Budget buster: Bad check

[SeansMom]

I sold an item on CL. The women gave me $150.00 cash to hold the item. When her son picked it up he handed me a check from the women for the remaining $50. Now, this lady drove up in some fancy car (my guys knew what it was, some ultra-fast pacer car), had her nails done, and said she worked at a hospital I'm familiar with as a case manager. So, I thought a check would be okay. Well today, for no particular reason, I went online to check our balances. Lo and behold, there is a mysterious $5.00 debit. I call the bank only to find out she had insufficient funds and that they resubmitted the check. If it bounces again, I'll get charged another $15.00, which means I'll be out a total of $20.00 for the bounced check and $50.00 for the check itself (for those of you mathmatically challenged, that's $70.00 !)

I don't know if I'm more mad at myself or at her. I called her, and she said she'd get me the money, but how do I know that she will? *sigh*

One BIG lesson learned: Craiglist items are cash only.

 

[akcire]

If you can get the physical check back from your bank, and it depends on how they process their checks here is what I would do......

Call the hospital find out when their employees get paid 1st, 15th or 7th , 22nd...every place is different.

Then the day you know she gets her payroll, take the check to HER bank and present it against her bank account.

It will not help you with the returned check fee, however at least you can get your original $50.......you can also ask your bank to waive the fee for you as a courtesy, tell them you sold something and the woman gave you a bad check

-or-

If you are really mad, call the police and file a report. Failure to pay is theft.

 

[semo233]

If you are really mad, call the police and file a report. Failure to pay is theft.

writing bad checks is a crime in and of itself, too!

 

[Blue.Fairy2]

writing bad checks is a crime in and of itself, too!

and in some states $50 and over is grand theft.


Good Luck.

 

[DebMcDonald]

Calling the hospital to find out what day they do payroll won't work because I work as a hospital and depending on what level you are is if you get paid week, bi-weekly or monthly.

You can call her bank directly and give them her bank acct info and they will tell you if there are sufficient funds. If your bank gives you back the check or a photocopy (sometimes those say treat as original) you can take it directly to her bank and they will cash the check for you.

Sorry that you are going through this, it's sucks.

 

[yrdlyprincess]

Sorry that this happened to you, I never never give people checks-or take them--my moto is "I know where you live" then I will take a check from you. We are talking like my mom,sisters, and neighbors (close ones) Hope it works out for you--you could see what bank it is coming from then (hopefully) you may have an acct at that bank and get it cashed to make sure she has the funds!

 

[DISdreamin']

Honestly, until proven otherwise, I'd give this person the benefit of the doubt. I know, I know...it's unlikely it was an honest mistake, but it seems odd to do this over $50. I think SHE is getting nabbed for NSF each time the check is sent through too, isn't she? From the buyers perspective, she may not even be aware the check was bad yet, and imagine the nasty surprise when she discovers it (big $$ out of her account too!).

Why do I mention this? Well, personally I had a check returned for no apparent reason! I wrote a check to the car dealership where I had my car repaired. It was about $500. The check cleared - THEN two days later it was rescinded! I freaked! I mean, the entire time to balance in my checking was over $5K - why in the world would a check for $500 bounce, right?!

Turns out it was actually a problem with the delaerships bank not submitting something they needed to within a given amount of time (this whole electronic needing to be followed up with something else -paper?!). A few days later, the check cleared again. Thankfully the dealership was all good with it, but man did it scare me to see those funds redeposited with some note about returned check!

Anyways, try to get ahold of this person and see if she'll make good. I'd also try your bank for a goodwill waiving of the NSF fee on your end. Ya never know.

And BTW, CL - cash ONLY for me. Seriously. I don't care who you are, you want to walk with it, you bring cash for it or it stays here.

 

[Leajess99]

All we have to do here is take it to the County attorney's office and they will go after the person for you. It did not cost me a cent an I got restitution when I had to do mine from a former friend.

 

[bumbershoot]

Sorry this happened to you.

We had a string of checks that kept doing that, from isolditonebay, the one local to us. I guess they are all run independently, and not only did the guys who run this place LIE about their knowledge of selling and bundling comic books, but then they just kept sending bad checks. The last one, which included the fees our bank kept charging us AND some random money that "oops we forgot to pay you this a year ago", we actually took to THEIR bank...not just a branch but their branch, got a manager and had them cash that check for us (we don't have an account there, this was not their usual thing) and end the string of bad checks.

i hope you get it cleared up much more easily and quickly than that!

 

[mousetravel]

You need to send her a certified letter explaining that she has a certain date to have it paid or you'll turn over to the law enforcement office. I work in a field that deals with bad checks sometimes. Our state requires that you give the person 10 days to pay. Then you can turn the check over to law enforcement. Depending on your state law, you can also charge her a service fee added to the amount of the check. Here, it is $30.

