Beware of people writing bad checks locally!
Posted by Mike Sylvester - 3/16/09 @ 7:23 pm - Filed Under Featured, Local Politics
Today was a bad day and my blood pressure went up a lot today.
I had a client who wrote me a bad check. This made me so mad that I took some time off and went down and filed a criminal complaint with the Allen County Prosecutors office.
To make a long story short she still owed me about $500 from services we performed for her last year (She finally paid a couple hundred dollars in late 2008).
So she calls me and asks if I can handle her corporate tax return, her personal tax return, and her boyfriends personal tax return again this year. I told her sure, as long as I get paid for last year and this year.
She agrees to pay me by check and so I prepare the three tax returns for her. She comes in and pays with a check for a little over $1500, (Their corporate return is fairly complicated) she asks me not to cash it until their refunds are deposited. (Note they got refunds for over $12,000). I agree. (I must be an IDIOT)
So I wait until the refunds are deposited and I try to cash the check. It does not clear the bank.
So I called her yesterday and left her a message asking her to call me today. In that message I told her that purposefully writing bad checks was a criminal act.
She did call me today and informed me that the check did not bounce; she instead had put a stop payment on it after she wrote it and never had intended that I be able to cash it.
She told me she is filing bankruptcy later this week and her bankruptcy attorney told her she could not pay any bills for over $600. She told me I should not get mad because it was not “personal.”
Well, I got mad.
I spent a lot of time on the phone with the Allen County Prosecutors Office, the special bad check division of the Allen County Prosecutors office, the collections agency I use to handle my collections, and eventually the Fort Wayne police department.
To make a long story short my collections agency said that it was not a civil matter it was a criminal one since she never had any intention of paying me and purposefully wrote a check that she immediately put a stop payment order on. They further told me that she would be shielded from me when she filed bankruptcy later this week and they recommended that I immediately file a criminal complaint so that my complaint was filed before her bankruptcy filing.
When I spoke to the Allen County Prosecutors Office they told me it was a civil matter not a criminal one. They referred me to their special Dad Check Division. The Bad Check Division told me that they could not help me since I had agreed to hold her check for at least a day. They told me to call the Allen County Prosecutors Office again. In my second call with the Allen County Prosecutors Office they said if I really wanted to pursue it I would have to call the police and file a police report and then go down to the Allen County Prosecutors Office in person and file a criminal complaint that would be reviewed. It was obvious the person I was talking to felt that I was wasting my time.
So I called the police and they came out within 20 minutes and I filed a police report. They were very efficient and I apologized to the desk sergeant and the responding officer for having to involve them in this.
Interestingly enough you have to go down in person to fill out the two page form at the Allen County Prosecutors office. They will not fax it to you, email it to you, or post it on their website. I imagine this is done to lower the number of criminal complaints they receive; however, it is pretty inconvenient.
They told me that I would hear from their office within 60 days.
So I wasted almost four hours and made a trip downtown today to file a criminal complaint.
There are two things about this that really irritate me:
- This now ex client never planned on paying me for my work. They lied to me to my face and wrote me a check they planned on stopping payment on.
- According to this ex client they did this on the advice of their bankruptcy attorney. (I have no way of knowing if this is true)
We have received a couple of bad checks before; however, when I call the writer of the check that bounced in the past they have been mortified and have rectified the problem. I have never had someone call me and tell me that they never planned on allowing me to cash their check.
Do not get me wrong I have some clients that I have had to turn over to collections and who have paid me late or not at all. This is unfortunately part of doing business in our current society. A significant number of people refuse to pay their bills yet they keep going out and spending money. That being said
I have never had a client lie to my face and purposefully write me a bad check.
As far as I am concerned this lady robbed me of over $1500 dollars and she should be prosecuted by the Allen County Prosecutor.
After talking to several people today I am unsure if the Allen County Prosecutors Office will view this as a criminal offense and if they will pursue it at all.
What do you think?
Mike Sylvester, angry local business owner.
Comments
19 Responses to “Beware of people writing bad checks locally!”
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Allen County Prosecutor’s Office should prosecute. Bad check is there, intent is there, all the elements of Criminal Fraud. They prosecute this kind of thing for Meijers and WalMart. Soo, non-big boxes get treated differently in Allen County?
She told me I should not get mad because it was not “personal.”
She must never have read “The Godfather”. In the book he points out it’s always personal. People just say that to make themselves feel better.
You have every right to take $1500.00 personally. I hope the Prosecutors Office does something, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t and use the pending bankruptcy as a excuse.
