Bad Checks

[AU24K]

Occasionally, my Locksmith Friend and I will accept a check for services rendered.
Every now and then, they will turn out to be rubber.

I would like to hear of your stories of trying to collect on bad checks. Were you successful? How?
I am thinking that it is akin to "skip tracing."

I was able to collect on one last week and Bossman gave me 4-5 others. Said he'd pay a flat rate on each collected regardless of amount.

I have a copy of a form letter to be sent via "Certified" mail. It's legit: it's from a collector at a bank and a Friend.

Do you know of "Free" websites that would assist in tracking down these THIEVES?

Dang, some of these are out of state! What was he thinkin'?

Best,
Scott

[mrs.oroblanco]

Send the ones from my area to me. I love running down thieves!!

Our lawyer actually wanted me to work for him doing that - since I have a knack for finding people. (sorry, I don't know any good FREE sites, but I do belong to legal sites that I pay for.)

Our renters in Pennsylvania gave us a $600.00 bad check. Depending on the state, and the amounts differ, under a certain amount is a misdemeanor, over that amount is a felony. If its in felony territory, your local law enforcement will do the work for you, and prosecute. One visit from the local constable with the paperwork was all it took.

Beth

[mlayers]

I have taken people to court or payment. I win my case and they are order to pay me. But I have yet received any payment from these people. I have been back to my lawyer and still nothing is done about it. So can someone tell me how to collect the money that is owe to me. I even have the SS number for the people that owes me. But I was told there was nothing I could do. So I do not beleive in the justice system anymore.......Matt

[sniffer]

unless the amount is enough to constitute a felony, your case is a civil matter. if you file a small claims case against them and you win, you will be awarded a judgement from the defendant. however, they can still ignore it and not pay you. if you can find out if they have a job and where it is, you can file for a garnishment of their wages. but that has to go before the court, which costs you more money in filing fees and there is no guarantee that you will find them or get paid. about the only thing you can do, is report them to the 3 big credit agencies, where it stays for 7 years

[mrs.oroblanco]

mlayers,

Winning the court battle is only half the battle. The next thing you have to do (if you want them to pay), is to go and file a Writ of Execution. You don't get to collect (forcibly) unless you do that. And, the sheriff cannot do a thing unless you file a writ of execution.

Then, with that, the sheriff can take their property and sell it off to pay you whatever they owe you.

Been there, and done that. If the amount isn't alot - they usually decide you sent you a cashier's check. If not, you can have the sheriff keep selling things off until you are paid in full. And, the sheriff's office gets a cut. (not from you, either).

Beth

[bartholomewroberts]

When I had my feed store I received on average about 10-12 NSF cheques per month.. I was successful in recovering well over 95% of the outstanding.

But I had to work at it. One thing that helped was when people gave a false address and phone number on their cheques (yes they are permitted to do that.. the cheque printing company can only print what is given to them¸), I had a method of finding them. One place that people give their real addresses is when they go to the hospital. I worked at the hospital at the time and, while borderline legal, I got the correct information that way.,

Another method was to put a lien on someones property. I did that and it took 4 and 1é2 years to get paid.... But in the end, I did. The person was trying to sell their home and I received a call from the lawyer sating that if I would take the lien off I would get paid... I told them when i got paid, i would take the lien off....

It was a long time.... but it did show to me that sometimes the system works..... albeit very slowly

[snakeyes]

I've gotten a couple of bad checks from renters, got them evicted , kept all their crap, and gotten judgements, the only money I ever got was from the yard sale According to the county attorney here, if you get a bad check for rent your SOL,
the only recourse is taking them to court and get a worthless judgement that you'll never collect on. Good Luck

[FarmerChick]

I am lucky. I sold for over 15 yrs at farmers markets. took checks. in that time only got like 3 bad ones and all made good on them.

except one. apparently he went thru the market and gave checks to about 8 vendors. luckily my sale was like $40 so I got away super cheap. One vendor he bought like $200 of handmade knitted items. ugh she got caught hard. I tried to get payment but gave up eventually. never followed thru all the way. $40 was a small loss for me over all these years so eh.


so I have to say farmer market type customers are good haha


My MIL rents 11 properties. She takes cash weekly. After a while, she will take a check from a few of them that she knew were more reliable. but if you didn't have weekly cash to rent, you got evicted fast and she was never out too much.

[spartacus53]

Do you know of "Free" websites that would assist in tracking down these THIEVES?
Best,
Scott

I know a ton of these free site you're looking , but they do charge an arm and a leg

Matt/Sniffer, you are both 100% right.. Winning a judgement doesn't mean you'll ever see a dime.. If you really want to see your money, do it the old fashioned way..

