Collecting Money I'm Owed

The guy I rented a room from for my first several months in Columbus owes me the return on my security deposit. He gave me a check when I moved out. It was post dated by a week because he was waiting for his latest pay check to arrive. By the time I deposited it, he put a stop payment on it, and I got charged a $14 fee by my bank.

I just received a check from him in the mail... and it is for a bit over half of what he owes me.

Well, looks like I'm going to move things along to take this to small claims court. So, should I deposit the check for partial payment in the meantime? Or do I wait for payment in full?

I have no real authority here but I would think unless it's marked as "in full satisfaction of debts owed" or something like that it would be safe to deposit.

How much are we talking? It may not be worth the hassle.

Small claims court is a PITA if the amount is under $5K.

Small claims will get you a dollar a month for (do your math here, if dollars = X, months = Y, and X=Y, you get the point) months. Just wait.

There are special laws governing landlord/tenant relationships and he was a landlord even if he doesn't think so. Maybe a housing advocacy organization could gently explain to him how bad of an idea it is to not refund the money immediately? Unfortunately I don't know of any specific ones in Columbus but I know they exist.

Don't deposit it. If you do you have accepted it as a settlement and you can't pursue him for more.

You could also turn the bounced check to a collection agency. You would not get much, but it might do a number on his credit.

You should cash the check for sure, because some money is always better than no money. But put it in a trust account to be held until you have settled the account. It sounds like he is trying to pay you, so how about making it easy for him. Set up a paypal account so he can use a credit card.

Partial payment means that he cannot argue that he doesnt owe the debt; now all that you have to prove is that he owes you more. Cash the check!

bearmtnmartin wrote: You should cash the check for sure, because some money is always better than no money. But put it in a trust account to be held until you have settled the account. It sounds like he is trying to pay you, so how about making it easy for him. Set up a paypal account so he can use a credit card.

How does a trust account work? I don't want to pay some fee or something to set up a temporary account.

Edit: I'm also trying to understand the law regarding cashing this check or returning it. What I've seen says not to cash it if you get an itemized deduction list that you disagree with. He hasn't sent any sort of list, just an incomplete payment. Plus, I have record of the check for the full amount and that he put a stop payment on it.

I do think the guy is probably more stupid and negligent than actually underhanded. I suspect the answer is he hasn't managed his money well, and doesn't have the wiggle room in his budget to pay me the full amount. My sympathies are limited though, and putting a stop payment on a check without giving me a heads up kind of irks me.

Doesn't the landlord owe you a full accounting of any amount of deposit withhold within 2 weeks of moving out, at least here in California that is the deal. See what the laws are and the bodies who govern rent. People can get in trouble for withholding deposit without itemization of why they are withholding funds. Isn't passing a bad check illegal? Whatever you do don't cash the check the guy cut or you are out of luck.

Have you tried talking to him about it?

RealMiniDriver wrote: Have you tried talking to him about it?

Yes. He started responding after I said that the next step would be small claims if I didn't get paid.

Then the response was "it's been a bad montg. I will pay you. I just need to take care of myself first. Give me until the end of the month." That was in March. I moved out February 1.

Ohio law is that he has 30 days to return the deposit. It has been over twice that at this point. Also, if I take him to court, I can request double damages for improperly withheld security deposit.

Oh, looks like writing the bad check is an even bigger deal than withholding the security deposit in this case. The penalty for writing a bad check in Ohio is three times the value of the check and attorney fees.

That's great and all, but I wouldn't hold my breath on getting 1x your deposit, much less more. Get what you can and move on.

rotard wrote: That's great and all, but I wouldn't hold my breath on getting 1x your deposit, much less more. Get what you can and move on.

I don't feel the need to get 3x the check amount. But, I'm not above using the possibility of that to persuade him to settle things up in full so that it doesn't come down to that.

Fobroader wrote: Small claims court is a PITA if the amount is under $5K.

I did it for 1k just because I was so pissed off about the whole thing. It wasn't that bad but I did have to go twice and take two days off work. I also got major satisfaction when the guy didn't pay up and I got to freeze his checking account... That was awesome.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Keep squeaking. Forget small claims.

He intends to pay you. Otherwise, he would have come up with bogus charges (cleaning fees, wear and tear, etc) to justify giving you nothing.

But the bounced check and the post-dating were both illegal, and evidence he hasn't a clue on how to manage his money.

BTW- the deposit money was never his, and should have been kept in an escrow account.

Cash the check, and keep squeaking.

SVreX wrote: BTW- the deposit money was never his, and should have been kept in an escrow account.

I was pretty sure of this...

Here is a helpful video that illustrates various techniques you may employ to remediate this issue

NSFW, Cartoon violence.

casually mention to him that you are going to be hanging out with your cousin (insert some random Italian sounding name here) this weekend... don't forget to mention that he works in "collections" and "garbage disposal"...

What irks me most isn't him not having the money (although most state laws say that a landlord is not allowed to spend the money from a security deposit for themselves), but not communicating to me and letting me know what is going on.

If you genuinely can't pay me, I can understand that. Tell me when you will be able to. It's not just that he put a stop-payment on the check because he didn't have the money. It's that he couldn't be bothered to give me a heads up, "Hey man. Money is bad right now. Don't cash that check yet," or anything like that. It seems to take threatening small claims to get him to start communicating.

I was wrong about the escrow account... apparently that is not required in OH.

However, OH law does require return of the security deposit within 30 days. It also requires interest to be paid on the money annually at a 5% interest rate, assuming you were there for more than 6 months. You should have received an interest check from him every year.

Post-dating a check is illegal (sort of). There has to be intent to defraud. But the bank and the court don't really care what the date is. A check is an authorization to withdraw a certain amount of money from the account. Failure to have the money in the account is check fraud.

Stop-payment is evidence of his intent to not pay.

Tell him time is up. Squeak louder.

Post dating a check is illegal. Remind him that and be firm.

crankwalk wrote: Post dating a check is illegal. Remind him that and be firm.

I thought that too. But then I looked it up.

Apparently, it is not illegal unless the intent was to defraud to recipient. However, there is no obligation to hold a check until the date, and banks will honor a check presented regardless of date. However, a check presented against insufficient funds then comes against the worthless check laws (vary by state).

But stopping payment on the check is pretty clear evidence of intent to not pay.

But I agree, it doesn't hurt to say so, and be firm.