Jonesboro is south of metro Atlanta and not really all that near Carrollton at all. It's at least a one-hour drive between the two cities.
Good idea. Your bank should be able to produce at least a copy of the check as well. It would be pretty obvious if it's not your handwriting.
Yes, if it is a case of mistaken identidy, then they won't be able to produce this information at all because it won't exisit. Make sure that you have every check you were ever issued accounted for, including the box of checks if you only keep the book you are using at school with you. Contact your bank, ask about the charges and have them print out a statement of your account for at least 2 months before this incident up until current time, maybe more. If it was a bad check, it could have bounced around a bit before your bank got any record of it. Ask for copies of the check in question and ask for copies of any notices sent to your bank. Make sure you get the name of the person that you speak to. Whatever you do, DO NOT apoligize to anyone for ANYTHING, "I had a friend".. long story short, they took his apoligy as admitting guilt and he had to work twice as hard to clear himself. Make copies of things you have signed, and copies of your handwriting. This may hold up as evidence that you didn't write the check. Get all the information for yourself that you can.
Call the restuarant and ask if they can give you any specifics, it's doubtful they have records, but they MIGHT be able to tell you what was purchased, they MIGHT have a driver's liscense number, they MIGHT know what time the event occurred, who accepted the check, and that person might even have a description of the person using the check. Now, if you get all of this information, the case may unravel itself in the process and you might not even have to show up to court. (unlikely.) But they can check their records and see who was working when the check came through and that person could be a witness. It may be possible that person passed the check themselves. Maybe that person didn't check ID when taking the check and that might help your case.
It sucks that all this happened because in the end you will just be losing your time, but at this point your credit rating may have a blemish on it and your bank may cancel your account, among other things. Make sure that you follow through and send a copy of any court documents to your bank if they aren't on the list to get them and make sure that when all is said and done that nothing has changed in your life and all you have to show is a story to tell your kids someday.
Hope this helps and I hope to hear that everything came out okay!
Another thought, have you received any sort of overdraft notice from your bank? Any closed bank accounts that anyone might have had access to the old checks?
No chinese food for almost 2 years.. now THAT'S criminal!
Since he's in Georgia, Mexico might be a tad bit far. I would suggest buying a one-way ticket to Cuba from Florida instead.
Sorry, I don't pay for something I didn't do, regardless of if it's more expensive.
I'm not here to take blame for someone else's f' ups. Thanks for all
the advice, I'll have to ask my parents about a lawyer... see if they can
help me. Suckiest thing is whe I called the office in jonesboro they wouldn't
tell me anything. I think they just want to get paid, they must get more moeny for
things going to court than having it bust out as mistaken identity in advance, oh well.
This is true but he didn't give enough information to say whether or not he actually knew where he always was. I mean Clayton is just below Dekalb and Carollton is all the way in West Georgia. I am just thinking he could have gone through there at one point or time. Then again, Jonesboro is not the whole county.
This would scare the crap out of me.. I would never go by myself into any town I've never been before - especially if I had to deal with their court system. We've all seen the movies/shows where some dude goes into a small town to fight a traffic ticket and gets sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Get a lawyer. Usually, the lawyer can right a letter that makes it impossible for them to force you to show up in court. There are certain laws about evidence that has to be presented before you can even be put on trial. Spending $100 on a lawyer writing a letter is probably worth it because otherwise you will have to show up in court and you have no idea how to be prepared for that.
Get a lawyer. Usually, the lawyer can right a letter that makes it impossible for them to force you to show up in court. There are certain laws about evidence that has to be presented before you can even be put on trial. Spending $100 on a lawyer writing a letter is probably worth it because otherwise you will have to show up in court and you have no idea how to be prepared for that.
Talk to the county attorney about it. There should be some people at the courthouse that should be able to help you get a handle on how exactly you got in trouble and what steps you should take.
I was mostly thinking of how Jonesboro isn't on the way to anything. The highway that goes through it is a PITA to drive on (millions of stoplights) so you wouldn't take it unless you were specifically headed that way. The shop that sponsored my cycling team years ago was down that way.....it sucked to go get parts or attend team meetings.Originally posted by: Millennium
This is true but he didn't give enough information to say whether or not he actually knew where he always was. I mean Clayton is just below Dekalb and Carollton is all the way in West Georgia. I am just thinking he could have gone through there at one point or time. Then again, Jonesboro is not the whole county.
