Bad Checks

What is the name of your state? California

I recently started a web design business in addition to hosting etc. My newest customer gave me the usual deposit for services and the check was returned marked "Refer to Maker."

He gave me a believable excuse and replaced the check. I got that back and he had stopped payment on it. Because of the lag time between transactions and when they send it back to me I didn't know what was happening and accepted two more checks. One of those bounced today or was stopped, I'm not sure. There is no question that the last one will be returned as well. He just makes up lies and wild stories and wants to accept yet another check.

I'm upside down in my account because of these checks and I can't seem to get any help, from anyone.

Collections agency said it could take months if they can do anything at all. District attorney had little to no responce and suggested I just cancel services and write it off. Well I did cancel services but this is deliberate fraud but because the checks didn't come back NSF it's not being taken seriously.

Please advise.

Thank you,

Cherie

you need to contact some one like TELECHEK and see what they might have to offer for very small business owners then when such checks have met a check protection services guidelines then the check service gets to go after them . And its time to make arrangements to find a law firm that you can refer to when you have problems like this , try the links up top so you can at least shop around for a local atty that you could establish a relationship with for your business and personal matters .

pandapizza

I am a business owner in pa, and for new accounts we have them fill out credit checks/applications to see thier risk factors, it costs $20-25. We also use our local magistrates/local small claims court. In pa, at the local level you can file a civil complaint for nsf which costs $65 or you can file criminal charges regardless of the amount, and nsf on a closed account is a stiffer penalty. I dont know how much you get in bad checks, but telecheck for our business was abot $400/year. The DA wont care about bounced checks, they dont here, but if you have a local court, go check it out. The turnaround time for us here is about 30 days. If they dont appear for the hearing, a warrent is issued for thier arrest. I hope you can resolve this through your local court. Some people change thier whole dispostion when they get that notice from the court. Hope this helps. I do have a number for my collection guy who can run credit checks if you wish.

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