Redlinethe fine print, decoded

Contract trap · Vendor and freelance

Long, conditional payment terms

Payment is due 60-90 days after an 'undisputed' invoice, or only after the client is paid by its own customer, or only after acceptance 'to Client's satisfaction' in its 'sole discretion' with unlimited revisions or re-performance at no charge and no deadline to respond; late invoices are 'waived'; the client may withhold or set off disputed amounts; the vendor may not suspend work for non-payment; defects must be fixed free for 12+ months or 'in perpetuity' including third-party platform changes.

Severity
Severe
How often it turns up
Almost always
Holds up?
Depends where you are
Clause phrases
24

What it looks like in a contract

Redline matches these phrases against your document verbatim. Drafters rarely invent new wording — they copy it, which is why the same sentences turn up across unrelated contracts.

In English-language contracts

  • net 60
  • net 90
  • within ninety (90) days of receipt of an undisputed invoice
  • pay-when-paid
  • upon Client's receipt of payment from
  • upon final acceptance
  • in Client's sole discretion
  • unlimited revisions
  • until Client is satisfied
  • re-perform at no additional charge
  • invoices not submitted within __ days shall be deemed waived
  • Contractor shall not suspend performance

In Russian-language contracts

  • оплата в течение 60 (90) банковских дней с даты подписания Акта
  • после получения оплаты от конечного заказчика
  • по факту утверждения отчета Заказчиком
  • Заказчик вправе удержать
  • Исполнитель не вправе приостанавливать оказание услуг
  • без предоплаты
  • счета, выставленные позднее, оплате не подлежат
  • до полного утверждения Заказчиком
  • неограниченное количество правок
  • должен соответствовать ожиданиям Заказчика
  • правки вносятся бесплатно
  • доработки, вызванные обновлением платформ, выполняются бесплатно

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Why it bites

Late and conditional payment is the single most common freelancer loss (the reason NYC, NY State, Illinois and California passed 'Freelance Isn't Free' laws); a pay-when-paid clause makes you the client's unsecured lender; scope becomes infinite and payment optional — every 'one more tweak' is free and a client who changes their mind simply never signs the act; a perpetual bug-fix duty on a $2,000 site means unpaid work at every WordPress or API update.

Is it enforceable where you are

The same clause can be routine in one country and void in another. What follows is what the law says where you are — not advice on your particular contract.

B2B terms get much less protection: in the UK, UCTA 1977 s.3 tests standard terms for reasonableness; in the EU, the Late Payment Directive 2011/7 caps payment terms and P2B Regulation 2019/1150 applies to platforms.

United States

No general B2B payment cap; freelance statutes: NYC Freelance Isn't Free Act (2017), NY State GBL Art. 44-A (28 Aug 2024; $800 threshold), Illinois FWPA (1 Jul 2024; $500), California SB 988 (1 Jan 2025; $250) — written contract, payment within 30 days of completion, no demanding less pay or more IP as a condition of timely payment, double damages plus attorney fees; pay-if-paid void in several states for construction; satisfaction clauses enforced with an implied good-faith/objective-reasonableness standard; merger clauses bar reliance on pre-contract promises.

  • Cited
  • Freelance Isn't Free Act
  • SB 988

European Union

Directive 2011/7/EU: B2B terms may not exceed 60 calendar days unless expressly agreed and not grossly unfair, statutory interest = ECB rate + 8 pp, €40 fixed recovery cost, clauses excluding interest grossly unfair (Germany §271a BGB mirrors this); good-faith performance (§242 BGB, art 1104 Code civil) prevents arbitrary refusal and §640 BGB deems acceptance after a reasonable deadline passes without substantive objection; §634a BGB 2-year defects limitation for works.

  • Cited
  • §242 BGB
  • §271a BGB
  • §634a BGB
  • §640 BGB
  • Directive 2011/7/EU

United Kingdom

Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998: 8% over base rate, fixed £40/£70/£100 compensation, 60-day default maximum unless not 'grossly unfair', terms ousting interest void unless a substantial remedy is given; pay-when-paid ineffective in construction (HGCRA 1996 s.113) except payer insolvency; satisfaction clauses enforced as written with only a limited implied duty not to act capriciously.

  • Cited
  • HGCRA 1996 s.113

Russia

Предельных сроков оплаты нет (кроме отдельных отраслей); проценты по ст. 395 ГК по ключевой ставке, если договор не исключает; исполнитель вправе приостановить встречное исполнение при неоплате (ст. 328), но отказ от этого права суды обычно уважают; немотивированный или «вкусовой» отказ от подписания акта не освобождает от оплаты фактически оказанных услуг (ст. 779, 781; по аналогии ст. 720, 753), но при условии «до полного утверждения» исполнителю сложно доказать объем — включайте срок рассмотрения и правило одностороннего акта; гарантийный срок и объем — по договору (ст. 722, 724), обещания в КП без включения в договор не обязывают (ст. 432).

  • Cited
  • ст. 328
  • ст. 395 ГК
  • ст. 432
  • ст. 720
  • ст. 722
  • ст. 779

Where this has actually happened

Regulator actions, court rulings and the contracts they were fought over.

  • California SB 988, Freelance Worker Protection Act (effective Jan 1, 2025) — $250 threshold, 30-day payment, double damages
  • New York Freelance Isn't Free Act (GBL Art. 44-A, effective Aug 28, 2024) and Illinois Freelance Worker Protection Act (820 ILCS 192, effective July 1, 2024)
  • Directive 2011/7/EU (Late Payment Directive) and UK Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998

What to do

In order, from the thing that takes a minute to the thing that takes a letter.

  1. Set Net-15/30 from invoice date with a 30-50% deposit and milestone payments tied to delivery, not approval
  2. Delete pay-when-paid, 'undisputed', 'waived' and no-suspension language and add statutory late interest and a right to suspend after 10 days' notice
  3. Define acceptance objectively (brief/ТЗ, spec, test cases), fix revision rounds (e.g. 2, extra billed hourly), set a 5-10 business-day review window after which silence = acceptance and require itemised spec-based rejection
  4. Limit the warranty to 30-90 days for defects in the accepted deliverable, excluding third-party changes
  5. Keep IP transfer conditional on full payment
  6. US: cite the NY/IL/CA freelance statutes (written contract, 30-day payment, double damages)
  7. EU/UK: 60-day ceiling and 8%-over-base interest.

Check your own document

Traps that travel with it

Drafters who use one of these usually use several.

79 traps · 1789 verbatim clause phrases