Slander....

[B Lou]

So I have a past parent that left owing me over $245.00. Since she has made no atempt to pay me I sent her case to the local collection company. Well since then I have learned that she owes money to several other buisnesses and other people. Since the collection company has started calling her on my behalf she has started slandering my daycare. This comes from other parents that I have in daycare. Tell people that are looking for daycare now that I am terrible daycare provider and she would trust me with any child. This is justing eating at me.

[MyAngels]

You may have a case for slander or defamation. If you can get some of the people she's talked to to go on record for you, you may have a legal cause of action. I'd talk to an attorney who has some experience with this type of thing. If nothing else, a nice cease and desist letter from "The Law Offices of...." may stop her from spouting off.

[misspollywog]

That sucks and I'd definitely draw up a cease and desist letter if you can!

One of the best bits of advice I found on this forum when I considered starting my hdc was to make the dcf's PREPAY everything. Like a prepaid cell phone. It works brilliantly for me, maybe you could switch to that and eliminate future hassles with deadbeats?

[B Lou]

Originally Posted by misspollywog

That sucks and I'd definitely draw up a cease and desist letter if you can!

One of the best bits of advice I found on this forum when I considered starting my hdc was to make the dcf's PREPAY everything. Like a prepaid cell phone. It works brilliantly for me, maybe you could switch to that and eliminate future hassles with deadbeats?

Yes but how do you have them PREPAY for slander? The money she owes is for the 2 week notice she gave me and never paid for. I have considered having new clients prepay for the 2 week notice but what about the slander.

I live in a very small town and word of mouth is everything.

[Mandy_Jane]

Well, I think you just answered your own question. If you have your daycare families prepay for the last 2 weeks, then you won't have any arguments over money owed when it comes time for that family to terminate care. But honestly, there is really NO WAY to alleviate all possibilities of someone saying something bad about your daycare. You can only take action once it happens. I like the idea of the cease and desist letter. It just might work for you.

[misspollywog]

Originally Posted by Mandy_Jane

Well, I think you just answered your own question. If you have your daycare families prepay for the last 2 weeks, then you won't have any arguments over money owed when it comes time for that family to terminate care. But honestly, there is really NO WAY to alleviate all possibilities of someone saying something bad about your daycare. You can only take action once it happens. I like the idea of the cease and desist letter. It just might work for you.

^^ What she said.

I can imagine this is very stressful for you and again, I hope you can somehow send a cease and desist letter to this person. Another thing to remember is that as long as you are providing quality care and your dcf's are happy they will hopefully defend your reputation and minimize the damage.

I know not everyone can afford this, but I set up a cctv system in my home which records from the moment the first dck arrives until the last one leaves. If anyone accused me of abuse or neglect, I have video evidence to refute it and I can save YEARS worth of compressed footage. For me, along with the prepayment policy, this adds a certain level of security against false accusations because they are nearly always made by a deadbeat client.

Of course nothing is fool-proof because we live in a world full of fools but do what you can and try not to let it get you down because then she wins.

[dave4him]

Some people just suck, and its sad. Talk to a good lawyer and possibly a good PR person....