Uncollected Funds Hold

[joS3ph]

What is the name of your state? Mississippi

My wife and I live in north Mississippi. My wife works for a lady in Tennessee. She only works on an "as needed" basis. I understand this is not a lot of money. About two weeks ago, my wife went to work for this lady for several hours. My wife received a personal check in the amount of $48.00. She took the check by our bank in Mississippi and cashed it because it was not a large check. A few days later, I noticed our savings account was minus the $48.00 plus a $5.00 service fee. We received a "legal copy" of the check today. The check is stamped "Return Reason B: Uncollected Funds Hold."

My wife and I had to pay for her working! We called the lady who wrote the check and she stated that we would need to return to her the original check. We cannot get a copy of the original check. The copy we received states: "This is a LEGAL COPY of your check. You may use it the same way you would use the original check."

If we cannot provide the original check to her, she will continue to refuse to pay us back the $48.00 + $5.00 service fee she owes us. She is leaving it up to us to prove the check did not go through and that WE had to pay for it. My wife has talked to her several times, and she still refuses to pay. Is there anyway we can recover our $53.00 total dollars? Should we just file a small courts claim? What recourse do we have? Also, we have had to do a lot of running to track down information on this check. She refuses to call her bank to find out what happened. She states the check was paid. It was...by us, using the funds in OUR account. Can we also charge her a fee for our expenses? How about a fee for having to wait so long? Interest?

Thanks!

Any insight or help would be appreciated.

Joseph Y.

[debtcollector`]

Sue her.

Costs plus damages.

DC

[joS3ph]

Thanks DC for your response. Should I file a claim in small claims court? How do I figure the damages?

Any insight or help appreciated.

Joseph

[Chien]

“Running around” time won’t be compensated, and it may hurt your claim to ask.

If you were charged an overdraft or returned check fee, that can be recovered.

Interest is unknown. Many SC courts don’t award it without an express agreement supporting the debt, but that doesn’t hurt to ask. So, check + related charges and fees + interest (perhaps) + costs of suit.

NOTE: If you’re willing to wait long enough to follow your state’s civil penalty check laws, you can add 100% of the face amount of the check as damages. If you do that, allow yourself time before filing. You will need at least 30 days between the time that you send a demand letter and the date of the hearing.

[Chien]

Here is a site to explain the filing procedure. It will cost about $95 to file and serve. That will be added to the judgment, if you win:
[url]http://research.lawyers.com/Mississippi/Mississippi-Small-Claims.html{/url]

[joS3ph]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my questions. I know the amount is trivial, but the check should be made good.

The check was written by someone who lives in Tennessee. We live in Mississippi. If I decide to pursue this matter, will I have to file a claim in Tennessee [again, where the check was written], or in a court where we reside [and also where the check was cashed; Mississippi]?

Again, thanks to everyone.

Joseph

[Chien]

File it in TN. The bank account and other assets are likely to be in TN, and a judgment in your own state would have to be domesticated to be enforced. Not worth it for the check amount.

As an additional point, I misread my own "cheat sheet" on civil damages. They would be 100% of face amount in your state, and I've corrected that. They would be treble damges in TN.