Bad Checks

smellslike$tome

I received two checks $378.00 and $444.00 from the same person in the same week this past June. They came back stamped by the bank "closed account". This means that someone wrote me checks on an account that no longer exists rather than simply overdrawing their account. This is a misdemeaner. The DA's office tells me the penalty is 1 day per $15 or in this case 54 days in jail plus repayment of the full amount. This work was done in not the greatest part of town and the woman who wrote the checks has a couple of small kids. I really don't want to have her arrested especially right before Christmas but what else can I do? I've tried to make every effort to get her to take care of it and believed her very convincing lies for a few weeks. Now she doesn't answer the phone and it's obvious that she is not going to do anything about it. It's so unfair to her kids though. They didn't do anything but they will suffer if I have their mother arrested.

Option #1 - forgive the debt and forget about it. It's not a ton of money anyway and maybe I just chalk it up to the cost of doing business.The problem with this is that you teach people that it's ok to commit crime. If I don't prosecute her then I'm really just setting up the next poor slob who maybe isn't in as good a position to absorb the loss.

Option #2 - Prosecute. As I understand it, assuming they find her and can arrest her she will remain in jail until the full amount is paid, 54 days or not.

Option #3 - File a mechanics lien and wait. I don't know if she is even the owner of the house or not. Assuming she is not the owner then I'm just sticking it to whoever owns the house whenever they sell. They didn't do anything why should they have to pay for what this woman did.

Option #4 - ??? any ideas

Oh yeah, I know I'm going to get the "screw her, lock her up" responses and I have to confess that was my initial response but having had time to think about it I'm just not crazy about the idea of having her arrested especially right now.

Any constructive ideas are welcomed.

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Ed the Roofer

[quote=smellslike$tome;327204]

Now she doesn't answer the phone and it's obvious that she is not going to do anything about it. It's so unfair to her kids though. They didn't do anything but they will suffer if I have their mother arrested.


Option #3 - File a mechanics lien and wait. I don't know if she is even the owner of the house or not. Assuming she is not the owner then I'm just sticking it to whoever owns the house whenever they sell. They didn't do anything why should they have to pay for what this woman did.

quote]

You are not the one having her arrested. It is her own actions and now lack of actions that has created this dilemma.

If the improvements were made to a home that is owned by someone other than the person that you had a contract with, it might not be enforceable if it was done without the owners knowledge and consent.

If it was done with the owners approval, then the improvements to their property deserve to be compensated for.

Did you check out the county and township website records to find out who actually owns the property you performed services to?

Ed

dkillianjr

I can't stand non payers, late payers, or cheapos, but boy thats a tough one, although I do feel bad for the kids I will say prosecute her. Or maybe theres some kind of deal you could work out with the athourites to scare her into paying or something like that. I could be dreaming about that one, but its just an idea. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time!!


Dave

silvertree

I not a pushover, but I would probably let this one go. At the least you could send a certified letter, but how much time will you spend to get probably nothing. One option is to offer payments until bill plus interest is paid. Here in Minnesota I believe you cant charge interest for this kind of thing, that's what a lawyer told me anyway. Maybe she would make payments.

PARA1

My question is why she was allowed to screw you twice? Give it to the DA's office, if she does go to jail (not likely) maybe that will teach her kids it's not right to steal. p.s. the puking loser smiley is for her not you.

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Tiger

In Illinois NSF checks are good for triple damages. That would be good for $2,466. You have to use your own judgment, but she could have been honest. What she did was theft.

I had someone give me an NSF check, then try to negotiate the invoice. It was about $400 and they thought $200 was fair, so they sent a check for $200. Several weeks later I was talking with my friendly banker & she suggested redepositing the checks. She called their bank & the funds were available (end of the month...mortgage). I deposited both checks. I got an angry call that all their other checks were bouncing & they were going to Las Vegas. I made them send proof that both checks had cleared their bank, then sent the $200 back.

I keep a list of deadbeats. After their name I wrote...they tried, they lost.

Dave

Putty Truck

I've never done it, but what about collection agencies? Better to trash her credit than break up her family or get her evicted.

thom

If the DA will actually prosecute, have him.

