the amount, the basis, and that there is a deadline. Do not open with background, with how many times you have called, or with anything about how you feel. The first sentence is the letter in miniature.

The facts, in order.

On November 3, 2025, you engaged me by email to design a menu and exterior signage for a quoted fee of $2,400, and you confirmed the quote in writing the same day. I delivered the final files on December 12, 2025, and you acknowledged receipt. The menu has been in use at your Chambers Street location since at least December 20. I invoiced $2,400 on December 12, payable within 30 days. No payment has been made. On January 22, 2026, you wrote that a check was coming. None arrived, and my messages of February 9 and March 3 went unanswered.

Why each part is there: the agreement date and the confirmation establish a contract; the delivery date and acknowledgment establish performance; the fact that the menu is in use forecloses any claim that the work was unsatisfactory; the invoice date starts the payment clock; the January 22 message is an admission that the debt exists; and the unanswered follow-ups show good-faith attempts before this letter. Every sentence is a fact that can be proven with an attached document. There are no adjectives.

The legal basis.

Your failure to pay is a breach of our agreement. Because I am a freelance worker and the contract value exceeds $800, the engagement is also governed by New York's Freelance Isn't Free Act, which required payment no later than 30 days after completion and entitles me to double the unpaid amount, plus attorney's fees, in a civil action.

Why: the first sentence is the contract claim, which is all most letters need. The second is the statutory hook, and it changes the number. If Maya were not a freelancer, the second sentence would be deleted and nothing else would change. If you are not certain a statute applies, leave it out; a wrong citation costs more than no citation.

The amount, itemized.

The amount due is $2,400. Statutory interest at nine percent per year under CPLR § 5004, running from January 11, 2026, the date payment was due, totals $53.26 through April 10, 2026. The total now due is $2,453.26. If this matter proceeds to a civil action under the Freelance Isn't Free Act, I will seek double damages of $4,800, plus interest, costs, and attorney's fees.

Why: the number is exact, the interest is computed to a stated date with the rate and statute named, and the statutory exposure is stated as what will be sought in court, not what is demanded today. That distinction matters. Demanding $4,800 in the letter makes Maya look like she is inflating the claim; stating that $4,800 is what the lawsuit will seek makes the $2,453.26 demand look like the bargain it is. Interest runs from the date payment was due because that is the date of breach.

The deadline, the consequence, and the close.

Please pay $2,453.26 by April 24, 2026. If payment is not received by that date, I will file a claim in the Civil Court of the City of New York, County of New York, without further notice, and will seek all amounts described above together with statutory interest and costs.

Why: a date rather than a number of days; a specific court, which shows Maya knows where this goes; and one consequence stated once. Without further notice tells the reader there will be no second letter. Notice what is absent: no threat to post reviews, no threat to contact the landlord or the health department, no threat to tell other vendors. Those would weaken the letter and, in some forms, expose Maya to a coercion claim.

Then delivery and close: This letter is being sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address above and by email to the address we have used throughout this engagement. Payment may be made by check to the address above or by bank transfer; contact me in writing for transfer details. Enclosed are copies of the November 3 email exchange, the December 12 invoice, your January 22 message, and a photograph of the menu in use.

Why: stating the delivery method in the text means Maya's file copy proves how it was sent. Offering payment methods removes the last excuse. Listing the enclosures tells the reader the documents exist and have already been assembled, and it is the list a small claims arbitrator will later see. Sign it, and done. The letter is about one page. The mechanics of sending are on how to send a demand letter in New York.

The three mistakes DIY letters make.

Mistake one: writing the history instead of the claim. The DIY version of Maya's letter runs three pages and includes every text, every excuse, and a paragraph about how the owner's silence has affected her business. The recipient skims it, concludes it is a grievance rather than a claim, and files it with the rest. The fix is the test from the main guide: would you be comfortable having an arbitrator read this sentence aloud? If not, cut it.

Mistake two: the vague or moving deadline. Please pay as soon as possible. Please respond within a reasonable time. I expect payment within 10 days, and then, two weeks later, a second letter with another 10 days. Each of these tells the reader the deadline is not real. One date, one letter, then file.

Mistake three: demanding the wrong number. Either too little, by forgetting interest and the statute, or too much, by adding damages that do not exist. Maya's DIY draft demanded $2,400 flat in one version and $12,000 for lost business and stress in another. The first leaves money on the table; the second signals she does not know what the claim is worth. The right number is the one a court would award, computed and itemized.

What a demand letter does here.

For an unpaid invoice with a written agreement, delivered work, and an admission that the money is owed, the letter is most of the case. It lays out a record the owner cannot dispute, it states an interest clock that is running, and under the Freelance Isn't Free Act it describes a lawsuit exposure of double the invoice plus fees. Restaurant owners can do that arithmetic. Most pay.

If Maya sends this letter herself, she has a strong one. If a law firm sends it on her behalf, the same letter arrives with a different signature block, and the owner now knows that the person who will file the claim has already reviewed it. That is the difference, and for a $2,400 invoice it is often worth a flat fee; the comparison is on attorney demand letter vs. writing it yourself. Our flat-fee demand letters page explains how we prepare them, and for a business-to-business version of this claim without the freelancer statute, start at unpaid invoices for small businesses. When the letter is ignored, the New York small claims court guide is the next page.