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Pursuing a bad check.


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After being put off by a club owner for about a month with promises of him making the check he wrote good, he's now stopped returning my calls and texts.

 

What legal recourse do I have to get the money that is rightfully mine.. or barring that, causing this guy legal problems for his business? Feeling so pissed right now... especially since I tried to do the right thing and assume that the guy was on the up and up...

 

Mostly.. just trying to see how to collect the funds we're owed. Or, otherwise, is there a way to put a mechanic's lien on his business or property (seeing as how we are independently contracted for a service)?

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yep, small claims court.  You have to file in the district that the bar is in.  Make sure to add the bounce fees and court costs to the amount of the check when stating the dollar amount.  In most cases, these jerkholes don't even have the gonads to show up for court, and the judge will default in your favor if he doesn't.  Also make copies of the bounced check, bank notification of check bouncing (including fees applied).  It matters little to the court WHY he wrote you the check, so don't worry about having to explain the gig, etc.. just file that he was paying for services rendered, check bounced, he refused to make good.  End of story.

 

I had an opposite issue once when I was 18- Went to a local music store (one man small store), pre-purchased a midi pedal that had to be ordered, paid by check.  Months go by and all I hear is "it's backordered", nothing but excuses.  Eventually the guy stops taking my calls.  I go into his store, ask for a refund, and he flew into what looked like a cocaine-fueled rage screaming "Get the {censored} outta my store NOW!!! Get OUT , OUT OUT OUT!!!". 

I went and filed a small claim.  He didn't show up.  He was judged against.  30 days go by and I still didn't get paid.  Called sherriffs office (court docs said what to do if you don't get your $$), they gave him 30 days, he still didn't pay, so they then scheduled a sherriff sale in his store in 30 days if he didn't pay.  He still didn't pay, so the sherriff told me to be there at 9am sharp.

I met the sherriff there, and this guy had the audacity to not show up.  The sherriff was pissed.  He went to the payphone (yeah long time ago), called the guy, got his answering machine and left this message "this is sherriff so-and-so, and I'm at your store right now to start the sherriffs sale to satisfy your debts. Mark my words, if you aren't here in 15 minutes or less to unlock this door, I'm going to kick the {censored}ing door down and hold the sale without you".

I was grinnin ear to ear, as I had brought a bit of cash with me, hoping to take advantage of the sale .. you know, maybe a new les paul for $10, a new strat for $5.. that marshall full-stack for $20 lol.. if he's not there before the bid is accepted....and the sherriff was pissed enough to let me.

Too bad, really, the guy showed up right as the clock struck the 15 minute mark, all dirty and dischevled, and just handed the sherriff a wad of cash.. my money plus sherriff fees.  Still, it was a nice win.

That guy sure made it a point to make me work every since step of the way to get my money back.

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Small claims court - a bad check is a slam dunk.  Once you've got the judgement - attaching something of value isn't hard to do either.  Writing a bad check is considered a crime in its own right.  The court assumes that since he wrote the check (bad or not) - he it not contesting the debt.  With a judgement in hand - you should have little problem collecting.

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