Stop Payment on Check!

[Rrrr]

What is the name of your state? Michigan

Am posting this message to see if i can make a "stop-payment" on a check that i had already writted on Friday. The check hasnt cleared yet as of today.

Recently i rented a banquet hall to hold a party. The party was to be held on a Saturday but since we had to do a lot of decorating i had a verbal agreement with the manager that he would allow us to come-in on Friday evening and possibly Saturday morning to finish our decorating and setup work. Also, we verbally agreed that on the day of the party, we would start the party at 6:30 PM and end the party around 12:30 AM. I paid the manager upfront for the hall rental, banquet rentals, etc upfront on Friday evening. The hall usually charges $500 for 5 hours of rental and if we used the hall for more than the 5 hours after the event starts i agreed to pay $125/hr extra. And all this is was verbal as the contract did not have anything printed out except that i was paying $500 and the event was to start at 6:30 PM on Saturday.
So, as planned we arrived at the hall on Friday at around 4:00 PM to start our decorating work. And the manager at the hall said that he would have to leave at 5:00 PM so i requested that he have someone else stay over while we finish our setup. So, he agreed and had one of this workers stay over while we were doing our decorating/setup. At no time during this conversation did the manager say that he was going to charge extra money for us to come and do the setup on Friday. Eventually at 7:30 PM we decided to leave the hall and come back on Saturday morning at 10:00 AM to complete the decorating. And on Saturday morning we went back to the hall to do the decorating at 10:30 AM and started our setup. At around 12:30 PM the manager started to raise hell saying that we were using too much of the time and that we had to wrap up soon. So, we hurried and ended up our setup by 2:30 PM and left the hall.
And we all came back to the hall at around 5:30 PM and started off the party at 6:30 PM. The party went on well and at around 11:30 PM the manager stormed into the middle of the dance floor, turned the lights on and asked us all to leave. We were aghast, surprised and enraged at this sudden move. We mentioned that we would pay extra for using the hall the extra time, but he was rude in front of all our guests and said that he had the right to close down the place and we had to vacate the place in 30 minutes. Not to create a scene, we and all the guests who were left, hurried and cleared out the place by 12:15 AM. At this point the manager started to claim that we over stayed on Friday and Saturday and he would charge us for the hours. I tried to argue with him that he never mentioned that he would charge me for Friday and Staurday morning because this was considered only setup but he would not listen. And he gave me a bill for an extra $700. I was very upset and enraged.
At this point am thinking about doing a "stop-payment" on the check that i had already written on Friday. Am curious to know if there are any adverse implications for me if i did this. Additionally, am curious to find out what legal course i have to make the manager pay for cutting our party short by atleast an hour.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank You!

 

[Veronica1228]

What is the name of your state? Michigan

Am posting this message to see if i can make a "stop-payment" on a check that i had already writted on Friday. The check hasnt cleared yet as of today.

Recently i rented a banquet hall to hold a party. The party was to be held on a Saturday but since we had to do a lot of decorating i had a verbal agreement with the manager that he would allow us to come-in on Friday evening and possibly Saturday morning to finish our decorating and setup work. Also, we verbally agreed that on the day of the party, we would start the party at 6:30 PM and end the party around 12:30 AM. I paid the manager upfront for the hall rental, banquet rentals, etc upfront on Friday evening. The hall usually charges $500 for 5 hours of rental and if we used the hall for more than the 5 hours after the event starts i agreed to pay $125/hr extra. And all this is was verbal as the contract did not have anything printed out except that i was paying $500 and the event was to start at 6:30 PM on Saturday.
So, as planned we arrived at the hall on Friday at around 4:00 PM to start our decorating work. And the manager at the hall said that he would have to leave at 5:00 PM so i requested that he have someone else stay over while we finish our setup. So, he agreed and had one of this workers stay over while we were doing our decorating/setup. At no time during this conversation did the manager say that he was going to charge extra money for us to come and do the setup on Friday. Eventually at 7:30 PM we decided to leave the hall and come back on Saturday morning at 10:00 AM to complete the decorating. And on Saturday morning we went back to the hall to do the decorating at 10:30 AM and started our setup. At around 12:30 PM the manager started to raise hell saying that we were using too much of the time and that we had to wrap up soon. So, we hurried and ended up our setup by 2:30 PM and left the hall.
And we all came back to the hall at around 5:30 PM and started off the party at 6:30 PM. The party went on well and at around 11:30 PM the manager stormed into the middle of the dance floor, turned the lights on and asked us all to leave. We were aghast, surprised and enraged at this sudden move. We mentioned that we would pay extra for using the hall the extra time, but he was rude in front of all our guests and said that he had the right to close down the place and we had to vacate the place in 30 minutes. Not to create a scene, we and all the guests who were left, hurried and cleared out the place by 12:15 AM. At this point the manager started to claim that we over stayed on Friday and Saturday and he would charge us for the hours. I tried to argue with him that he never mentioned that he would charge me for Friday and Staurday morning because this was considered only setup but he would not listen. And he gave me a bill for an extra $700. I was very upset and enraged.
At this point am thinking about doing a "stop-payment" on the check that i had already written on Friday. Am curious to know if there are any adverse implications for me if i did this. Additionally, am curious to find out what legal course i have to make the manager pay for cutting our party short by atleast an hour.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank You!