Heh...this is like my dad getting a parking ticket from the City of Chicago, and he hadn't even been there, and we live 2.5 hours away.
The issuing Authority in this case must provide all public information making this claim. You should be able to go to the Clerk of Jonesboro and probably pay a Copy Fee to see the documents in the case. This is what a Lawyer would do. It's $40 , it would cost probably 10 times that amount or more to hire an Attorney for this. It is obviously a small Claims court type of issue where people are not expected to have to hire an Attorney that is why the documentation must be available for your inspection, then you can take the appropriate action and hire a Lawyer if need be.
If it is obvious from their supposed documentation supporting the claim that it is not your check and you are not the person they are after then you will obviously not need an Attorney and their case is cooked. If however it appears like your check or ID or documentation whether Real or Fraud then it would be wise to have Legal counsel.
Like someone said the Legal system in Georgia is very suspect, I know from personal experience.
Good luck
David
you guys are crazy. "hire a lawyer"? Unless there's a cheap mexican lawyer who'll work for $4/hr, wtf? If you wrote a bad check, pay the guy $40. If you didn't, and don't mind the inconvience, just go to court. Eitherway, the most money you'll be liable for is the check + bank fees (maybe $15).
good luck, and forget about the lawyer
good luck, and forget about the lawyer
There was a woman who had the same exact name as my mother. This woman was a deadbeat and went around town running up unpaid bills and other debts, bad checks, etc. Somehow my mother got stuck with several of these even though their addresses and social security numbers were totally different. It was a major hassle, but you just have to go through the motions and prove it wasn't you. You don't have to worry about the law, eventually it will get straightened out. You may have to jump through some hoops to prove the person in question wasn't you and it can be a major inconvenience. My mother's problems stopped when she remarried and changed her last name. Good luck to you and I hope this is an isolated incident and nothing else happens.
Are you crazy? Don't get a lawyer because you can easily do this on your own (or with our help
), but don't just pay it. That'll hit your credit rating and you'll probably end up paying more than $40 if you ever get a loan or try to rent another apartment or something!
Drakkon
Diamond Member
- Aug 14, 2001
- 8,401
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wait ur not willing to pay $40? and ur not wanting to go to court? I'm sorry buddy but your up a creek without a paddle. Lawyer would be a good bet...but even hes gunan say exactly whats been said here...gather up your account records...find what date the check was made for...and try to figure out where you were at that date to prove you were not able to write any check. I mean if luck holds out maybe u were taking a test that day in a class and no way could have cashed a check at that day/time.
Just in case you were wondering, going to court doesn't automatically mean you are going to jail.
Any professor at your school would be required to excuse you from class if you received an official summons from court, if that's what you are worried about.
Any professor at your school would be required to excuse you from class if you received an official summons from court, if that's what you are worried about.
This isn't a big deal, just go and explain that you've never been there before and If you want to make sure that is understood then it is a good idea to try to get some proof of were you where when this happened, try to get more info and if you are having a hard time determining what is going on then just get a lawyer to help you.
If you do not respond to the summons you will be admiting to the guilt and you can probably just blow it off in reality and nothing bad will probably happen to you. Usually small amounts of money are not enforcable, the person who brought the lawsuit against you would then have to try to talk the local sherrif to track you down, and he is probably not going to do it for just 40 bucks.
But then again this could be a person trying to scam your identity, could be a fellow student of someone who went thru your trash and found some bills, shiping invoces, or atm stubs or something. Could be he is using your credit to scam stores and restuarants and he f**ked up one time at the chinese place, so I definatly would find out exactly whats going on.
If you do not respond to the summons you will be admiting to the guilt and you can probably just blow it off in reality and nothing bad will probably happen to you. Usually small amounts of money are not enforcable, the person who brought the lawsuit against you would then have to try to talk the local sherrif to track you down, and he is probably not going to do it for just 40 bucks.
But then again this could be a person trying to scam your identity, could be a fellow student of someone who went thru your trash and found some bills, shiping invoces, or atm stubs or something. Could be he is using your credit to scam stores and restuarants and he f**ked up one time at the chinese place, so I definatly would find out exactly whats going on.
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