Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Tennessee

Fraud to decieve owner to begin work on fence

I'm an owner of a handyman service. A gentelman called and said he would like to put up a fence around his primary residence. He filed bankruptcy and didn't disclose the information till 2 days later. In the meantime he gave me a check for our services and I presented to the bank 4 times. I ordered all the materials and started work on the fence. The materials were delivered on the day we started, approx $1,200 worth. I removed the existing fence down and haul it off to a landfill the next morning. After the disposal of the old fence, I presented the check to the bank that the check was drawn on. I was told funds not avialable. I tried 3 different times that same day for the check to be honered. I was told by one teller that their has not been any activity on this account for a long time. After I got in touch with him and asked him what the story was he showed me all the banruptcy papers and admitted that all his bank accounts were closed due to the bankruptcy. At this point I was dumbfouned on what to due. He filed chapter 13. What is my recourse? Please reply ASAP. Thank you. A very concered owner.


Asked on 6/28/04, 2:19 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
James R. Becker, Jr. Becker Law Firm

Re: Fraud to decieve owner to begin work on fence

As I understand your situation, you were contracted to do the fence work after the individual filed bankruptcy. If this is the case, you will need to get bankruptcy court approval to do the work and to get paid. Once you have the order to get paid for the work you have done (this can be accomplished by first asking the Chapter 13 trustee), then you have more leverage to compel payment. As things stand right now, you have $1200.00 worth of material and no good way to get paid. You may want to hire an attorney to help you with this situation.

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Answered on 6/28/04, 10:10 am


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