How do you collect from someone who owes you?

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How do you collect credit? How patient are you with people who don't pay on time? What made you lend them money in the first place? If they continue to ignore your reminders or requests for payment, what will you do? These thoughts came to me this morning when my mom was on the phone and screaming her lungs out. Apparently, her college buddy whom she lent a sizable amount to (her buddy said she needed the money to close a "deal" and that my mom will be repaid within a week's time) hasn't paid a single cent yet and it's been almost a month! At first I got mad at my mom for trusting her friend that much and then later on I felt sad because their friendship has already been tainted. My mom says her friend continues to ignore her requests for payment and now she's thinking of approaching a lawyer so that a demand letter can be sent.