I meant to elaborate a little on the worthless check. I actually had plenty of money in the bank.?

Question

I did not intentionally write a bad check. I stopped payment on a check. The check was to the sheriff to do a writ of possession, but the tenants moved out so the services were not needed. I cancelled the day before, but the sargeant refused to return my money, so I stopped payment, and now the SA charged me with a crime! Seems to me, they want money for services that were cancelled and that they did not perform....

Answer 1

You should have allowed the check to go through, found out what the ordinances are regarding at what point you may cancel such a service, and if you were in the right, request money back, and, if not given, take them to court.
You're in a bit of a pickle now though.
You should still learn what the laws are in your area though.

Good luck!

Answer 2

> You stopped payment on a check to the Sheriff? That was NOT the brightest thing you ever did.

I second that!

Didn't they tell you why they wouldn't refund the money?

I guess you showed them who's boss!

I would suggest that if you waited until one day before (probably closing time, right?) then they had already put into motion plenty of the operations that you requested - only the actual delivery had not yet been executed.

That means, on your request and good words, fully backed by legal payment, they did work on your behalf and left other business to be scheduled for other times.

Then you reneged - canceling is probably routine for that sort of thing, withdrawing payment is not.

I am sure that not only will they come down very hard on you in order to prevent others getting the idea that what you did is OK and they should try it too, but they will laugh about you in the office for decades to come.

I hope you don't need their services again anytime soon.

Answer 3

You stopped payment on a check to the Sheriff?

That was NOT the brightest thing you ever did. The terms under which you paid for the service probably included language that governed how much notice you had to give.

In my jurisdiction, one day wouldn't be enough - if you canceled the day before, you'd still need to pay.

Richard