Ask Me Help Desk - Am I screwed

I am up here in Washington state, and kind of recently got a checking account, well some time goes by, I'm broke,this guy and his old lady want to buy this car I had for 500$ tey say they can only write me a check,they also say that the check will clear, if not, no sale.. so we wait a couple days and I'm able to pull out the $ they leave wiyh the car, all is well? Well, the next that my account is 500$ overdrawn! I call my bank and explain what happened, and they said that I would have to pay it back, which in time won't be a problem, but the bank said I could get charged if the check was stolen, I hope it isn't, but if it is, am I going to go to jail? I do have a record from my past, I am going to college now, have a daughter and granddaughter, and do not commit crimes. To be honest, I am scared, don't have much faith in the system, and fear the worst... any advice at all, please?

You owe it... that check posted... it didn't clear before you withdrew the funds. Big difference between the two. It can take 7-10 business days for it to actually clear... which apparently it did not. And because it didn't, t wasn't your money to spend and you owe it back to them.

As far as being charged criminally, they will have to prove you made that check out.. or you had a part in it with someone sho did. If you didn't then you are just on the hook for the $500 and any other fees that were associated with the bounced check. Depending on how long you take to pay it back... you might owe them interest as well. That's assuming they don't get proof you knowingly played a part in this.

However what you wrote here doesn't make a lot of sense... and raises my suspicion.

Quote:

I'm broke,this guy and his old lady want to buy this car I had for 500$ tey say they can only write me a check,they also say that the check will clear, if not, no sale..

You say you are a grandparent... which means you are old enough you should have recognised this as a scam right from the beginning.

First people who have checking accounts nearly always have bank cards... most ATM machines have a daily withdrawl limit of $600 or higher.

They could have paid cash very easily. You hand over a signed title to a car to "some guy and his old lady" you don't know from Jack.. assuming they will just hand it back if the check bounces? They wouldn't get anything until I had 100% of the cash in hand if it was me. And I do mean cash....not a money order , or check.

I can see why they are suspicious of your story. I'm willing to give you a benefit of the doubt... but then you don't owe me that money. They have every reason to suspect you had a part until they can prove otherwise... its prudent business practice. You MIGHT end up having to get a lawyer before this is over.

Was any paperwork done between the two of you for the car? Do you know who these people are? It could help you out if you could prove, legally, that you sold them a car.

For future reference - when I sold a car to a person who wrote a personal check I accompanied them to a local branch of their bank so that they could cash their check and pay me with the cash. Another option would have been for you to take their check to a local branch of their bank and cash it there - that bank would know whether there were sufficient funds or not - and only then turn the car over to the buyers.

But to answer your question - no, you are not in trouble, assuming you are able to get your bank balance above $0. Obviously you need to go after the people who stole your car - I suggest you contact the police about it. Assuming you have a written contract with the buyer, including name and address, it should be pretty easy to track them down.

In simple words, yes you are screwed. Hopefully it is just a bad check, have you contacted the buyer to ask them to bring you cash to cover check. Do you have a bill of sell ?

But you need to go in and sit down with the bank officer and see if they will allow you time to pay. Also have you taken the bad check to the DA and see about filing charges on them?