small claims

[dwl1963]

gettin the shaft

texas: i recently received a 1099 from a company that i worked for part time in the amount of $6,400, now it gets good. the checks i received were in my name but were picked up and cashed by a person i was working for through a power of attorney. i was driving a truck for this person at 35% of what the truck made. this indiv. was signing my name on the checks and cashing them and then paying me., after about three weeks he started getting behind on his payments and never caught up this started in april 2001. i quit with him owing me around $600-700 which has never been paid. now i have received this tax statement for the amount that the truck earned but i never received. what is the legal issue concerning the trucking company he was leased to issuing him the checks and could he be liable for check forgery? i thought i could trust this person but turns out i am not the only one he has done this to. i contacted the irs and they said it was a legal matter not a tax matter.

 

[JenniferH]

Since you entrusted this person to cash the checks, you would have to sue him in court for the money he owes you. Of course, you will have to prove to the court that he owes you and I don't know if what you have is sufficient.

The 1099 is correct in the amount, because the company has to declare the amount paid to you, which according to your statement was paid, but cashed by another person, which you entrusted the payments care with.

Either way, you are liable for taxes on the amount stated in the 1099.

Some questions: did the power of atty state he had the right to cash/sign your checks?

Did you have a deal with the leasing company or were you working under contract with this deadbeat, who in turn ran with the money (it sounds like you had the deal, since the 1099 was in your name, therefore I would check out exactly what the power of attorney stated he was authorized to do, then if you really thought you had a chance at forgery or other charges, was to speak to an attorney. Now you are looking at being owed about 700 dollars and I am sure an atty is going to cost about that much, so you really need to think about that, if not, and you think you have a good chance at winning a judgment in court, you can probably file the claim yourself and go from there, of course, once you win a judgment, it is up to you to collect the money. Then you can come back and tell us more, and we will try to assist as much as possible)

Good Luck and keep on truckin'

A truckers wife,