I live in Tennessee and after 7 years the local sheriff's dept delivered to me a civil summons for a bad check, back from 2000... I knew nothing about it, due to having surgery in that year, closing my checking account with what I thought was the right procedure, and now just a month away from having another surgery, a sheriff's deputy delivers this to my door stating they have had this summons in their dept for the last 7 years. I am a legal resident of this county and have been for over 18 years, with everyone knowing me, including individuals on the sheriff's dept and the fire dept. I worked with some of them on my job as a n ER secretary and I have had no notification from anyone that this check existed. Please tell me if I have any legal options to fall back on? Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I need some help on this as soon as possible!!


blonmom2

If it is 7 years old I think you missed your court date. When were you supposed to appear? You are not in any trouble for not showing but the bad check may still need to be satisfied. The is a statute of limitations on debts but a bad check is more than a debt. It probably isn't covered by SOL.

Call The Court See If The Case Is Still On File, If So File Motion To Vacate It If The Pass Judgment Against You For Lack Of Proper Service. All Summons Do Have A Time Limit On Them.

I'm really not clear what this summons is. And you need to make clear what it is. A summons is generally a notice to appear in court by a certain date. If the summons was issued 7 years ago, that date has long past. So what does the sheriff expect you to do?

Second, did the check actually bounce? If so, you owe that money, just repay it.

I find it strange that your bank, or the cheque's recipient, didn't get in touch with you about a bounced cheque... And you can't be accused of missing the court date if they summons was never served to you.

There must be some kind of extenuating circumstances that caused everyone involved let this drop.

However - Now that you know about the cheque, I would make good on paying it... :)