Legal question about check fraud.

reply to post by apydomis


Contact your state Investigation Unit for guidance.

Good luck.

apydomis
reply to post by boncho

 

I accepted 2000 dollars an lost out on 800.

You didn't lose out. If you took the money and signed "paid in full", you took a cut on how much you were being paid for the job.

Actions have to match words. You can't sign off on a job and then say you were supposed to get money. Someone claiming they did not get paid, but the documentation says they did, as far as small claims or larger courts are concerned they were paid.

(Unless it states $2800 on the document)

And whatever agreement you had verbally, doesn't mean anything. Which means in the future you can put it down on paper first. And don't sign anything until you are given the full amount. And if you are given less, that is noted as well.

Documentation for everything…

And if it's cash, and you are not claiming it, (I won't go into legalities here) but the general rate is lowered with most contractors. That really is the underbelly of construction though… But my point is, if it's not above board in the first place, don't expect the law to help you when you get screwed.

I have dealt with this type of situation before. If he wrote you a check, then that check is his promise to pay you. If he closes the account after writing it, it's a felony. Call the police department and ask the local laws. If everything you wrote was correct, by explaining the felony charges to him, I feel certain he will find it in his heart to come up with your payment.

check fraud is a felony.

Hoosierdaddy71
Take the check to your bank and tell them the story. It's check fraud. They will tell you your options.

No it isn't. If he's paid in cash (which he was) and he signed a document "paid in full" he was paid. Unless the document states $2800, (which the OP stated $2000 was in cash) the $800 is still owed to him.

He can either cash the check at a pawn/third party broker, or take it to the bank, get documentation it was stopped, and then proceed to small claims court where he will win. But there needs to be something stating he was paid $2000 cash and $800 check.

Unless there is a contact in writing of the job performed and the rate, there's nothing backing him beyond his word vs. contractors word. Verbal contracts may be legally binding, but they can't be proven. Which is why I assume the advice he's received so far is to let it go.

reply to post by boncho


I am going on the assumption that he wrote paid in full after receiving the check for final payment. I had the exact same thing happen and when the check writer was given the options, facing a felony was serious enough to make them re-think their position.

network dude[/
If he closes the account after writing it, it's a felony. [/url]

law license
NO IT'S NOT! And this is why listening to these lawyer wannabees who think that because they watched all the Law & Order reruns they are qualified to give legal opinions, which, by the way, is, if you don't have a law license, a crime. Writing a check after closing an account can be a felony. Closing an account after writing a check is stupid and probably a breach of the contract to pay, and an abrogation of the pro tanto discharge of the underlying debt, but is not a crime.
I actually spent the 19 years it takes to get a law license. My advice, which is free and therefore worthless, is to forget the whole thing.