Posted by Eddie on February 23, 2001 at 13:19:44:
Atta Boy there “BRIMMER”! Admit it when you’re messed up!
You’ve been a slackin lately Vud.
Eddie
Bubba and the Bad Check and Death Threats! - Posted by B.L.Renfrow
Posted by B.L.Renfrow on February 22, 2001 at 23:13:19:
I posted a few days ago about some would-be buyers who stiffed me on a deal by stopping payment on their deposit check the day after they wrote it (the thread entitled, “How NOT to do it…”).
Just for the heck of it, and certainly not expecting to hear from them, I sent them a certified letter which they received today demanding payment for the returned check.
I answered a call tonight which was from a cell phone whose number I didn’t recognize. Guess who. The wife - who actually wrote the check, on her account - was feigning innocence: “Yes, what can I do for you? You left me a message?” (I had left a half-dozen.) I said, “You can start by making good on that bad check you wrote me.” So she responds with a stream of invectives worthy of a sailor. Then tells me, “You #@#$#, you said that was completely refundable, so we got a refund.” Naturally, I had told them no such thing. I was gently explaining as much, when she apparently tossed the phone to her husband, who managed to insult my parentage, my intelligence, my anatomy, and suggest I do things which are medically impossible, all in one sentence…all at a full-bore shriek which I don’t doubt could have been heard by my neighbors.
As I was gently telling him the conversation was over, he responds intelligently with,“Whur are ya? I’m comin over…yer dead. I’m gonna git ya.” This moron, of course, doesn’t know where I live, although it wouldn’t be too hard to find out in my town. So I assured him that if I so much as caught a glimpse of him in my peripheral field of vision, he’d be looking at criminal charges, above and beyond bad-check charges.
His parting comment: “Oh yeah? Well, I’m headin’ to the po-lice station right now and I’m gonna have YOU arrested for…for…uh…tryin’ to cash my wife’s check after we changed our minds.”
OK, Bub. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long wait for that officer to show up at my door. Funny thing is, these people were the POLITEST people in the world, when they met me on a couple occasions to look at the house. Carrying a baby, dressed nicely, “yes, sir, no sir”. That’s part of the reason I’d agreed to go ahead with the deal even when they showed up with less than the agreed-upon amount.
Just goes to show, you sure can’t tell by appearances. It’s a new experience for me though…first time I’ve ever been threatened with death over a RE deal! LOL! So if I suddenly quit posting, guess Bubba found me after all.
Brian (NY)
been there, done that… - Posted by eric-fl
Posted by eric-fl on February 23, 2001 at 11:54:11:
I had a similar situation about a year ago, I posted on it back then. Except that I was the one who cancelled the check. I hired a guy to reglaze a refrigerator, so he did. Along with the wiring IN the unit, and a good part of the kitchen.
The refrigerator was destroyed after this. After several attempts to call him and work something out, and getting no response, I cancelled the check. Then I got a response.
It was very similar to the one you got, complete with the profanity, insults, etc. He had also “mentioned” that he likes to keep a 9mm with him on jobs sometimes, “in case people don’t pay up”.
After hanging up on him, there were more threatening letters, etc. Then he PUT A LIEN ON MY HOUSE. The lien was compeletely bogus - he filed a construction lien, which would have never held up in court anyway. But once it’s recorded, the cloud is created, of course. So I filed a contest of lien. This shortens the time span of the lien from a year to 60 days. He sent some silly affidavit in response, but never filed suit.
After I thought all this was over, about a month or two later, he started calling my wife’s office and leaving threatening messages on her voicemail late at night. I had to have my attorney send him a letter in response, explaining that he was facing extortion charges if he continued.
He sent a letter back to my attorney, that basically said get ready, we’re going to court. But, of course, that puts the impetus on him to file the lawsuit, and the amount in claim was only about $400 to begin with. I’ve not heard back from him since then.
He also did the thing with threatening to call the police and press charges. We thought that this was a civil matter, not a criminal one. We called the police to verify this, and we were correct.
There are all manner of lunatics out there who will shoot you over a check. Personally, all I want at this point is for the issue to go away, which I’m hoping it has. Needless to say, I would stop collection efforts if I was you and just move on.
You could . . . - Posted by Dave (CA)
Posted by Dave (CA) on February 23, 2001 at 10:25:43:
keep calling the bank and when they have enough money to cover the check, go down and cash it.
