Legal advice

[Miguel]

i have a retail store, so, customer comes in, check the material. she likes it and buys it, paid with personal check.
1 week later check returned, i call her andshe says she put a stop pay to the check because she does not like the material that she picked up HERSELF in the firstplace. material still at her house,
we made an appointment to pick up the material on saturday but shes nowhere to be found
been calling all weekend and nothing


personally i rather have the material back at my warehouse and have this done with than rather take legal action and spent the next year in courts an meetings and shit over this bitch.
can i make a report to the police or something ? can i get the police to come with me to her house, or even call her ?

if we get lawyers involved it'll take too long to get the money , and i can get much more money out of the material that i sold her

[BureOne]

Re: Legal advice

hmm, dont know. You can take her to small claims or something. document how many times you have tried to get a hold of her or meet her to no avail. Just for proof of some sort that you've tried to take care of this and she's basically giving you the run around or ingnoring you.

I would probably stop taking personal checks.

[Miguel]

Re: Legal advice

what i normally do is run to the bank and get a cashier check out of it .. but was too busy , big mistake that WILL NOT happen again for sure

[88Mariner]

Re: Legal advice

depends if you want her to pay, or if you want the product back specifically. I'd probably guess you'd rather have the money.

[Miguel]

Re: Legal advice

if the check is mark " Do not Pay " theres nothing i can do with it to get the money, in order to get the money i need to take legal action witch is going to be a long time,
so i think i rather have the product back

[88Mariner]

Re: Legal advice

file for replevin, then. Where are you located?

[Miguel]

Re: Legal advice

miami, fl

dont know what a replevin is , care to explain ? thanks

[88Mariner]

Re: Legal advice

replevin is an action to recover personal property or that which is unlawfully taken. It's a civil action, not a criminal one. I would recommend checking out Florida's Collection Law. There is some cost of course, so it would be reasonable to check out the fees involved in filing/claiming the product and what it's actually worth. It may end up that it's cheaper to go to claims court, or you may realize that you'll have to suffer the loss and never accept personal cheques again. If you have any other questions, just PM me.


Some reading to get you started...

http://law.justia.com/florida/codes/TitleVI/ch0078.html

[toasty]

Re: Legal advice

what is the ballpark value of the merchandise?

[toasty]

Re: Legal advice

Unless it's a reasonably expensive item, it's unlikely to be worth you while to pursue from a civil litigation standpoint. Even in small claims court, if your business is a corporate entity, you may be forced to hire an attorney. Varies state to state.

It couldn't hurt to try to engage the police. This person has taken property without paying for it, which could arguably be larceny. The police will probably tell you this is a dispute between the two of you, but it might be worth taking a flier.

Probably won't work, but it's free.

[Miguel]

Re: Legal advice

the invoice is for a little more than 10000 dlrs ... im thinking about the police option since this could be consider as stealing

[toasty]

Re: Legal advice

well, that's more than I was expecting, that could well be enough to be worth your while, and is probably more than you could do in small claims court. Sometimes a good hammer letter will do the trick, and this looks like a great candidate for something like that.

You might try this, as I've found it to work well for smaller disputes. Send her a letter demanding payment and indicating that you'll pursue your legal options if necessary. Here's the important part -- show a cc to your attorney. Most people get the hint and will buck up and get their asses in gear. If you don't have counsel on retainer, feel free to cc me. PM me if you'd like, and I'll give you my contact info, and will give you the nay or yea on what you intend to send, make sure you've got the right language in there, etc. If she tells you to pound sand and you have to push it a step further, you're going to have to get someone local, but I'm happy to lend my name to a nastygram if it will advance your cause.

[Huggie Smiles]

Re: Legal advice

(without wishing to derail your advice seeking - 10 grand!! what kind of retail store is it? or just 3 massive TV's!)

[Miguel]

Re: Legal advice

we import marble and granite, she bought marble tile for her new house i guess
thanks toasty , its just that taking legal action is going to be such a f'n headache, and if the material is in good condition as i hope it is , i rather have it here , I ALREADY HAVE ANOTHER BUYER at a higher price !!!

let me work on that letter , ill pm you a copy for sure

[toasty]

Re: Legal advice

well, if she's already agreed to return it but is just dragging her feet, a strongly worded letter will hopefully perk her up.