I’m mad after reading this. It is truly pathetic that we live in a society where one person will do this another (hard working) human being…I suppose karma will get her, if it hasn’t already.
You should send the story to Frank Gray and see if he’ll write a piece about it.
I used to have trouble with bad checks and collecting from people but not so much anymore. It always felt good to send this message out to problem people though: http://qpyn.com/go/?0jobh
I’m pretty sure that her attorney did not tell her to commit a criminal act. There is a way to handle this if the prosecutor won’t take the case.
Do you still have the check? Give her 5 business days to pay you in cash or with a money order. If she doesn’t come through, scan a copy of the check and post it online. I’ll post it on my blog if Jeff won’t let you do it here. BE SURE to black out her account number on the check.
Mike, you seem like a smart guy. Why would you take a check from someone who already stiffed you on the first payment? Obviously this chick should spend some time in the slammer, but I think you should have known better….
Mike:
I’m mad as hell just reading it. And on top of it all, the legislature is going to pass a tax increase on us small business owners to cover the state’s overly generous unemployment program too.
Sounds like a democrat (to me) who wrote that check…it seems to be “all the rage” these days.
I know the White House is writing “checks” the (overblown and porked out) budget can’t possibly cash.
That’s one thing I’m VERY particular with…you’ll never “double dribble” any of my checks to the bank!
NO WAY.
Live and learn Mike. Next time someone asks you to “hold a check”, find a way to give them the “idea” that you will do it (or take the ethical low road and simply tell them you will). As soon as the person leaves make a beeline to the bank and deposit it. It is far easier to prosecute an NSF check then to collect on one with a stop payment. You deserve to be paid for the services you render.
Actually I reversed it. It’s easier to collect on an NSF check than it is to prosecute a stop payment. When presented with the same dilema I might ask the client for an additional $50 “check holding” fee. I would deposit the check right away and take the “return deposit item” fee if it bounces. Then when I’m pretty sure the funds are in the account (I check with the bank every couple days) I present the NSF check to a teller at that bank and if it’s made out to my business they’ll convert the funds to an official check (for a small fee of course). You could even explain this process to the client before accepting the “post dated” check. If they do not agree to participate in this process, then you will know that they intended to defraud you from the get-go.
Robert Enders,
As I stated in my post “I am not sure what her,” I only know what she told me her attorney advised her to do…
I am also not sure what is legal and what is not legal… I am an accountant not an attorney.
Mike
Justin,
As I said in the post, I must have been an idiot to accept her check.
In our business we have always been somewhat lax with our collections policies. That is going to change after our busy season…
Mike Sylvester
Bob G.
I am not sure what her political affiliation is; however, both Democrats and Republicans in Congress seem to consistently support high budget deficits.
Realistically in the last twenty years both major political parties have been fiscally irresponisble.
Mike
Indy Lurker
I am looking into how I should do this differently in the future.
I am interested in learning more about this.
Mike
Mike,
Get one of these machines, you can swipe a check and it will be guaranteed to be honored. They get the funds via ACH and deposit them directly into your account.
http://tinyurl.com/dcq3vl
Whether more republicans/libertarians own businesses than democrats, I don’t know but it would seem so, but I think they are less likely to screw over a fellow small business person, but the higher determinator is that person’s own moral code.
Mike . . .
I used to work as a business consultant for Chicago-based company whose ethics caused me to resign. However, these folks knew that the value of consulting work performed is not always appreciated by the client.
When on assignment, I presented a bill every Friday, personally obtained a payment check from the client and marched to his bank where I converted the check to a certified bank check. Money orders were also acceptable . . . but no credit cards or company checks which are subject to stop payment and NSF conditions.
Some landlords in this town will not take checks from tenants. They insist on bank-issued payments. In these times, a firmer payment policy solves most of your problems . . . and your clients will understand.
I tell people i work for the CIA- Cash In Advance.
no money, no funny. if you dont have the cash up front, then dont bother me until you do.
show me the money!
sorry about your luck , chuck. maybe you need to re-think your business rules.
what is it they say “trust me” means on wall street?
or i suppose if they have a credit card, that clears, or cash their check first- make sure it clears, then start work.
isnt bad credit, and worthless paper, and debt monetary system what ruined the economy, one bad check at a time?
I hope you learned a valuable lesson.
SHOW ME THE MONEY- I WORK FOR THE CIA- CASH IN ADVANCE ONLY.
[...] not keep the necessary paperwork to prove they home schooled them. The same prosecutors office decided not to prosecute check fraud when it was purposefully conducted against my business; however they have plenty of time [...]