Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

Stopping payment was not a proper way to handle this. Let's go back to the beginning. Did you have a written contract outlining the work to be done and the cost therefor? You indicate you were "overcharged." What exactly does this mean? What do other landscapers charge for similar work? I am not a landscaper and don't know the going rates in your area so its not possible to know if you were overcharged or not. if you have a written agreement, you have to go by whatever the agreement was. If the work was properly performed then you have an obligation to pay for it as per the agreement. if you found the most expensive landscaper in town, you were not overcharged. You should, in that cazse, have gotten written estimates before any owrk was done. You would only have an argument perhaps if the charges were all out of proportion to what other landscapers charge as it would suggest fraud.

If you were truly overcharged and you are agreeing to a new arrangement, then you sign a new agreement indicating it supercedes the old one and that you have paid $410 and that you are only going to pay $235 more. Have him return the dishonored check to you as part of the arrangement.

I don't understand why you are obligated to honor the check on which you stopped payment. If the check was given to some third-party and never deposited, as between you and the third party, yes, you would have to honor it assuming they are a holder in due course and had no knowledge of anything. But that is not yoiur facts. If you are going to make a new agreement whereby ou are paying less, then you are paying the lesser amount because you have a new agreement - this is called a novation. That is why you get it in writing and make it clear that the old agreement is superceded by the new one.

And again, stopping payment on checks is not a way to handle disputes. Whenever you have work of any kind done, you begin with a written contract specifying the work to be done and what it will cost. You can get fancier and specify when the work is to be performed and how the price will be paid. You specify that you only put down 10% and no more as a deposit. Depending on the size of the job the rest is paid as work is completed satisfactorily. If you really want to get fancy, you can add a provision specifying how you will resolve disputes (either court, arbitration or mediation), who pays for attorney fees and have the agreement spell out what happens if either side does not abide by the agreement. That is how you help protect yourself from unscrupulous people. That and before work is strated, you get 3 estimates and references and go check out the person.

.