Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Sold a truck, the ad read $12,000 and I made the mistake of saying 11,000. I placed a stop payment on a check I wrote to them for 951.10 and they are now taking me to small claims court.


Asked on 9/04/09, 7:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

It is commonplace, maybe almost universal, for parties responding to ads offering vehicles for sale to come in with lower offers and for a negotiation to take place. The small-claims judge will know this and be inclined to think you agreed to a lower price ($11,000), especially since you admit saying that figure. The judge's ruling on the stop-payment of the $951.10 check may also depend upon what the purpose of that specific check was; unless it was closely related to the truck deal, the judge might view the stop-payment on the check without reference to the $12k-vs.$11k dispute in deciding whether you had sufficient grounds to stop payment lawfully.

Grounds for stopping payment on a check are set forth in the Civil Code at section 1719(b) and include a good-faith dispute based on a reasonable belief that services were not rendered, goods were not delivered, goods or services purchased were faulty, not as promised, or otherwise unsatisfactory, or there was an overcharge. Wishing you hadn't said $11,000 is not on the good-faith dispute list.

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Answered on 9/04/09, 9:33 pm


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