Tuesday, May 3, 2016

HAS SOMEONE WRITTEN YOUR BUSINESS A BAD CHECK?



HAS SOMEONE WRITTEN YOUR BUSINESS A BAD CHECK?

You just got paid!  Or so you thought.  You take the check to the bank and are later informed that the check will not be honored for insufficient funds.  NSF is the acronym.  Well great.  What do you do?  California Civil Code Section 1719 actually has a remedy for this.  You send the a certified letter to the business or individual that wrote the bad check and give them 30 days to provide you with cash or a certified check in the amount of the bounced check plus any back service fee that you were charged, plus the cost of the certified mailing of the demand letter.  If the person or business who wrote the bad check does not comply, you can proceed with a small claims complaint and be awarded up to $1,500 in “treble” damages plus the amount of the check and any bank charges that you incurred.

Don’t fall victim to a bad check without investigating your legal rights for payment.  Civil Code Section 1719 provides you with some teeth to get paid.  When you send your demand letter, include a copy of the bounced check along with a copy of Civil Code Section 1719.  You can get a copy of the Code Section by going to Google and typing in California Civil Code Section 1719.  The Code Section includes a formatted sample draft letter you can use to make your demand.

Good luck in using the law to make sure you get paid for the services you provided or the goods you sold!