Give me a call, I'll get it... Because I'm good like that

[lonesomebob]

My way of collecting ad checks was Intimidation. I always carried twoBIG boys along, they just stood behind me and scowled Got the bad payers to thinking,and it worked

[spartacus53]

My way of collecting ad checks was Intimidation. I always carried twoBIG boys along, they just stood behind me and scowled Got the bad payers to thinking,and it worked

Better yet.. I name my law firm Smith, Wesson, and Glock

[onfire]

Find a guy with no neck (Or a woman) and have him wisper " Remember Sonny at the toll booth"

[pat-tekker-cat]

Too many years in financial recovery, and skip tracing.
Mlayers, get a judge to give you a judgment against those people, then get a writ of execution on the judgement. Check there bank account first, and try to do it, when you know they got alot of money in there. Freeze their money, effect their wallet, they'll stand up and take notice!

I'd say about the same for you AU24K, don't dic/ around, do it! Will involve some court costs, but, ppl gotta see, some don't take it lieing down.
Now, if they contact you with sob story that's true, had heart attack, legs chopped off, something like that, then that's a different story. Empathy and forgiveness may could be applied. As for the rest of sorry ppl, that feel no entitlement to pay there debts, well, imo,
time wounds all heels.
Good luck, pm me, if I can maybe help in any way!

[AU24K]

Well, I have exhausted my local options on collections.
Of the 4 that I'm currently working on, I went to three different banks that the checks were drawn on and all accounts have been closed.
I then went to one address in town and the property manager said they were no longer residents. That's strike two....

Next, I'll send an empty envelope to the last known address via USPS and pay a small fee for "Address Correction Requested." Hopefully that will put me a little closer to collecting from these thieves.

Anyone have other ideas?

Best,
Scott

[DigginThePast]

Scott - Check into Criminal charges in your state for those bad checks. I believe that most states, if not all, provide for both civil and criminal actions against the writer of a bad check.

We are in CT and have a process for bad checks. First we'll do three phone calls over the course of fourteen days. At thirty days a standardized letter written by our attorney is mail certified. Our last phone call and the letter mention the criminal aspect of writing a bad check. Then if there still is no response we'll take all the evidence to the police and they start on it. It is rather amazing how quickly they come up with the cash when confronted with being handcuffed and hauled off to jail.

This method has always worked but I suppose there would be limitations to what resources the police would use.

The ones that I find hard to collect on are those that have had credit extended to them. Even most of them can be persuaded but the higher up the chain you go the more protected they are.

[AU24K]

Well, I just sent off four different letters requesting payment for the original amount due immediately without incurring additional legal fees and costs.

They were sent to last known addresses with "Address Correction Requested" included. So, if when they moved, if they filled out a "Change of Address" form, I'll be notified. (Fee involved...)

Let's just see what becomes of this tack....

Best,
Scott

PS. I'm keeping meticulous records of actions taken, dates, etc.

[Twisted One]

Luckily for myself, this has only happened a few time, and the most recent time was just a couple weeks ago. In this case it was $100 check, and I knew the person that wrote it pretty well, and they made good on it with in a couple days.

But in the mean time their bank hit them for a $25 dollar fee. My bank hit me for a $10 fee. To me this is highway robbery! As the receiver of a bad check, how am I to know it was bad when I attempted to deposit into my bank account, and why am I being penalized $10, when I am also being shorted $100! Where is the logic in that?

It's like taking gold to the dealer, and them saying, oh no, this is fools gold that will be $10 for not bringing me real gold....

[lonesomebob]

I have found that super glue squirted into their car door locks and even the house locks on rental property will give them pause to conside, at 10 dollars per lock from the lock smith. Bob

[AU24K]

I have found that super glue squirted into their car door locks and even the house locks on rental property will give them pause to conside, at 10 dollars per lock from the lock smith. Bob

As a locksmith, I have many random ideas of "getting even." That being said, when I lay my head on my pillow at night, I will sleep well knowing that I do not act as judge and jury to exact devious retribution.
{But, I'd sure like to try some of my ideas.... }

Best,
Scott

[werleibr]

mlayers,

Winning the court battle is only half the battle. The next thing you have to do (if you want them to pay), is to go and file a Writ of Execution. You don't get to collect (forcibly) unless you do that. And, the sheriff cannot do a thing unless you file a writ of execution.

Then, with that, the sheriff can take their property and sell it off to pay you whatever they owe you.

Been there, and done that. If the amount isn't alot - they usually decide you sent you a cashier's check. If not, you can have the sheriff keep selling things off until you are paid in full. And, the sheriff's office gets a cut. (not from you, either).

Beth

If you know the place in which they work at you can go to it with the paper work and some other document to have their wages garnished. This is what a friend had to do when they won a small courts claim against someone else.