Bounced check - How would you handle??

[Joel Owens]

I have a friend of mine that has a property preservation company in GA. They have been in the business for a very long time. They believe in the best of people and most times do not get taken advantage of however there is no way I would accept personal or business checks these days.

They usually do a lot of bid work for banks and REO's getting ready for winterize and then resale fix ups. They also work with SFR agents listing for home owners selling the property getting ready for fix ups and minor repairs etc.

Apparently my friend did some repairs and the home owner wrote a check for 500 in GA. The property sold and closed recently and my friend that did the work the former home owner stopped payment on the check and closed the bank account right after the property closed. The contractor has now located the former owners and where they are living. I found this article on bad checks in GA for him.

http://www.ehow.com/about_6579055_georgia-law-writing-bad-checks.html

The contractor believes writing the bad check is theft by taking. They also believe they can lien the house with the new owners which I am not sure about after a sale has occurred. I know you can before but not about after. I would assume if that was possible the new owners would sue the former owners for negligence and damages. I remember a few years ago there was a similar case where a builder didn't pay all of their subs and they liened the house or tried to after the sale. I can't remember how that turned out.

The key with the check is knowingly with willful intent to deceive which sounds to me it is from not only closing an account but putting stop payment on it unless you rectify immediately and pay out of a new account because you moved.