Pushin? up daisies? - Posted by SusanL.–FL
Posted by SusanL.–FL on February 23, 2001 at 08:44:04:
Hey Bri!
Wonder if you should file a report with the police (re: threats)?
It might be some extra ammunition if you have to eventually go to court on this.
This is a good lesson for newbies: beware of appearances. They can be VERY deceiving indeed!
I?ve told you about the one husband who showed up to rent one of my houses years ago. Wore a t-shirt with a GIANT religious cross emblazoned across his chest. We thought, ?awwwwwwwwwwww, thatsza niiiiiiiiiiiiice?.
Wife showed up. Cute as a button. Named Bambi or Barbie, whatever. Two little kids in tow.
Nice vehicle. (Turned out it was his bosses!)
Well! By the time we got to the point of having to evict these two scoundrels, they had ?parked? their junker car ACROSS the driveway to bar access to the property. In order to serve my papers, I leaped up onto the hood of the car ONLY to greeted by the snapping jaws of their Rottweiler! Whoa. NICE doggie. NICE doggie.
AMAZING what we sometimes wind up doing just to make a buck$.
I may look like ?Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms? but when it comes to renters trying to pull a fast one, the horns come out.
C-ya
Suze
Re: Bubba and the Bad Check and Death Threats! - Posted by Rob FL
Posted by Rob FL on February 23, 2001 at 08:09:00:
Stuff like this is why I use a mailbox company to accept all my mail and deliveries. I also go by my middle name “Rob” instead of my first name. There are far too many nuts out there.
Re: Bubba and the Bad Check and Death Threats! - Posted by JPiper
Posted by JPiper on February 23, 2001 at 24:48:50:
There must be a special place in heaven for those who can respond “gently” to threats. That would not be me. By the way, depending on the amount that bad check may well be subject to a criminal charge. I don’t recall the amount you mentioned in your post.
JPiper
Re: been there, done that… - Posted by B.L.Renfrow
Posted by B.L.Renfrow on February 23, 2001 at 15:42:55:
I’m not going to pursue this one any further, given that these people are clearly lunatics. I’d rather spend my time working on real deals, than looking over my shoulder for this nut-case.
Thanks for sharing your story!
Brian (NY)
Re: You could . . . - Posted by Nate
Posted by Nate on February 23, 2001 at 10:35:51:
No he couldn’t; if a stop payment has been issued, the bank won’t cash it, period!
Re: Bubba and the Bad Check and Death Threats! - Posted by Dave T
Posted by Dave T on February 23, 2001 at 10:35:21:
Jim,
As I understand the events from the first posting, the buyer stopped payment on the check. Do we really have a bad check (fraud), or, is everything now considered a civil dispute over contract performance?
Just wondering out loud.
Re: You could . . . - Posted by michael
Posted by michael on February 23, 2001 at 15:34:05:
Stop payment requests must be renewed.
Ask the bank how long theirs are good
for and try to cash it after the time
limit is up. Most people do not renew
the request.
Re: You could . . . - Posted by Dave (CA)
Posted by Dave (CA) on February 23, 2001 at 14:45:32:
You’re right. I was thinking it was returned for insufficient funds.
Re: Bubba and the Bad Check and Death Threats! - Posted by B.L.Renfrow
Posted by B.L.Renfrow on February 23, 2001 at 15:38:13:
Dave,
You are correct. They did have adequate funds in their account when they wrote the check. They simply stopped payment the following day.
A brief conversation with my attorney confirmed what I already suspected: nothing to be done as far as a criminal matter. Since they are obviously unstable, the best option is to just forget it and move on.
Brian (NY)
Re: Bubba and the Bad Check and Death Threats! - Posted by JPiper
Posted by JPiper on February 23, 2001 at 12:58:54:
Actually I think you’re right. I have been told that if the check is stopped but didn’t have sufficient funds for the check to clear that this is fraud…but don’t know that first hand. Looks like I need to pay more attention to the actual post.
JPiper
GREAT idea! - Posted by SusanL.–FL
Posted by SusanL.–FL on February 26, 2001 at 08:48:29:
I didn’t know that!
(I learn something new EVERY day on this board.)
Re: You could . . . - Posted by Nate
Posted by Nate on February 24, 2001 at 10:32:17:
That’s true. However, a lot of banks will also refuse to cash or deposit any check older than 6 months. I believe the Uniform Commercial Code gives them the right to do that after 6 months have elapsed.