Owed money in New York? Start with a demand letter.

Why a demand letter works.

NEW YORK LAW · PRE-LITIGATION DEMAND

Most people and businesses ignore requests for payment until a lawyer is involved. A letter on law firm letterhead changes the calculation: it identifies the legal claims, the amounts New York law can entitle you to recover, and the deadline before the next step. Many disputes resolve at this stage because paying is cheaper than defending a lawsuit, and the other side knows it.

What it covers.

• Unpaid invoices and freelance or contractor fees
• Security deposits withheld by landlords
• Personal loans and money owed between individuals
• Unpaid wages, commissions, and final paychecks
• Refunds owed for goods, services, or deposits
• Property damage and other money claims under New York law

The list above is where most matters land, but it is not a limit. If your dispute does not fit a named category, the firm drafts a custom attorney demand letter for any New York dispute from your facts and documents, at the same flat fee. Every custom matter is screened first, and if a letter is not the right tool for your situation, you get a straight answer instead of a letter.

How it works.

The letters run through the firm's flat-fee service, DemandLetterNY.com, and every step is visible to you:

1. Guided intake, about five to ten minutes. Plain-English questions about your dispute, plus uploads for your contract, invoice, lease, or messages. You receive an order number on screen: save it.
2. One flat fee, stated before you pay. Secure checkout through Stripe; no hourly billing, no retainer. If the attorney cannot ethically take the matter, you receive a full credit toward any other service.
3. Attorney review and signature. Daniel Hochman, Esq. personally reviews your facts, verifies every statute cited, computes the amounts, and signs on firm letterhead: typically within 48 hours. Nothing mails until he has reviewed it.
4. Certified mail with tracking. The letter goes USPS Certified, you get a PDF copy, and the tracking number appears in your client portal.
5. Live status the whole way. Your order number and email open the client portal: review status, mailing date, USPS tracking, your response window, and: if the other side responds or stays silent: your exact flat-fee options. Attorney review of their first response is included free.

The full process, step by step, is at demandletterny.com/how-it-works. If the dispute is larger than a letter, the firm will tell you so.

When a letter is not enough.

Some claims belong in litigation from the start: serious injuries, significant wage theft across years, discrimination and wrongful termination. Those are the firm's core practices, handled the traditional way, and the free case review covers them. A demand letter is the fast, inexpensive first step for straightforward money claims; it is not a promise of payment, and no result can be guaranteed. If you are weighing a lawsuit and want the full picture first, the firm offers a flat-fee "Should I sue?" case assessment.

Guides by situation.

The firm publishes detailed New York guides for the disputes demand letters resolve most often:

• The Freelance Isn't Free Act, statewide since 2024: double damages and fee-shifting for unpaid freelancers
• Client won't pay? A freelancer's step-by-step plan
• What a Freelance Isn't Free Act demand letter contains
• Freelancing without a written contract
• The state complaint route vs. a letter
• Unpaid invoices for small businesses: account stated and 9% statutory interest
• Demand letter vs. small claims court
• Contractor took your deposit and home improvement contract disputes
• Lent money and not paid back: friends, family, exes, and roommates; oral and Venmo loans
• New York small claims court, start to finish: limits, courts, and collecting the judgment
• Landlord won't make repairs: the warranty of habitability and rent abatement
• A vendor kept your deposit: weddings, movers, gyms, camps, car dealers
• Final paycheck not paid and getting your belongings back
• An uninsured driver hit your car
• How to write a demand letter in New York: the DIY guide, and when letterhead is worth it
• B2B commercial collections, bounced checks, and owners frozen out of their own company
• Neighbor property damage, co-op and condo boards, storage unit lien sales, and NYC broker fees under the FARE Act
• Illegal paycheck deductions and the used car Lemon Law
• Cease and desist letters: defamation, harassment, name and image misuse