If you place a stop payment on that check YOU will be in legal trouble. When you issued that check it became a binding legal document that you promised to pay the receipient the said amount. I don't see that you have any grounds to stop payment on it since the contract you signed didn't guarantee that you would be allowed to stay until a specific time. Verbal contracts are very difficult to prove especially since the owner does have the written one.

Someone may disagree with me, so be prepared for more responses.

 

[Rrrr]

Veronica - Thanks for your input. At the same token the contract i signed does not specify that the hall would charge me extra usage that the manager is trying to charge me for Friday and Saturday. And since i have already paid him the total amount, am i in legal binding to pay the $700 extra bill now??
Thank You!

-R

 

[Veronica1228]

I based my answer for your first question from a banking liability standpoint, but I would think that the adverse would be true also. All the owner has for proof of any agreement is the paper you signed. If there was no contingency stated than you may be correct that you shouldn't have to pay. However, if he has this information posted somewhere in his establishment, then he would be able to demand payment.

Either way he would have to take you to court.

 

[Rrrr]

Veronica1228 - Thanks again for the update. I did not see anything posted at the banquet hall regarding charges for extra time. Am thinking about not paying the extra $700 and lets see what happens. Am not even sure how the manager can sue me because he never took my mailing address. I recently moved and havent changed my mailing address on my checks so he does not have my current mailing address. All he has is my cell phone number. Would he still be able to take me to court?
Appreciate your input.

-R

 

[Veronica1228]

Veronica1228 - Thanks again for the update. I did not see anything posted at the banquet hall regarding charges for extra time. Am thinking about not paying the extra $700 and lets see what happens. Am not even sure how the manager can sue me because he never took my mailing address. I recently moved and havent changed my mailing address on my checks so he does not have my current mailing address. All he has is my cell phone number. Would he still be able to take me to court?
Appreciate your input.

-R

We are slowly drifting out of my expertise which is banking, but I believe that it would not be too difficult for them to proceed legally even if the address on your check is no longer correct. I'm hoping that seniorjudge, BelizeBreeze, or Jetx etc will happen by and be able to give you a better answer on how this is done.

 

[JETX]

At this point am thinking about doing a "stop-payment" on the check that i had already written on Friday.

Don't. If you do, you will surely just aggravate the problem more.... and very likely have a lawsuit filed against you for the FULL amount of hours that you spent.

Am curious to know if there are any adverse implications for me if i did this.

Absolutely. See above.

Additionally, am curious to find out what legal course i have to make the manager pay for cutting our party short by atleast an hour.

Come on... you really cannot be serious!!!
By your own post, you paid for 5 hours of the 'hall'.... and used 14.25 HOURS!!! (3.5 hours on Friday, 4.0 hours early Saturday, and 6.75 hours on Saturday night). You're damn lucky that they don't charge you the $125 per hour for the excess over 5 hours as contracted (for ANOTHER $1156.25). And if you were to stop pay on the $500.... you can bet you will be sued for over $1600.... and the manager will likely win!!).

One other thing that you seem to have 'overlooked'.
Your FIVE hours of party started at 6:30pm (per contract) and should have ended at 11:30. (Personally, I think your 'clock' should have started at 5:30, when you arrived, but the contract does say starts at 6:30, so I am giving you the benefit of the doubt on that one!). You stayed until 12:15am (your post). Clearly, your statement that "i have to make the manager pay for cutting our party short by atleast an hour" isn't true. In fact, you overstayed your paid contractual time.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Don't piss in your messkit. Leave the $500 payment alone.... and hope you don't get hit with any additional charges for the ACTUAL time you used (abused??).

 

[JETX]

I did not see anything posted at the banquet hall regarding charges for extra time.

if we used the hall for more than the 5 hours after the event starts i agreed to pay $125/hr extra.

Wanna' bet that your 'exception' of "after the event starts" won't be 'remembered' by the manager??
Of course it won't.... even if it was stated (VERBAL!!??).

Personally, I think the manager can make an excellent case that you FAR exceeded your 'allotted' five hours of rental...... and you would be liable for the overage at $125 per HOUR!!!

 

[Rrrr]

JETX- Thanks much for your input. The issue seems like that there were a lot of verbal agreements made here between me and the manager and nothing in writing. I should have know better. The point here is not about paying up the money, but the manager never mentioned that i would be charged for the extra time for the setup. The only thing he mentioned was that i would have to pay extra if i used the hall for any extra time after the 5 hours of the event which we agreed upon. In any case i am going to go meet the manager and talk it over with him one last time.

But just out of curiosity, how would he be able to even sue me for the $700 if he does not have my mailing address? All he has is my cell phone number.

-R

 

[JETX]

The issue seems like that there were a lot of verbal agreements made here between me and the manager and nothing in writing.

Agreed.

The point here is not about paying up the money, but the manager never mentioned that i would be charged for the extra time for the setup.

Wanna' bet the manager has a different perspective.... and memory??

The only thing he mentioned was that i would have to pay extra if i used the hall for any extra time after the 5 hours of the event which we agreed upon.

See above.

In any case i am going to go meet the manager and talk it over with him one last time.

Good idea.... start with NOT threatening to stop pay on the payment.

But just out of curiosity, how would he be able to even sue me for the $700 if he does not have my mailing address? All he has is my cell phone number.

Surprisingly easy. I can 'skip' anyone just with their cell. Cost is a few bucks.