Here's an engaging story inspired by a true case to answer a key question for successful business owners:

If someone owes your business money, how long can you afford to keep giving them more time before waiting becomes a legal problem?

If You Wait, It Might Be Too Late

Every January, Elaine Foster asked the same question.

“Ray, what are we doing with the seventy-two?”

Ray Mercer never needed her to explain which seventy-two.

He owned Mercer Building Supply, a commercial materials company in White Plains, New York. Elaine handled the books from a small office behind the sales counter, where she kept a calculator, six sharpened pencils, and very little patience for money that should already be in the bank.

The seventy-two was $72,000.

It had been sitting on the books since 2010.

“Leave it,” Ray said.

Elaine looked at him over her glasses.

“Denise says they’re going to pay me.”

“Denise has been saying that for a while.”

“She’s my sister.”

“I know who Denise is, Ray.”

That was part of the problem.

Denise Mercer was Ray’s younger half-sister. Her two sons, Adrian and Marcus, had grown up calling him Uncle Ray.

Ray had been there for most of the important things. Birthdays. Graduations. Adrian’s first car, which Ray had inspected in the driveway and declared “a terrible decision” before helping him buy it anyway.

So when Denise called one evening in 2009 and told him she and the boys wanted to start a commercial cleaning company, Ray listened.

They had a plan.

Denise would handle the office. Adrian knew a property manager who could get them in front of several small medical buildings. Marcus had worked for another cleaning company and knew the actual work.

What they did not have was much money.

Ray did.

More importantly, Ray believed in them.

The first request was for help with the van.

Then they needed business insurance before they could begin work under their first contract.

There were cleaning machines, supplies, uniforms, a deposit on a small storage space, and enough cash to cover payroll while they waited for their first customers to pay.

One afternoon Adrian came into Ray’s warehouse with a quote for a floor scrubber.

“How much?”

Adrian slid the paper across the counter.

Ray stared at it.

“For that price, does it clean the building by itself?”

Apparently it did not.

Ray paid for it anyway.

That was how the money went.

Not one dramatic $72,000 check.

$4,000 here. $8,000 there. Another bill because the van needed work. A little more because a customer paid 60 days late and the employees still expected their checks on Friday.

By May 2010, Mercer & Sons Commercial Cleaning looked like a real business. Their name was on the van, employees were on payroll, and recurring accounts were keeping the schedule full.

To Ray, the startup phase was over. That also meant the understanding he had with Denise and the boys was supposed to kick in: once the business was established, they would start paying him back promptly.

Ray waited.

Nothing.

At first, he was not worried.

This was not some customer from Buffalo who had stopped answering the phone.

This was Denise.

He saw her at birthdays.

Adrian still called him for business advice.

Marcus occasionally stopped at the warehouse and helped himself to coffee from the break room while complaining about customers who wanted spotless buildings but did not want to pay for cleaning.

Ray found that complaint particularly interesting.

One Sunday at Denise’s house, he finally brought up the money.

“We should probably start figuring out what you guys owe me.”

Denise nodded immediately.

“Absolutely.”

Adrian looked up from his plate.

“We’re going to take care of you, Uncle Ray.”

Marcus agreed.

There.

Everybody was on the same page.

Ray went home feeling better.

Nothing happened.

A few months later, he asked again.

They had just signed a big office-building account, but Denise wanted to keep cash in the company.

Fair enough.

Then they bought another van.

Then they hired more people.

Then came:

“Let’s get through this quarter.”

And:

“We’ve got two customers who are behind.”

And eventually:

“We haven’t forgotten.”

That last one became Elaine’s favorite.

“They haven’t forgotten,” Ray told her one afternoon.

Elaine looked at the aging report.

“That’s reassuring.”

Meanwhile, the cleaning company kept growing.

Ray would occasionally see one of their white vans around Westchester.

Every time he did, there was the company name on the side in big blue letters.

MERCER & SONS COMMERCIAL CLEANING.

Ray had helped pay for the first one.

By 2015, the seventy-two had outlived the office copier.

Ray finally decided that family patience had limits.

He made a formal demand for repayment.

That mattered to him.

Before then, Ray viewed the whole thing as a family obligation that was taking too long. Now he had formally asked for his money.

In his mind, this was when the matter became official.

The money still did not come.

Eventually, in 2020, Ray sued Denise, Adrian, and Marcus.

He went into the case focused on what seemed like the obvious questions.

Had he advanced the money?

Yes.

Had Denise and the boys promised to reimburse him?

According to Ray, repeatedly.

Had they paid him back?

Not one dollar.

Ray had receipts. Bank records. Old emails. He could point to equipment he had helped buy and a van that had spent years driving around Westchester advertising a business that still owed him money.

He was ready to argue about the debt.

But the court asked a much simpler question.

When were they supposed to pay you?

Ray’s answer was essentially: once the company became established in 2010.

That was the problem.

The judge explained that Ray’s claim was subject to a six-year statute of limitations. If Denise and the boys were supposed to repay him in 2010, and they failed to do so, that was when the six-year clock began running.

The clock did not wait for Ray to get tired of asking or restart when he made his formal demand in 2015.

Under the court’s reasoning, Ray generally had until 2016 to file his claim.

He sued in 2020.

Four years too late.

The case was dismissed because Ray had waited too long.

The court never reached the dispute Ray had spent years preparing to prove: whether Denise actually owed him the money, how much of the first van he had funded, or what had been promised during all those Sunday conversations about when everyone would finally “take care of” Uncle Ray.

The timing question came first.

A few days later, Elaine was reviewing the books when Ray stopped outside her office.

“You still looking at the seventy-two?”

She nodded.

Through the front window, a white van rolled past the warehouse.

MERCER & SONS COMMERCIAL CLEANING.

Ray watched it disappear down the street.

“I paid for part of that van.”

Elaine kept typing.

“I know, Ray.”

Takeaway for Business Owners

So, dear business owners, giving someone more time to pay may make perfect business sense. Just know what that time could be costing you. A debt can remain personal for years, but the legal clock does not care who is coming to Thanksgiving.

This story is based on a real court case, with names and details modified for clarity and confidentiality. The legal principles remain the same, providing important lessons for business owners facing similar situations.

Are you wondering about any of the issues mentioned above? Please email us at info@wilkinsonlawllc.com or call (732) 410-7595 for assistance.

At Wilkinson Law, we give business owners the clarity they need to fund, grow, protect, and sell their businesses. We are trustworthy business advisors, keeping your business on TRACK: Trustworthy. Reliable. Available. Caring. Knowledgeable.®