Dog Bite

[GB2003]

What is the name of your state? Maryland

At the end of August, my wife (who was 8 months pregnant) and dog were attacked in our neighborhood by a pit bull which was not on a leash (our dog was). My dog was badly injured (attack lasted 10 minutes) and my wife was also bit trying to separate the dogs. The police told us they weren't charging the owner since she agreed to pay for all medical expenses, but a report was filed. I submitted the vet bills/ prescription bill to her, but let my insurance pay for my wife's emergency room visit. My wife also missed some work because of this even though she had been trying to save it for maternity leave. After a week of no response to my letter, I inquired as to whether the owner had received the letter. It was almost a month later before I received a check from her, only to find out recently it bounced and I was charged for the returned check (The amount was under $150). Since I've heard from my bank, I assume she has from her's, but I've heard nothing from her.

My question is what do I do now? I tried to be a decent neighbor, but this is very stressfull to my wife, who has doubts about living in the same neighborhood. Do I have to go back and try to get another check or is there anything legally I can do?

Thanks.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? Maryland

At the end of August, my wife (who was 8 months pregnant) and dog were attacked in our neighborhood by a pit bull which was not on a leash (our dog was). My dog was badly injured (attack lasted 10 minutes) and my wife was also bit trying to separate the dogs. The police told us they weren't charging the owner since she agreed to pay for all medical expenses, but a report was filed. I submitted the vet bills/ prescription bill to her, but let my insurance pay for my wife's emergency room visit. My wife also missed some work because of this even though she had been trying to save it for maternity leave. After a week of no response to my letter, I inquired as to whether the owner had received the letter. It was almost a month later before I received a check from her, only to find out recently it bounced and I was charged for the returned check (The amount was under $150). Since I've heard from my bank, I assume she has from her's, but I've heard nothing from her.

My question is what do I do now? I tried to be a decent neighbor, but this is very stressfull to my wife, who has doubts about living in the same neighborhood. Do I have to go back and try to get another check or is there anything legally I can do?

Thanks.

**A: so what are you doing about it?

 

[GB2003]

**A: so what are you doing about it?

Not sure what to do. That was my question. Do I continue to try to get the neighbor to pay or is there something I can legally do to force to pay?

 

[HomeGuru]

Well since you posted this in the right forum, I would sayto file a small claims court action.

 

[GB2003]

What will that actually do? Will it force her to actually pay? Is there anything else I can actually do?

 

[HomeGuru]

What will that actually do? Will it force her to actually pay? Is there anything else I can actually do?

**A: actually, no but court action is actually what you need to do. Since you need to actually go to court to obtain an actual judgement. Whether she actually pays it is actually another story.