First, we all probably understand the value of money over time. $10,000 US Dollars in your hands today is not the same as $10,000 US Dollars in five years. Thus, you lose money simply by waiting to get it in your pocket or getting it later rather than sooner. Second, collecting your money is harder as the debt ages. A survey conducted by the Commercial Law League of America (CLLA) some years ago showed that, after only three months, the probability is that you will only collect abound $0.71 of each delinquent dollar. After six months, only about $0.55 of each dollar will be collected. And after one year, you will have to settle for about $0.22 of every delinquent dollar. Third, as an outstanding debt ages, it gets harder to collect in court. Other creditors might move in ahead of your claim, especially if the debtor decides to file for bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings. Or the debtor may simply turn to fraudulent schemes to protect its assets, by transferring title to family members or controlled corporations, or simply putting liens or charges by a friendly third party. A recurrent fraudulent scheme is to simply transfer all assets and the business itself to a newly formed and controlled corporation, which will make it very hard to pursue in court. There are many factors that determine the likelihood or probability of collecting a debt, but the reality is that the longer you take in pursuing the collection of your debt claim, the harder it is to collect it.