Bogus "bad check" charge, what do I do?

[Sonestone]

In December of 2008 we took our dog to the vet because he was very ill. Before we left I called the vet and asked if they would hold a check for services. They told me that if I could pay the office visit fee that the would hold a check for the rest of the treatment that the dog needed. The dog was seen by the doctor and then I was told that for any tests to be run or treatment to be given I would have to pay for it right then and there - NOT what they said on the phone. So they sent us home with fluids only and no "treatment" because they said that was the only thing they would hold a check for and when I wrote the check to them they told me NOT to date it. The dog died that night. We were waiting for a deposit into our checking account for some items we had sold online to cover the check to the vet. It turned out that the check that was deposited was fraudulent andwe filed a case with the sherrif's office who advised us to close our checking account, so we did. Shortly after that we moved to Texas. I wrote letters to the vet explaining what had happened, updating them as often as I could and that my fiance had just started a new job and that we would be sending a replacement check to them. I even had my mother-in-law call them and tell them this in person. I sent them a replacement cashier's check in March (my fiance only gets paid once a month and he started at the end of January). Then I get court documents in the mail for a "bad check charge". On these documents there is a question that states, "Were you asked to hold or delay deposit of check?" They marked "NO". If they had marked "YES" it states on the paperwork that "the matter is ineligible for filing". So basically they lied on these court documents, because I had asked them to hold the check. We were there in December and THEY dated my check for February. So obviously they were "holding" the check. Now if I don't pay all of these fees to "satisfy" this charge I will have a warrent out for my arrest. My fiance brings home $800.00 a month and I am a stay at home mom of a 5 month old baby. I can't afford all these fees just because they lied to the courts and tried to deposit the bad check even after they were informed that it would not go through. They won't give me a receipt for the cashier's check that I sent them and they won't withdraw the charges from the court. What do I do?

 

[dee_dub]

Tell them that they can either immediately withdraw their court case against you and supply you with a receipt for the cashier's cheque you sent (which I presume you have evidence they received and cashed) or you will contest their suit to the fullest extent, and they can explain to a judge how they forged the dates on the cheque you gave them to hold and lied on the court documents, and you will seek to recover from them the costs you incur in defending the action.

DO defend the action if you have to. Do not let them win by default.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I'm very sorry to hear about your dog and predicament. First of all what are the court documents? Is it a judgment? Is it a summons? This is important to answer first.

If I were you, I'd take a look at a copy of the cashed check - is there a date written in with another pen? If so, I'd nail the vet to the wall in my letter. I might state specifically that the vet has a choice to either drop the lawsuit or you will prosecute the vet for perjury in court to the fullest extent of the law and the proof is right there on the check - the date is written in by someone else, obviously held by the vet and then inserted by the vet's employees. You might want to state that if this was a mistake on their behalf, they should rectify the problem immediately. If they somehow insist that this wasn't a clerical error, you will need to reply and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law for perjury. Let them know they should contact you first in the hope of resolving this amicably between the two of you. This is probably the easiest route.