are there criminal charges I can file regarding a stop check

[Newmanmv]

What is the name of your state?arkansas
Hi my husband did a driveway last fall for a lady here in Arkansas. He normally draws up a contract but did not do so for this job. He miss judged weather day drive was poured and it began to rain. It was too late to keep it from damaging the finish and the rain wasn’t stopping. So after 14 hours on site he went home. He went out the next day to see how bad finish damaged and he started to repair the damage. Apparently the owner had issues to him earlier in week a check for 1100 dollars. She requested that he hold check before deposit in acct for a couple days. This check was strictly for labor. She purchased the concrete that was poured separately. He had deposited check after holding requested time. So that he could pay his help. While he was busy trying to repair the driveway finish one of his laborers had told him that this lady had spoken to him on side told him she was going to stop payment on check and that he was not to worry though because she would pay the laborer herself. That my husband hadn’t done driveway correctly. The only thing he didn’t do was check the weather the morning of the pour. When they poured slab it was cloudy but not threatening to rain. He even had called client that night and even texted her that due to rain he would have to rework the top of slab to smooth out the finish. He had no idea that she was unhappy with his efforts especially when he had made every effort to not only let her know that the slab had gotten messed up but that he intended to correct the issue and with charging her more for labor. He in fact had sent her text next morning and requested she come that afternoon to inspect final product. While he was working on reversing the issue he looked up to see county officers standing in front of him with handcuffs in hand fixing to arrest him for trespassing. This was first he had heard he wasn’t to be allowed on property and after lengthy discussion with officers he left property but left his work tools and was not able to finish drive as he was attempting to fix. He called sheriff office they accompanied him next day to pick up his tools. Not once did owner ever make him aware that she had issue. About 4 days later bank notifies him that the check he had deposited ,as per the original agreement and before the escort off property happened, had had a stop pay places on it. He tried to contact the lady but she suddenly left Arkansas to go to a different home she has in ca. Now he’s not as up on how to handle things like this. He and I had been separated for a while and I just found out he has been paying the money he spent out of his bank acct paying bills at time. Otherwise I would have been one handling situation as soon as it happened. I would consider that 1: her apparent conversation with laborer ( and yes I understand it’s hear say) about stopping payment on a check that hadn’t yet been deposited. 2: she made no effort to let my husband know he wasn’t out of blue allowed on property 3: when he spoke to laborer next time he seen him to explain why he didn’t have money to pay him And was told that the owner had paid the laborer herself 4: she made sure he wasn’t able to finish repairs to drive so apparently had no intentions of making good on his check. Would he not be able to not only file a lien against her but press charges for hot check or fraud??? Even without a contract

 

[Just Blue]

Please don't start anymore threads. One is enough.

 

[Newmanmv]

Please don't start anymore threads. One is enough.

My apologies I forgot to delete other thread

 

[justalayman]

You can make a report about the check but it is up to the prosecutor to determine if there were any laws broken and file charges if they deem that appropriate.




I don’t know offhand if he can file a lien in your state but the conditions would normally allow for it in the states I’m do know more about.

Your husband can also sue for anything he believes she owes him.

She can countersue for anything she believes she is due

I don’t see where your husband should have been arrested if prior notice to stay off the property wasn’t. Given to him. That is something he will have to deal with through the legal processes involved.

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to Arkansas lien laws:
https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/2017/title-18/subtitle-4/
I see a few problems with your husband's situation. One is that the homeowner is the one who paid for the materials. The second is that the laborer was paid directly to cover the amount on the canceled check. And the third is that your husband had no written contract.

I see no criminal charges that will be pursued against the homeowner, given what you've said. Your husband is not in an enviable position.

 

[Newmanmv]

Here is a link to Arkansas lien laws:
https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/2017/title-18/subtitle-4/
I see a few problems with your husband's situation. One is that the homeowner is the one who paid for the materials. The second is that the laborer was paid directly to cover the amount on the canceled check. And the third is that your husband had no written contract.

I see no criminal charges that will be pursued against the homeowner, given what you've said. Your husband is not in an enviable position.

