Chasing down unpaid handyman invoices in north Jersey - what's your cutoff?

Hey folks, 15 years jack-of-all-trades in north Jersey, and I'm DONE with the BS on collections. Just had a client stiff me on a $2,800 job where I fixed up their kitchen cabinets with new Blum soft-close hinges and did some drywall patching after they knocked into the wall with their damn moving truck. Sent the invoice via QuickBooks, followed up twice, now they're ghosting. In this zone 4 area with all the old houses, you can't afford to eat costs like that. What's your process for collections on smaller handyman gigs? Anyone use a service or just small claims? Saw a similar rant in Handyman Nation FB group last week.

For handyman jobs under $5k, I give em 30 days then hit with a late fee and a polite but firm email. After 60, I file a mechanics lien if it's a bigger fix like yours.

I switched to Housecall Pro for invoicing, auto-sends reminders and tracks everything. Saved me from chasing paper trails on cabinet installs like that.

North Jersey clients think they're entitled to free labor, haha. I just tell em 'pay up or I'll install your next set of hinges with super glue.' Works 80% of the time, the rest I let collections handle for a cut.