Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Who pays when a check is stolen?

One main question is "how was this person able to cash the checks"? You will probably need to file a complaint with the City Attorney of SF explaining the situation. I believe this is the begnning of the administrative remedy that you must follow.

Because you can prove that you are not the person who cashed the checks, then the City did not pay you for your services.

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Re: Who pays when a check is stolen?

I'll start off by admitting that I don't know the answer off the top of my head. The issue seems to be "who bears the risk of theft of the check while it is in transit in the mail?" Therefore, while Mr. Linden may be correct in stating that the City didn't pay you, I'm more inclined to think that's a possibly-incorrect conclusion. There is an argument that you were paid when the check was deposited into the U.S. mails. That's consistent, for example, with the law stating that legal papers are served when mailed (not when received) and that an offer is accepted when the acceptance is mailed, not when it is received. My advice would be to have your payments direct-deposited or transferred to your account through the automated clearinghouse (ACH).