Consumer Law, Warranties Check and past consideration

[passed]

Hi,

I have a question regarding checks and past consideration. I moved a friend who afterwards agreed to pay me with a check. Then she wrote me a check. Now she says that she won't pay on it.

Should I just deposit the check? What problems could I run into?

I'm in Massachusetts.

Thanks!

 

[dee_dub]

She could stop payment on it, and you could get dinged with a bank service charge.

I wouldn't worry about the sufficiency of past consideration at this point. If she DOES stop payment, you might run into problems trying to prove she should pay you the money. Maybe it falls under the exception for acts performed at request and under implied promise of payment; maybe it wasn't consideration for helping her move at all but was a gift, maybe...

 

[passed]

Thanks. I guess the thrust of my question is this: say I go to the bank and cash the check this week. If they cash it--either because she never stopped payment or the stop payment order lapsed--should I be worried about anything other than her being mad?

My thought is that if she gave me a wad of cash instead of a check and changed her mind, I feel like I'd be free to keep the money. Does it work the same way with checks, or could I get in trouble for cashing it?

 

[dee_dub]

Is it not enough that cashing your friend's cheque would make her mad?

If you want to get all legal, here's the thing. When you helped her move, did you just help her out as a friend, or did you do so on the agreement that you would be paid somehow? nd when she cut you the cheque, was it because the two of you had agreed she was going to pay you something, or was it just out of the kindness of her heart?

 

[passed]

Thanks again for your reply!

I'm sorry because I think I may have been a little unclear. I'm really interested in the legal aspect of whether I should cash the check. We didn't originally have an agreement, but she felt bad afterwards and wrote me a check. Now I'd like to cash it. Is it legal to do that?

 

[dee_dub]

Legal, in this case, has nothing to do with whether you should cash it or not. That's a matter for your personal conscience. (My own conscience says it would be a dick move in the circumstances to cash it. Your conscience may vary.)

Sounds to me like the cheque was a gift. She gave it to you out of kindness. So this isn't contract law, and "past consideration" etc. is irrelevant. A gift can be revoked, but not after it has been accepted. You accepted the gift. If she had paid cash, she would have no claim to it. However, the gift is a cheque, and a cheque can be revoked at any time prior to presentment. Can a gift cheque be revoked after its been accepted? Um, I think so.

I would speculate that, if you attempted to cash it and she had not stopped payment on it, she could get pissed off at you. She probably would not be legally entitled to have you refund the money to her. If you attempted to cash it and she HAD stopped payment, you would be SOL. You could try suing her on the cheque to enforce her covenant to pay - good luck with that.