 

[JandJ]

Just my 2 cents - the only way to handle a check in that situation is to take it to the check writers' bank and cash it there. They'll tell you on the spot if there are sufficient funds in the account and then give you the cash. My brother ran into that problem and after several trips to the person's bank there were never sufficient funds, but he got to know the teller so well that she actually called him the day there was money in the account! He ran down and cashed the check immediately.

Good luck!

 

[KAMKIM]

Just my 2 cents - the only way to handle a check in that situation is to take it to the check writers' bank and cash it there. They'll tell you on the spot if there are sufficient funds in the account and then give you the cash. My brother ran into that problem and after several trips to the person's bank there were never sufficient funds, but he got to know the teller so well that she actually called him the day there was money in the account! He ran down and cashed the check immediately.

Good luck!

I am surprised that is even legal.

 

[JandJ]

I am surprised that is even legal.

I have no idea about the legality of her calling. I think she was just being compassionate. Writing a bad check is illegal.

 

[etoiles]

I am surprised that is even legal.

This is the only way that anyone could get paid at a school I worked at. Everyone would run over on pay day at 3pm (time allowed to leave) and rush to the school's bank. We would first ask 'is there sufficient funds?' and they would either cash our check or say 'sorry, contact your school for more info. (they would not say outright that the money was not there)

No one who worked there could ever deposit their paychecks because by the time the bank tried to get the money it would be gone.

 

[JandJ]

This is the only way that anyone could get paid at a school I worked at. Everyone would run over on pay day at 3pm (time allowed to leave) and rush to the school's bank. We would first ask 'is there sufficient funds?' and they would either cash our check or say 'sorry, contact your school for more info. (they would not say outright that the money was not there)

No one who worked there could ever deposit their paychecks because by the time the bank tried to get the money it would be gone.

Yeah, the purpose of a check is ultimately to be presented at the bank of the check writer. Your bank is just doing you a favor by running it (and charging you a fee if there are insufficient funds). You have every right to present the check at the writer's bank yourself.

 

[SeansMom]

Honestly, until proven otherwise, I'd give this person the benefit of the doubt. I know, I know...it's unlikely it was an honest mistake, but it seems odd to do this over $50. I think SHE is getting nabbed for NSF each time the check is sent through too, isn't she? From the buyers perspective, she may not even be aware the check was bad yet, and imagine the nasty surprise when she discovers it (big $$ out of her account too!). Anyways, try to get ahold of this person and see if she'll make good. I'd also try your bank for a goodwill waiving of the NSF fee on your end. Ya never know. And BTW, CL - cash ONLY for me. Seriously. I don't care who you are, you want to walk with it, you bring cash for it or it stays here.

You know what, I think it was a mistake. I decided to call her and told her what happened. She seemed to be very embarrassed and said her payday was the 25th (and I know the system she's in and that'd be right.) She called again today so we could meet, but I told her to wait (hopefully not foolishly) because my bank resubmitted the check. If it clears, she will only owe me the fees.

You need to send her a certified letter explaining that she has a certain date to have it paid or you'll turn over to the law enforcement office. I work in a field that deals with bad checks sometimes. Our state requires that you give the person 10 days to pay. Then you can turn the check over to law enforcement. Depending on your state law, you can also charge her a service fee added to the amount of the check. Here, it is $30.

Yes, she said she had the overdraft fee posted to her account today. However, she said she'd pay my overdraft fee and the original $50.00. The rest of the information is good to know and I'll follow up if on Monday her check hasn't cleared and has generated another fee (or call the bank to find out how long that will take...hmmmm....)

Yeah, the purpose of a check is ultimately to be presented at the bank of the check writer. Your bank is just doing you a favor by running it (and charging you a fee if there are insufficient funds). You have every right to present the check at the writer's bank yourself.

I didn't know that. I have such a kind bank .

Anyway, I'm hoping all's well that ends well. She appologized a million times, but still, I'll never take a check again. Burned once and all that.

 

[CLR4321]

This is the exact reason that when I post items for sale on CL, that I state in the ad very clearly that it is cash only with no exceptions. I also include in the last email contact before meeting for the sale that it is cash only, or in the last phone conversation. If someone does not have the cash....they don't get to buy my stuff - period. If the ad says cash only and you have made it clear, they have no right to be upset with you if you will not take their check, money order, etc. I would give someone 24 hrs to come up with the money in cash, but still keep the ad up to try to get a back up buyer. I would offer to the next person if they don't come up with the money within 24 hrs.
I hope you get your $50...I am sorry to hear this happened to you.

 

[pixiedustaholic]

Wow!! Yes, writing bad checks purposely and not taking care of them is against the law. Maybe it was an honest mistake and all of us make mistakes. We are human afterall.

OP, glad she seems cooperative and I hope everything will work out hassle free. It's very campassionate of you to give her the benefit of the doubt.