Stop Payment

Status
Not open for further replies.

huraver

New Member
I am a small business owner in the construction industry here in Texas. Recently I hired subcontractor/friend to work on a concrete project or to more or less work me over. He received a check for $2000 to get started. Things didn't quite go well from the beginning and I had to take care of the demolition. Three weeks passed and still no concrete, not all was his fault, the weather did play a slight role. I talked to him about it and he assured me things were getting back on track and would have the concrete finished in the next few days, but financially he needed a $1000 more to proceed. Like a fool I wrote out the check. I always want to think the best of people! The next day he was a no show again. I called and called and he simply turned off the phones. So I drove to his house where at 3pm he was napping. I told him things were not working out, terminated his work and asked for the check returned. I've already deposited it, he told me, which I knew was not the truth. Fine I say, write me a check for the thousand and well call it all even. He tells me he will when the check clears. Unacceptable!!! Now he turns ugly and ask me to leave, gives me the old f off and die. So be it, but I tell him he has left me no choice but to put a stop payment on the check and I left. After a few harassing and threating phone calls to me I place the stop payment.
A few weeks pass with a lot of headaches from trying to fix his work and I received a return check notice from HEB grocery for $1000 and a $30 dollar processing fee. It seems that the stop payment went through on the check, but they went ahead and cashed the check for him anyway and now are coming after me to collect. I call them and explain that I had placed the stop payment on the check and they should be taking action on him. We have no way of verifying if there is a stop payment on a payroll check they tell me. So they take a third party check without checking anything and now want me to pay for it. Is this legal! I can't even cashed a check at my bank. They first put a hold on it to make sure funds are there. My bank says that there is nothing they can do and it is between me and HEB. What can I do.
I need to know what my rights are on this and if I need to talk with an attorney what type of attorney will I need to talk with. Please help - I can't believe that they can actually try to do this for something that is CLEARLY their FAULT!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top