Demand Letter Template — Draft a Letter of Demand in Minutes

1. Tell the AI what happened. Type it the way you'd explain it to a friend — who owes you, how much, what they agreed to, what they did instead, and what you've already tried. No forms, no legalese.
2. Pick a tone. Firm for a client who is probably just slow. Aggressive when they've gone quiet. Final notice when the next step really is a filing. The tone changes the consequences described and the deadline, not the professionalism.
3. Review the draft. The letter comes back with a dated chronology, the amount broken down, the governing law for your state, and a response deadline. Edit any paragraph and regenerate just that part.
4. Send or export. Download PDF (Times New Roman 12pt, justified — the format courts expect) or Word, or email it as an attachment with your address as reply-to. The send is logged with recipient and timestamp.

A demand letter that gets ignored usually fails on specificity. "You owe me money, please pay" invites delay. A letter that states $4,280.00 for invoice #1042, issued March 3, due April 2, unpaid as of today is far harder to stall. Include every one of these:

• Full names and addresses of both parties — the legal entity name, not a nickname or DBA, if you may sue later.
• A dated chronology. What was agreed, when, and what happened after. Dates make a claim credible.
• The legal basis. Breach of contract, unpaid account stated, conversion, negligence, statutory violation — name it.
• The exact amount and its math. Principal, late fees, interest, and any statutory multiplier you're entitled to, itemized.
• A hard deadline. A specific calendar date, not "promptly."
• The consequence. What you will file, where, and what additional costs they'll face.
• Your evidence, attached. Contract, invoices, texts, photos, receipts.

• Demand for payment / unpaid invoice. The most common. Freelancers, contractors, and agencies chasing a client who stopped responding.
• Security deposit demand. Landlord kept the deposit past the statutory return window. Many states allow double or treble damages if the letter is sent and ignored — which is exactly why the letter matters.
• Breach of contract. Work paid for but not delivered, or delivered defectively.
• Contractor and home-repair disputes. Bad workmanship, abandoned jobs, deposits taken without a start.
• Property damage. Vehicle, rental, or neighbor-caused damage where insurance won't cover it.
• Unpaid wages or final paycheck. Often carries statutory penalties per day late.
• Cease and desist. Harassment, defamation, or misuse of your copyright or trademark.

The strongest demand letters aren't better written — they're better supported. If your dispute has been running for weeks or months, use Case Files to log each event as it happens: notes, photos, audio, receipts, and costs. Every entry is timestamped and fingerprinted with a SHA-256 hash at the moment of capture, so nobody can credibly argue a photo was swapped in afterward, and location is recorded when you allow it.

When you're ready, one tap turns that chronology into the demand letter — the AI already has the dates, the amounts, and the exhibits. The finished letter is then filed back into the same case timeline as proof of what you sent and when. That package is what a small claims judge actually wants to see.

If there's no response, small claims court is the usual next step. Filing fees generally run $30–$100, you don't need a lawyer (several states don't even permit them in small claims), and claim limits range from roughly $2,500 to $25,000 depending on the state. Bring the demand letter, proof you sent it, and your exhibits in date order.

Above the small claims limit, you're in civil court and should talk to an attorney — but the demand letter still does work there. It establishes the date you gave notice, which can matter for interest and, under some statutes, for attorney fee recovery.

Watch the clock in the other direction too: every claim has a statute of limitations, often three to six years for written contracts and as little as one year for some torts and government claims. Case Files surfaces the suggested key dates for your dispute type and state so the deadline doesn't pass while you're still negotiating.

• vs. a free template PDF. A static template gives you blanks to fill and no judgment about what belongs in them — wrong state, wrong deadline, no damages math. It also reads like a template, which tells the recipient you haven't committed to anything.
• vs. hiring an attorney. $200–$750 and several days for one letter. Worth it when the amount is large or the facts are messy; hard to justify for a $3,000 invoice.
• vs. a general-purpose chatbot. It will write something letter-shaped, but it won't know your state's deadline rules, won't produce court-formatted PDF or Word output, can't attach your evidence, can't send it, and keeps no record that you did.

Easy Legal AI also gives you the rest of the workflow — contracts so the next deal is documented properly, and the Document Vault so the letter, the evidence, and the reply all live in one place.