"The customer in Shenzhen was 3 years behind on the payment of 8 million yuan, and the terms of the contract were still drilled. How can I get it back with interest?"

"Last week, Wang Zong, who is in the electronic components business, found our law firm in Futian, Shenzhen, with a bunch of contracts. His customer is a Longhua manufacturing plant. Three years ago, he signed a supply contract, and the payment for the goods was 8 million yuan in arrears. Even more annoying was that the other party held the phrase "the specific settlement is subject to the reconciliation between the two parties" in the contract, insisting that some of the documents were not reconciled, and wanted to eliminate 2 million of them. Mr. Wang asked: This money has been delayed for 3 years. There are such vague clauses in the contract, how can I chase it?"

"This scene is too common in Shenzhen. Among the civil cases accepted by the Shenzhen courts every year, contract disputes account for more than 30%, and the target amount ranges from tens of thousands to hundreds of millions. The lei buried in the contract and the other party's tricks are actually the choice of the rights protection path and evidence strategy. Let's clarify the core logic of recovery with the four most common questions from real consultations."

"Q1: The other party dragged the payment for the goods and did not give it. I have not filed a lawsuit. Will I not be able to catch up after more than 3 years?"

"No. Your fear of u201cexpiration and nullificationu201d is legally a statute of limitations. Article 188 of the Civil Code stipulates that the statute of limitations period for applying to the court for protection of civil rights is 3 years. But the point is that these three years are not counted from the day you sign the contract, but from the day you u201cknow that your rights have been violatedu201d -that is, the day the other party should have paid but did not."

"More importantly, the statute of limitations is interrupted and recalculated. As long as you have sent a reminder letter, WeChat reminder, the other party has paid an interest, or even the other party has verbally admitted that it owes money, you can start again in 3 years. Therefore, as long as you can produce evidence of the interruption of the limitation period, you can still sue if you owe money for 5 or even 8 years. We did a case, the debt was delayed for 6 years, and the time limit was "activated" by a series of WeChat chat records, and the case was still filed for recovery."

"Q2: Can I still win if the other party hollows out the "settlement is based on reconciliation" clause in the contract?"

"Yes, but it depends on the closed loop between the evidence. Such clauses are not illegal per se, but judicial interpretations stipulate that reconciliation is a right and an obligation of both parties and is not a reason for delay by one party. We can sue and request the court to order the other party to receive the reconciliation information, or directly use the delivery note, acceptance note, and invoicing record as the main evidence for the performance of the contract."

"For example, Shenzhen Zhiming Law Firm has represented a manufacturer that supplies smart hardware to technology companies, with a target amount of 8.6 million. There is also a clause in the contract that "the final reconciliation shall prevail". The defendant took this sentence and did not pay, only acknowledging 6 million of it, and the other 2.6 million said "no reconciliation". After we took over, we did three things: first, we reorganized all the 4-month delivery signature receipts to correspond to the contract order number one by one; second, we pulled out the mail records signed and accepted by the other party's employees; third, we pulled out the audit manuscripts that the other party's company had recorded as accounts payable in the financial statements. The three sets of evidence were crossed, and the court fully supported 8.6 million principal, together with overdue interest and litigation fees, and the entire process was implemented for 4 months."

"Q3: The liquidated damages written in the contract are too low, can I claim compensation based on the actual losses?"

"Yes. Many people think that contracts that say u201cfive parts per dayu201d (equivalent to 18.25% per annum) or u201c10% of the total priceu201d are nailed down. In fact, Article 585, paragraph 2, of the Civil Code is very clear: if the agreed liquidated damages are lower than the losses caused, the court or arbitration institution may increase them at the request of the parties."

"How to prove u201cactual lossu201d?"

"--If you were supposed to pay the supplier's payment for the goods because you were in arrears and were claimed 200,000 for breach of contract yourself, the 200,000 certificate of compensation is proof of your loss;"
"--If you have paid interest on bank loans, the interest rate voucher is the basis for the loss;"
"--If the company is delayed because of the 8 million, so that you can not take another order with a profit of 2 million, your order contract and calculation sheet are the basis for the loss."

"Hand over these materials, and the probability of the court giving you a higher liquidated damages ratio is very high. The key is not to just say "I'm a loser" in court, you have to take out the numbers."

"Q4: Before the lawsuit, it was discovered that the other party was transferring property. What can be done to ensure that the money is returned?"

"Pre-indictment property preservation means "freezing the other party's account first". Knowing that the law firm has handled many such emergencies, the Shenzhen Futian and Nanshan courts have ruled on eligible pre-litigation preservation applications, and the review speed is usually within 48 hours. All you have to do is find out the other person's bank account number, property, vehicle, and accounts receivable clues in advance."

"A Shenzhen client who made construction materials and owed $17 million found another court auctioning a plot of land under the company's name. We prepared the preservation materials on the same day, directly applied for the freezing of the company's right to allocate the execution funds, rushed to lock up the creditor's rights before the distribution of the auction funds, and finally recovered the full amount of the principal and interest. The key to this method is the time limit, and the money may be divided by other creditors one day later. Therefore, if you feel that the other party is abnormal - such as starting to cancel the company, selling assets at a low price, and frequently changing the invoicing entity, don't hesitate to wait and see. Starting the security procedure immediately is the only correct choice."

"Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm has been deeply cultivating Shenzhen for 26 years. Director Shen Jinlong has been practicing for 26 years. He is a master and senior economist of Fudan University. He has worked as an executive in large state-owned enterprises and created the "Zhiming Art Litigation Law" system. This methodology has won two innovation awards from the Provincial and Municipal Law Associations. We have cumulatively represented more than 10,000 cases, and we have stepped on every step of "evidence chain + preservation + preservation" cases such as contract disputes and debt recovery."

"The biggest cost of recovering arrears is often not litigation costs, but the time it takes for the other party to complete the transfer of property during the hesitation period. If you also have a similar long-delayed payment, or just found a pit in the terms of the contract, why not call and talk about your contract and evidence: 0755-25986969."