Fraud, Embezzlement, Bad Checks Urgent advice needed!

[djudd]

My tale of woe starts out several months ago when I lost my job. As a back-history I had been renting a vehicle from a car rental franchise since 2004. When I was unable to pay the owner the rental fee he "let me slide" for a few weeks. This put me in the position where I was in debt to him for ~1,500.00. He continued to encourage me to keep the vehicle during this timeperiod, but I realized there was no way I could afford this. Towards the end of this I (stupidly) gave him a check to hold as a commitment. At that time we both knew the check was no good. I did this (again stupidly) because he began pressuring me by calling me at least 10 times a day. Within days of this and against his wishes I returned the vehicle and paid him half of everything I had at the time (200.00). About a month ago I finally was able to secure a new job and let him know that I was starting on the 9th of July and would be able to pay him soon. I called him to discuss a way to settle this debt. He wanted full payment from my first paycheck, hey who wouldn't. I explained to him that I needed to first pay my back-rent and turn on my basic utilities first (I had lost water and gas and was on the verge of loosing electricity, it was bad). If I did not do this my family would be evicted. His response was to threaten the welfare of my children with "If you do not pay me now I will have your wife arrested for a bad check, you arrested for failure to return rental property and your children put out on the street.". Now I have four small children between the ages of 3 and 9 and threats to "put [them] out on the street" do not settle well with me so I ended the phone call at that.

That night my wife and I researched online and determined that for NC a business has to notify you in writing and give you a 30 day period to settle a debt before attempting legal action. In addition to this because I had returned the vehicle months before, I did not feel the rental property issue was a concern. We assumed that we would get a registered letter from him to pay the amount owed and be able to settle this within the 30 days allotted.

We have not recieved anything from him. Not even a bill (ever) until this morning...

I checked my gmail account and found a e-mail from him sent the night before last stating that if I did not pay him by noon today he would goto the magistrates office and file warrents for my wife and I.

Please advise! Is this possible?

 

[calalily]

Email him the law and request the 30 days and see what happens..BUT the bad check might be a problem..did you google that? In the meantime, some city utilities companies have a program to help people with payment of utilities for one month...see if they have that option and see if you qualify. That may help you to have a little money left over to make at least a small payment or make good on the bad check.

 

[djudd]

calalily,

I appreciate your response and that was my initial reaction (actually my wife's).

I guess what I am looking for here is validation of my research. It would help me sleep better at night knowing the process that must be followed before someone can threaten me like this.

 

[mafioso]

Your explanation seems to show you have good faith but did not have a job. Judges know and understand this…… Just document all your interactions with him in case you go to court. Reply his mail detailing the whole story you just posted and your proposal to pay him his money. Explain why you can't cut a single check. Make it clear you are willing to give him everything monthly except basic living expenses for your family. Send him the email and a money order with his name by registered mail. Make copies of everything you send. This would show good faith. The dates and your plea to him would make it difficult for any judge to come down hard on you. The most important thing is to show your good will. Your bad check can be explained as you did here. He should have waited for the go ahead from you. Do your best to send him a reasonable sum of money. The car charge against you would not hold from the reasons you gave above. So your mail to him detailing your good faith would help you in court if necessary. Communicate with him only in a form which can be documented.

 

[djudd]

Interesting side notes...

After contacting the local magistrates office I was able to determine the process needed for where I live (I have no idea why I didn't think of this in the first place). Essentially I have 15 days to respond to a certified letter. In addition to this they have a "worthless check" program that allows me to take care of this without worry of a criminal record.

Concerning the business owner, it appears things are a bit shadier than I realized. Even though he claims to be a franchisee of a major car rental agency, uses contracts from said car rental agency and even has their sign out front he is not and has not been a franchisee since 2005. In addition to this it appears he is unable to deposit the check because it was made out to the franchise name instead of his...

I guess legally I'm off the hook at this point. Ethically, I have no idea where things should go from here.

 

[mafioso]

Nice to hear that.............Keep us posted! Good luck.....