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A customer’s check bounced. I cashed the check the same day I received it. Looking back I can see I was played. I know of one competitor is no longer accepting checks.
Does anyone know of any legal action to take against customers who give bad checks?
Thanks.
Buddha_Belly,
I received only one bad check so far in over three years, so I feel fortunate.After I received the notice from my bank, I wasn’t surprised. I too suspected and had a bad feeling about that customer.
You could call your customer of course, but you probably expect to have difficulty reaching them. I wasn’t anxious to talk with my customer due to my feeling that she had planned to give me a bad check.
I recommend you visit a branch of your customer’s bank and talk with them. Coincidentally, my customer’s check was drawn on the same bank I use for business, which made it easier. However, they gave me the same advice they would have given anyone.
The bank lady gave me her direct number and told me to call her as frequently as I wanted and she would check my customer’s account to see if there were sufficient funds to cover the check.
I called 2 – 3 times per week and it took me a few weeks, but I eventually called when there was enough money. I got lucky when I did learn that there was enough money in the account as I was about 1/4 mile from one of the bank’s branches. I went straight there and they immediately transferred the money from the customer’s account into mine. They would have cut a check payable to my business had I not had my business checking there.
I expect you can probably do the same thing. You will need to talk to the bank your customer’s check is drawn on to verify. My bank told me that this was fairly common practice among banks.
It may take a little telephone time, but this is better than depositing the check again into your business account and hoping. That would cost you a fee each time.
With all the checks I’ve taken, I’ve come to the conclusion that most habitual bad check writers have other things in mind rather than carpet cleaning. Otherwise, I believe I would received more bad checks by now.
Good luck collecting.
Mike
Buddha_Belly,
I reviewed my post and realized I didn’t actually address your specific question. Concerning legal action — if my recommendation doesn’t work for you, you could try a using a collection agency next. Or you could ask the bank who handles bad checks in your county. I believe our Sheriff’s department has a bad check unit here, however, it may differ from state to state and county to county.If your customer’s account is still open, I believe you can eventually get your money with my idea in my first reply. Here in Montgomery, the bad checks unit tries to help with NSF checks.
However, it is an entirely different matter if someone writes you a bad check on an account that has been closed. They send a deputy to arrest you in that case because there is no way the person can claim they made a subtracting error or another mistake.
Mike
In 8 years, I have received 4 bad checks. The first one, it took me 3 months to even get her to write the check. Since it was drawn from the same bank as mine, i checked before cashing it, whether it would be good. It wasn’t, so I just waited and checked every day until she had the money in the account. 2 of the other instances, They were mistakes and as soon as I called the customer, they made it good. And the 4th instance, I had to take it to the county attorney’s office and fill out some paperwork and they did recover my money.
Here in Texas you can also file with the county court/DA’s office. They will put a warrant on the individual. This is why it is so important to put a driver’s license # on the check along w/date of birth if you are hesitant anyway. Then, with that info they can track the guy down. Usually they are caught when they receive a traffic ticket, or go to renew their plates, etc. At that point you will eventually receive your money….someday! Tracking down through the bank is the fastest way as mentioned in previous posts. Haven’t had any bad checks with HB yet – and that’s a great thing!!!
We’ve been lucky in that instance as well. Had one customer give us a bad credit card (wouldn’t process) back before we had the wireless unit. Phone number was disconnected soon after. I sent notices to her and her sister called and said she passed away (she was young). Who knows if it was true or not, but luckily it was a very small ticket.
Agree with others’ ideas. If you think this will be a reoccurring problem, sign up with a collection agency. I once tried to cash a customer’s check at their bank as the landlord warned me about them bouncing checks to him. I checked with the bank before depositing and they didn’t have sufficient funds. Called both customer and landlord and funds were put in to cover. I then tried to cash it once sufficient funds were in the account but I did not have an account at that bank, and they said they couldn’t do it without my corporate papers, etc. since it was made out to Heaven’s Best and not me. Just deposited it in my account and it cleared.
One thing I often tell customers when they ask about me taking checks, or in rare instances when they are a good repeat customer and want to mail me a check if they are not home when we clean, is that ” that’s ok, I’m not worried, I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!”. Say it jokingly, but it will put that thought in their head if it is their permanent residence.
I had a customer write me a check that I was suspicious about a few months ago. It wasn’t on my bank and it was made out to Heaven’s Best, so I took it to their bank with my business license and my ID and they cashed it right there for me.
Some banks like Wells Fargo won’t tell you if they are sufficent funds in the account, and you can’t cash it even if you bring in the city papers with you business name on it. Others I know will charge a dollar or so. But most banks won’t. If I thinks something is up. I call the bank to verify funds and if they won’t or say that they have a fee. I won’t accept the check and say cash or credit.
I had a lady leave her 25 year old son when I was cleaning, he wrote the check out and I was on my way. Turned out to be a bad check so I called the number she had provided to me when I booked the appointment and it was her next door neighbor, she didn’t have a phone hooked up. I played it cool with the neighbor and the neighbor told me where she worked. The last thing these people want is you showing up at their workplace. So I just called the place to be nice and not put her too much on the spot, but after a couple weeks of that I knew she was just dodging me. So I showed up at her workplace when I was in the neighborhood, her boss who met me at the door wasn’t too pleased and said that I was not the first one to show up there looking for money. I asked her when do you take lunch? She said at noon, so I told her that I would be back at 1 PM everyday until I was payed in full including fees I received for the bounced check. I was payed in full with cash one hour later! I find that these people are not going to have you back anyways, and I don’t want their referrals so I don’t care what kind of weird position I put them in because I wouldn’t work for them again anyways.
Had another guy write me a check from an account that hadn’t existed for two years. Called him up, he played stupid but I was able to take his debit card number down over the phone and that did clear, charged it for all the fees involved also.
I have started taking down drivers license info along with DOB to prevent this. Haven’t had a problem since.
Don’t be rude to people like this, just bold.
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