Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

Hello I have a question about a stop payment check. I had a painter do some work for me and rip me off he actually stacked the the stain on the side of the house and never finished the job, later that day my brother and I went up the hill on the backside of my house, I am handicapped, only to find he never stained the other side of the fence. Believe it or not he actually thought that because I was handicapped I would not go up the hill and look at the other side of the fence. Note: he had me buy the stain, he was there do the labor only.

My question is this, I wrote him a check for $300.00, part of the $1200 bill, I stopped payment on the check for $300, informed him of this, the very next day he took the check to a "check cashing business" who has now made and filed a claim against me. Can I show up in court and win on the grounds that the check cashing place never called to verify if the check was good, cancelled etc?

FYI If your prospective painters name is Rocky and he doesn't shut up and talks over you, run!

Thank you sincerely,

Chris


Asked on 10/12/12, 8:55 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

I am going to repeat my answer of the other day - I am not sure if you are the same person or someone different. However, adding more new facts is not going to get you a different answer. Perhaps another GA lawyer has a different answer more to your liking. But if you have been sued, you need to quit posting here and hire a lawyer.

Bottom line - if the check cashing place is a holder in due course then they can sue you and you would need to go after the painter. If they are not, then perhaps you can raise the issues about the poor work.

Here is my answer to another post:

I answered this question already, but now you have added new facts and now indicate that you have been sued. You are going to need a Georgia litigation attorney, one that handles consumer debts.

As I indicated, it appears that the check cashing place was a holder in due course. What that means is they took the check, for value (they cashed it), in good faith and without notice. If that is correct, then they can enforce it. As between you and the painter, you need to go after the painter.

Getting back to the check cashing place - this is a slim chance - you indicate that they called you once when you wrote the check to the painter? Is there anything that would suggest that they knew something that this was not a good situation? If you can show that they had notice or had a reason to lack good faith, then they would not be a holder in due course and you would be able to raise the issues about the painter not doing the job.

However, you can't do anything until you talk this over with a lawyer. You have 30 days to answer the complaint. I would get a lawyer to draft a proper answer for you and see if something cannot be worked out. I would also seek to drag in the painter into this lawsuit as he is the one who got the money and who should be liable to the check cashing place, not you.

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Answered on 10/12/12, 1:01 pm


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