wbillings313
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
My wife received a phone call from a gentlemen today stating that he was being asked to contact my local (Okaloosa) county to serve her papers and an arrest warrant because of a bounced check ($27) from approximately 10 years ago. The arrest warrant is in relation to the fact that shortly after she closed her checking account because she moved with family out of state. She says that she was unaware of the bounced check upon leaving. Because of that, it looks like intent to commit fraud.
She was living in Alaska at the time, moved to Utah. This is where she met me and we where married. Because I am active duty military, I went to Korea and she went back to her original address (her mom was still living there) and then we both moved to Portugal. Then two years later we moved down here to Florida. Because of all this, apparently the company could not track her down, until now...four years after living in Florida.
She had another check bounce from the exact same time, and was able to settle that years ago. Upon the same time, my wife attempted to settle this check by contacting the company who held it. However, she repeatedly hit dead ends because it bounced from one collection agency to another. We where never able to settle this.
Now, they are saying we can make an offer to settle out of court. The offer included a $577 restitution, plus attorney fees. Now, they wanted me to make an offer prior to showing me anything. The gentlemen transferred me to a mediation office that would work out the possible settlement. However, that mediator apparently worked for the company that is current holder of the check. He said they had closed the case, but he could attempt to reopen it to make a settlement. However, no one wanted to show me the check or any proof that the people I was talking to had the legal right to that money or that they could push for criminal charges!
SO, we know the check is in her history. However, we don't know if these people are scammers that just did a lot of research into my wife's history to scam us out of a grand, or if this is legitimate. Should I settle and pay the money, or wait to see if the warrant is true and follow it through to court?
My wife received a phone call from a gentlemen today stating that he was being asked to contact my local (Okaloosa) county to serve her papers and an arrest warrant because of a bounced check ($27) from approximately 10 years ago. The arrest warrant is in relation to the fact that shortly after she closed her checking account because she moved with family out of state. She says that she was unaware of the bounced check upon leaving. Because of that, it looks like intent to commit fraud.
She was living in Alaska at the time, moved to Utah. This is where she met me and we where married. Because I am active duty military, I went to Korea and she went back to her original address (her mom was still living there) and then we both moved to Portugal. Then two years later we moved down here to Florida. Because of all this, apparently the company could not track her down, until now...four years after living in Florida.
She had another check bounce from the exact same time, and was able to settle that years ago. Upon the same time, my wife attempted to settle this check by contacting the company who held it. However, she repeatedly hit dead ends because it bounced from one collection agency to another. We where never able to settle this.
Now, they are saying we can make an offer to settle out of court. The offer included a $577 restitution, plus attorney fees. Now, they wanted me to make an offer prior to showing me anything. The gentlemen transferred me to a mediation office that would work out the possible settlement. However, that mediator apparently worked for the company that is current holder of the check. He said they had closed the case, but he could attempt to reopen it to make a settlement. However, no one wanted to show me the check or any proof that the people I was talking to had the legal right to that money or that they could push for criminal charges!
SO, we know the check is in her history. However, we don't know if these people are scammers that just did a lot of research into my wife's history to scam us out of a grand, or if this is legitimate. Should I settle and pay the money, or wait to see if the warrant is true and follow it through to court?
