[Krissy436]

I had been a subcontractor for a construction company and I recently discovered a check from that company came in the mail a while after I moved and that someone signed my name and cashed it. I want to find out if it is true

[joypulv]

You can, with a lot of work.
I assume that it was the issuer of the check says that the check was cashed?
Also, did you put in your new address on a PO change of address card? Those do expire (in 3 or 6 months, I forget). So how many months was it?

First you need to ask the construction company for a physical copy of both sides of the cancelled check. They are going to be reluctant to do so just because of the work involved. Most banks these days don't send back the actual cancelled checks. Some have them digitally available.

The company is going to ask you why you didn't keep tabs on what was owed you. You may have to pay them for the work.

Then you need to see where the check was cashed, from the stamp marks on the back. Then you need to accuse that place with accepting a check without checking the ID of the person cashing it. They are going to say that you cashed it. This isn't easy!

This goes on and on... ask back as you go through the processes.

(If you have reason to suspect that the company just credited the funds back into their account when it came back as undeliverable, lots of luck. You'll have to rely on their honesty, or take them to court. If this was sometime in 2016, it's a bookkeeping nightmare to go back that far and pay you. And it's more likely that someone at your old address DID sign your name and cash it.)

So again - a ton of work. How much was it?

[Krissy436]

I was told by a family member who was living at that address that the person who was working with me and living at said address received the check, signed my name and cashed it at his bank. He was unable to be a subcontractor so we were using my name and he had hidden the fact that we had another check coming from the job. It was approximately three years ago. I know, his name, the company name, and his bank, also the bank the checks were drawn on

It was supposedly right around $7,000

[ScottGem]

Three Years?? Good luck!

As Joy said, you have to go back to the issuer of the check and get a copy of the front and back of the cancelled check. How easy that will be depends on the records kept by the check issuer. And yes they may ask you to pay a fee for this.

Once you have that check, you have 2 options. You can go to person who cashed the check and tell them you will go to the police and have them prosecuted for forgery and theft if they don't give you the money. Or go directly to the police.

You should check on the statute of limitations for this first as, after three years, it may be too late.

There is a third option, you can sue the person for the money.

[joypulv]

'He was unable to be a subcontractor so we were using my name???'
So HE was doing the work?
This has a snowball's chance in hell, sorry.
Plus, the police aren't going to do anything. They might arrest both of you for collusion and impersonation, but mostly be annoyed for wasting their time.

I am mildly annoyed at how much detail you left out of your original question. Did you think we would magically get your money without it?

[joypulv]

Reminds me of a contractor I worked for in the 80s. He had an employee who was working under his wife's name (easily male or female name) because he was also collecting disability.
Guess what - one of those one ton steel road plates used to cover work fell on his foot, crushing it.
First thing the employer did was call his lawyer.
Lawyer said 'You had no knowledge that he was using another name.'
This was before the days of getting 2 forms of ID just to work.