Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas
I recieved a letter today from a hot check department in a previous county that I lived in. When I called about the letter I was told that it was from a previous vet clinic. I dont recall writing a check to the clinic but I did use the clinic. The amount is over 1200.00. I was making payments to the clinic and thought the debt was settled upon a lesser amount. But now I have a letter stating that it was a hot check because the account is closed. (I havent live there in almost a year) When I tried to contact the vet clinic they are now under new ownership and do not show any accounts open. What can I do to avoid a warrant and paying another costly bill. Unfortunately I paid some payments in cash and some in checks and do not have all reciepts due to a hectic move.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Either you wrote a check to the clinic on a closed account or you did not. You should go to the bank where you had the account (or try to do it via phone since you no longer live there) and ask to obtain a copy of the check or any records relevant to it.
If you wrote the check, then you are responsible for it. (I'm a little unclear on the situation because you seem to indicate that you had a debt with the clinic and were making payments on the debt, and that the debt was going to be for a lesser amount - but was this about the $1200 payment?)
Once you have checked with the bank either you will be able to get a copy of the check or you will not. If so, get the check and determine if you wrote it. Then, contact the DA's office from whom you got the letter again. If you wrote the check, you will have to pay it (and the fees) or you will get a warrant. If you feel that you had "replaced" that check with payments, you will probably have to go after the clinic in a civil suit.
If you did not write the check, let the DA's office know the problem. Also, whether you wrote the check or not, let them know about your efforts to contact the clinic and the status you were told. See what they say.
It is hard to answer this question because the next thing that you say or discuss depends on their responses.
Bottom line is that you will likely end up having to pay the check and fees, or you will deal with it in criminal court.
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