Need some help with find a guy who ripped off my sister

[Tsaico]

She had a written contract with this guy. She paid him about $450 to buy supplies, he was to start work the following week. No show, she then tried to call him, and his number was disconnected. She then tried to go to the house where she had mailed the check to and it is now vacant.

She called the post office and the guy has his mail forwarding to some address in West Virginia, (she is in Maryland). She has that address, the old address, and the check that was cashed by this guy, who is MIA.

She tried to go to the local PD, who then told her they needed an address. They went to serve him papers, saying, he needs to resolve this civil matter, but returned it to my sister because no one was home at the address provided. They then told her there was nothing the PD could about this small of case and if they helped everyone with this kind of case, then they wouldn't get to real crimes. They refused to look at any more information including the cashed check, the postal address given by the PO, or even go back to the old address and find more info out.

Any suggestions as to what else she can try to do to find this guy? (the costs of the PI services would be nearly the same as the amount in question, so I thought to ask you guys first, since there have been some luck in finding deadbeats.)

 

[daveymark]

let me guess, he knocked on her door and offered the service?

 

[daveymark]

maybe trollhunters can help

 

[notfred]

She'd be best off giving up and cutting her losses. Trying to resolve this will end up costing a lot more than $450 in time and effort, and even if they find the guy, there's a pretty good chance he'll have spent the money and be flat broke. If he's flat broke, there's nothing you can do to get your money back. Even if you take him to court and the judge orders hi mto pay you, he can't pay if he doesn't have any money.

I had a friend who's car was broken into once and the stereo stolen. The kid who did it actually was caught and convicted, and the judge ordered him to pay $1600 to my friend, in payments of about $100. The kid was broke and had no job. My friend got the first payment, and never heard from the kid again.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Your best bet is to call the PD in the WVA town where the PO forwarding address is. And you will probably need to file in small claims court in WVA

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Go to WV and beat the 450 out of him.

 

[Barfo]

ur sister got pwn3d

 

[Baked]

Guess your sister doesn't have any friends.

 

[doze]

Sounds like your sister learned a $450 lesson. That is why you do not pay for services up front.

 

[Sphexi]

What kind of an idiot cuts and runs for $450?

 

[altonb1]

$450 is not chump change, but it is not much considering his address changed to a new state. On the other hand, W. VA is only a few hours drive from most parts of MD, so make a day of it--visit the deadbeat and play softball with his head, then stop off a Charlestown Racetrack and play slots for a bit--maybe you'll hit and win back the amount lost.

 

[Orignal Earl]

Originally posted by: Sphexi
What kind of an idiot cuts and runs for $450?

We call them gypsies. And he probably pulled the same scam with lots of people before he blew town

 

[T9D]

Find him and make him pay. Whatever it costs you can sue him for on top of the original money. You'll be doing a service to other victims and potential victims too. Dont let him walk and keep doing this over and over to innocent people. He needs a lesson taught. He keeps getting caught he's going to be in serious trouble with the law. And yes if you win they can garnish his wages. If he doesn't have a paycheck coming in they will let you sieze whatever assets he has (must have a vehicle of some sort). It might be a pain but you'll get all your money back and it's the principle of the matter. Plus is shows in his record and credit history.

 

[sandmanwake]

Call bank, cancel check.

 

[JS80]

Originally posted by: sandmanwake
Call bank, cancel check.

Read post, then reply.

 

[sandmanwake]

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: sandmanwake
Call bank, cancel check.

Read post, then reply.

Did, missed part about check already being cashed. It happens.

 

[silverpig]

Can she call her bank and see if the check was cashed or deposited into another bank account?

 

[Tsaico]

Originally posted by: silverpig
Can she call her bank and see if the check was cashed or deposited into another bank account?

She tried, and they said they will not release any information about other people's accounts, unless ordered to do so by the courts. She cannto get a court date because the sherriffcannot serve him papers because the last known address is vacant, they won't serve the other address because it is not in the same county/district, that district won't help because the crime didn't happen in their county, nor do they handle petty theft.

I asked her if there was a finger print stamp on the front (he in Cali, if you cash a check for cash, instead of into an account, you must leave a finger print on the check) but she said no.

And she didn't pay for services up front, he was to paint a house with a small crew, and the 450 was for supplies.

 

[Vic]

Let this be a lesson not to hire an unlicensed contractor to do any work on your home.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Vic
Let this be a lesson not to hire an unlicensed contractor to do any work on your home.

That and/or buy the supplies yourself instead of giving the guy the money.

We recently painted the outside of our house and we bought all the paint ourselves for the contractor to use.

 

[j00fek]

find em and beat the $ out of him

 

[Kelemvor]

That's why you always use a Credit Card unless it's a reputable business that you know of...

Tell her to get Vinyl Siding. Then you don't need to paint it.