Yeah that’s rather what I kinda figured. Sad thing is he has stage 4 cancer and didn’t know about it until right after this happened. The money she cheated him out of hurt big time when he wound up having to cover the payments bank paid. At least his bank has been good about not charging over draft fees. I know that a lot of times you have situations where things get messed up and acts of nature is one of those issues that winds up being unavoidable. I wish there was a law that covered situations not under contract that made it mandatory for both parties to allow other party to rectify a situation before taking such steps as this person did. I was rather hoping that could find a loop hole somewhere that would at least allow him legal recourse. So it is more civil matter than criminal.

 

[quincy]

Yeah that’s rather what I kinda figured. Sad thing is he has stage 4 cancer and didn’t know about it until right after this happened. The money she cheated him out of hurt big time when he wound up having to cover the payments bank paid. At least his bank has been good about not charging over draft fees. I know that a lot of times you have situations where things get messed up and acts of nature is one of those issues that winds up being unavoidable. I wish there was a law that covered situations not under contract that made it mandatory for both parties to allow other party to rectify a situation before taking such steps as this person did. I was rather hoping that could find a loop hole somewhere that would at least allow him legal recourse. So it is more civil matter than criminal.

Yes. I see this as a civil matter rather than a criminal matter.

Although your husband could be owed money for the work he did complete, it could be hard to determine exactly how much that is. Much of his work had to be redone. The lack of a written contract hurts him.

I am sorry to hear about your husband's health. I wish him the best with his cancer treatments.

 

[Newmanmv]

You can make a report about the check but it is up to the prosecutor to determine if there were any laws broken and file charges if they deem that appropriate.




I don’t know offhand if he can file a lien in your state but the conditions would normally allow for it in the states I’m do know more about.

Your husband can also sue for anything he believes she owes him.

She can countersue for anything she believes she is due

I don’t see where your husband should have been arrested if prior notice to stay off the property wasn’t. Given to him. That is something he will have to deal with through the legal processes involved.

They actually released him but they did handcuff him to start off. After talking to him and seeing that he had his work equipment there it was rather obvious husband had no clue of any issues homeowner had with him being on property. So a rather mystified officer who finally decided that situation wasn’t what it he had been lead to believe did release my husband and simply escorted him off property. He is also the one who told my husband to contact them and they would go to property with him to get all his equipment that he was unable to take at that time.

 

[Newmanmv]

Yes. I see it as a civil matter rather than a criminal matter.

Although your husband could be owed money for the work he did complete, it could be hard to determine exactly how much that is. Much of his work had to be redone. The lack of a written contract hurts him.

I am sorry to hear about your husband's health. I wish him the best with his cancer treatments.

Would not the fact that she pretty much impeded his attempt to correct matter by having him barred from her property without notification other than the surprise appearance of law enforcement at the time he was correcting issue? Plus he had already texted her that morning asking her to come review his work later that day? I know it’s not the area you cover and thanks again for your input, I’ll just have to do a little more research in Arkansas civil suit law and find out about filing a lien on her property. Thanks again for your knowledge in this matter.

 

[quincy]

Would not the fact that she pretty much impeded his attempt to correct matter by having him barred from her property without notification other than the surprise appearance of law enforcement at the time he was correcting issue? Plus he had already texted her that morning asking her to come review his work later that day? I know it’s not the area you cover and thanks again for your input, I’ll just have to do a little more research in Arkansas civil suit law and find out about filing a lien on her property. Thanks again for your knowledge in this matter.

Here again is where the lack of a written contract hurts your husband. He has no document to refer to that addresses under what conditions the agreement could be terminated.

 

[justalayman]

Would not the fact that she pretty much impeded his attempt to correct matter by having him barred from her property without notification other than y the surprise appearance of law enforcement at the time he was correcting issue? Pluhe had already texted her that morning asking her to come review his work later that day? I know it’s not the area you cover and thanks again for your input, I’ll just have to do a little more research in Arkansas civil suit law and find out about filing a lien on her property. Thanks again for your knowledge in this matter.

Her resistance to allowing him to remedy issues may benefit him. I think it would have to be determined if the damage was actually repairable as he was attempting. If the damage from the rain was not correctable, preventing him from attempting to finish out the work won’t make any difference.

