What are my rights when issued a bad check?
Question Details: My granddaughter gave a car lot $412 as a down for a car. No contract or receipt exchanged. Then 2 days later she lost her job and asked for her money back. She was given a check for $237 and told they were keeping it for holding the car and paperwork. She tried to cash the check 4 times but could not due to NSF. We asked for all of her money back but we were told that the seller put a stop payment on the check and refuses to refund any of her money now. What can we do?
Under the laws of all states with respect to bad checks, if the maker refuses to make good on the check and where there is no honest dispute over the transaction from which the bad check was issued, the person holding the check after proper demand to have the check made good can bring a small claims court action against the check's maker for the amount of the check.
In small claims court you can also ask for statutory penalties concerning the bad check, typically up to $500 in addition to the face amount of the check.