She isn't going to go to jail

She isn't going to get thrown out of the house

The most likely event is that she will pay you and the DA will then drop the case. If she doesn't pay you, the judge will tell her to pay you, put her on a payment plan and probation until it's paid.

You will likely get about $10 - $20 per week until it's paid.

Feel sorry for her? She's the one who ripped you off. Feel sorry for her kids? Will you feel better knowing she's teaching them the benefits of criminal behavior? It's to bad about the kids. Kids don't get to pick their parents. There is nothing you can do about their plight. Don't believe that letting her rip you off will help them.

KillerToiletSpider

We had someone do that a few years ago, I called him and told him if he didn't pay up in cash I was gonna shut his water off, he didn't pay, and I turned off the water at his B-box and threw a rubber ball down it. The city played around with it for a few hours and told him it would have to be dug up at his expense. He paid us that afternoon, and I turned his water back on.

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RobertCDF

What about her stealing from your kids?

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smellslike$tome

Let me clarify. What she did was write checks on an account that was closed. In this city that is classified as a form of fraud and is charged as a misdemeanor. If she had simply overdrafted on an open account there would be no crime and if I did not receive payment after several attempts I would have handed her over to a collection agency and forgotten about it. Because there is a crime involved it gives me a little more leverage but even that doesn't seem to be making any difference. As I understand it, if she goes to jail I will be paid via some type of bond through the city. She in turn supposedly will not leave jail until the city is repaid in full even though the max sentence in this case would be 54 days.

I think I remember that I have up to 1 year to turn it in to the DA so I think maybe what I will do is just wait until the 1st of the year and then turn in the the checks to the DA.

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smellslike$tome

I don't run to the bank every time I get a check. The checks were written 4 days apart. I deposited them sometime after that then a couple of weeks or so after that the bank mailed them to me. Then they were placed in the wrong place and remained unopened until sometime around the end of July or August. So I didn't even know about it for a long time.

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Bone Saw

don't even get me started on single moms crying poor
assuming she's not a crack head, I'm sure she's making a nice living in child support off of the 2 kids alone. They probably have a dad out there that is a child support slave. Going to jail for 54 days may be the difference of these kids mabey getting to be with their father, and the fathers only saving grace to get his kids, and a tripple murder suicide. Do what you gotta do, you're not a charity

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Putty Truck

oh, yeah.

She's a crook. Turn her in.

Celtic

Option #4 ..."Forgive" the debt and 1099 her for unearned income...let her deal with Uncle Sam and you take the $822 loss on your taxes.

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Susan Betz

Hey Bonesaw, most moms getting child support are barely making it. I'm not defending her actions, but the picture of single moms sitting at home eating bonbons isn't fact in most cases. I've known a lot of single moms who cry themselves to sleep at night wondering how they're going to stretch their cash to the end of the month. But I agree with you that she should be pursued. I think she'll settle on payments before she goes to jail, and isn't that the outcome everybody wants anyhow?

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Bone Saw

HorseCrap! I've never received a dime (think I'm owed about 40 or 45k) and I'd say Ive done pretty good for myself. Her situation isn't $mell$'$ problem. Shes workin it and she knows it.

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mahlere

sorry dave, i'm a little slow today...can you explain this post in english? specifically "hey thought $200 was fair, so they sent a check for $200....... I deposited both checks. I got an angry call that all their other checks were bouncing & they were going to Las Vegas. I made them send proof that both checks had cleared their bank, then sent the $200 back."

did you actually get the full $400 and send them back $200?

wizendwizard

Susan, This CS issue was a bad idea to bring up. What about the deadbeat moms out there. My ex abandoned 2 kids at 3 and 4 years old so she could do drugs and have fun with a carnival. When she was arrested for being $48,000 behind she claimed to the court that she had a serious/fatal illness and the judge let her go out to a dr. to bring back written proof. At this time she bolted and hasn't been seen in 8 years. I as well as my children both say good riddence. The point is, child support runs both ways. How does a MAN go out and work while taking care of children this age. How does a man make the same ends meet. I know you didn't initiate this CS issue but i wanted to let you know. IT ISN'T JUST WOMEN that have these problems.

Sorry to go off topic.
Fry the chick, $mell$!!
She took you, not the other way around.

tinner666

GO after her. I think the subpeona alone might make her pay.

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