Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Minnesota

A friend of mine asked me to help him with one of his business costs by using my credit card to pay online, and he gave me a check for the same amount (he said that his card had been cancelled). I know it was ridiculous of me to do such a thing but I was young and naive (this was a few years ago). It was for about $250. Of course when I deposited the check, it bounced, and my account was charged a small fine for attempting to deposit this check. I tried for a long time to contact him and get him to give my money back, but he became increasingly harder to reach. I wanted to take him to court, but wasn't sure how to do so since I didn't even remember his address. And pretty soon I learned he had left town for Florida (I'm in Minnesota). His roommates told me he had skipped out on his rent and left town, and just to forget about ever seeing my money again. Skip ahead to know--I know $250 is not a huge amount of money but I still want it back. I Googled him recently and found him--lives in Florida sure enough, and was arrested less than a month ago for Drunk and Disorderly behavior. I found his court case; I am wondering if I can somehow use this information to charge him with check fraud, or to file a civil suit for the money he owes me? Is there a statute of limitations on these things? I wanted to charge him way back then and sue him for my money back, but again, I didn't have his address so I had no way of finding him. Now that I found a recent case against him in Florida, could that case information be used to find and charge him?


Asked on 6/21/11, 3:35 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

You may be able to sue him in conciliation court. The statute of limitation should be 6 years, and it would have begun running when the check bounced. I believe you may also be entitled to treble damages (damages X 3). Other than helping you track him down, his criminal charges are not going to help you. If you are willing to do your homework go to http://www.mncourts.gov/selfhelp/?page=313. Just remember, even if you get a judgment you have to collect the money. This may be the harder part since he is in Florida.

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Answered on 6/23/11, 1:17 pm


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