Legal Question in Banking Law in New Jersey

Re: 2 Bad checks made out for 3500.00 each givin to me

To correct your first error, you do have a writtren agreement. The checks are a sufficient writing to confirm your otherwise verbal agreement. The law will provide at the least that you are owed what was written within the four corners of the writings. The rest of the consideration is subject to interpretation. The court will essentially fill the gaps in the contract with what it feels is due to the parties.

As to collecting, you have a few choices. The first thing to do is to go to his bank and present the checks for payment. You must do this within six months of the date of the check. Or you can go to your bank and cash the checks. The note on the memo line should be disregarded by the bank. But banks are getting sort of screwy with their rules and may waver about negotiating the checks.

If the checks are not accepted by the bank or are returned unpaid, you then have other options. The first being to turn the matter over to the police as passing bad checks. Any bad check over $1,000 is a felony. Here it sounds like you have two. The prosecutor will seek to obtain restitution for you, but don't count on that.

Another alternative is to sue in small claims court. Be sure to fill out a separate complaint for each check so that you don't bump up against the statutory limit. DO NOT COMBINE CHECKS IN A COMPLAINT. File the complaints on the same day and make certain they are correct (correct names, addresses and amounts due). When you win you will have a judgment that you will need to collect on, but this brings you much closer than you were earlier. You'll need to appear in court and make a case but the checks should speak for themselves. His defense will either hold water or not.

Or you could turn this matter over to an attorney. Attorneys have pretty good track record colecting on debts and charge a reasonable fee for the effort.

Be certain that you do not threaten the debtor with the first option. Threatening prosecution in a collections matter is never a good choice and you could easily cross the line and get yourself in trouble.

If you would like me to pursue this matter, please email me and I'll arrange a time for us to speak.

Regards,

Roger Traversa

email: [email protected]