On the other hand, if it was something that could be repaired, her preventing the attempt would surely help in his attempt to collect on the contract and it would help defend any claims she may have. If this gets into court I would suggest he seek support of his position from every source he can muster. The biggest problem there is nobody saw it so they Will have to speak to more generalized situations and whether rain damage could be worked out the following day as a more general issue.

 

[quincy]

Proving what is owed on the oral contract - especially when the laborer has been paid - is a hurdle that could be hard to overcome. The check that was issued was for labor only.

 

[justalayman]

Proving what is owed on the oral contract - especially when the laborer has been paid - is a hurdle that could be hard to overcome. The check that was issued was for labor only.

A bit of expansion of what I see


The check, if it was the total of the labor, would support proof of the contract for that. If the woman paid he helper, thst would need to be deducted somewhere along the line. Probably by the court. If amount paid to helper was more than op intended, op can request the difference be paid to him by customer or op can deal with helper outside of court. If customer overpaid helper I don’t see the excess amount being applicable against debt owed to op as it was her choice to make the odd side agreement.

If the check didn’t represent the full amount, I wholeheartedly agree with you that establishing the terms of the contract may be difficult.

The bigger issue I see possible is whether the concrete was actually repairable. I’ve seen rain damage and trying to work concrete the next day just isn’t realistic. It would usually be more of a cover up than an actual fix. If that is the case I wouldn’t be surprised to see the customer seeking damages equal to the cost of materials.

The only other real repair would be to grind the concrete and for a lot of reasons, that may not be possible or preferable.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state?arkansas
.. a check for 1100 dollars .. This check was strictly for labor... He had deposited check ... So that he could pay his help. While he was busy trying to repair the driveway finish one of his laborers had told him that this lady had spoken to him on side told him she was going to stop payment on check and that he was not to worry though because she would pay the laborer herself. That my husband hadn’t done driveway correctly. The only thing he didn’t do was check the weather the morning of the pour. When they poured slab it was cloudy but not threatening to rain. He even had called client that night and even texted her that due to rain he would have to rework the top of slab to smooth out the finish. He had no idea that she was unhappy with his efforts especially when he had made every effort to not only let her know that the slab had gotten messed up but that he intended to correct the issue and with charging her more for labor. He in fact had sent her text next morning and requested she come that afternoon to inspect final product. While he was working on reversing the issue he looked up to see county officers standing in front of him with handcuffs in hand fixing to arrest him for trespassing. This was first he had heard he wasn’t to be allowed on property and after lengthy discussion with officers he left property but left his work tools and was not able to finish drive as he was attempting to fix. He called sheriff office they accompanied him next day to pick up his tools. Not once did owner ever make him aware that she had issue. About 4 days later bank notifies him that the check he had deposited ,as per the original agreement and before the escort off property happened, had had a stop pay places on it. He tried to contact the lady but she suddenly left Arkansas to go to a different home she has in ca. Now he’s not as up on how to handle things like this. He and I had been separated for a while and I just found out he has been paying the money he spent out of his bank acct paying bills at time. Otherwise I would have been one handling situation as soon as it happened. I would consider that 1: her apparent conversation with laborer ( and yes I understand it’s hear say) about stopping payment on a check that hadn’t yet been deposited. 2: she made no effort to let my husband know he wasn’t out of blue allowed on property 3: when he spoke to laborer next time he seen him to explain why he didn’t have money to pay him And was told that the owner had paid the laborer herself 4: she made sure he wasn’t able to finish repairs to drive so apparently had no intentions of making good on his check. Would he not be able to not only file a lien against her but press charges for hot check or fraud??? Even without a contract

The husband stands to have a difficult time proving he is owed money.

I suggest the husband see an attorney in his area for a personal review. If the dispute is over the $1100 only, though (with the $1100 covering labor costs that have already been paid), it probably would not be worth purchasing any more than an hour of an attorney's time. A legal aid clinic where services are low-cost or free might be preferable.

If more money is involved than the $1100, an attorney's time becomes a better investment.

 

[justalayman]

Why do you see difficulty in proving he is owed money? I guess I’m missing something. Why wouldn’t the cancelled check support the ops claim of money owed?

He did perform work
She issued a check for the work
She cancelled the check



Oh, maybe I see it. I understood it that the customer paid the helper only for his work. I didnt see it as she paid the helper for all work performed, just his share, or her self determination of what he would be owed.