Worthless Checks
When a payor writes a check to a payee the check must clear the bank or the payor will be faced with treble damages and attorney’s fees.
While this right is not automatic, once the statutorily required predicate letter is sent to the check writer, there is very little which can be done to remedy the situation, short of making good on the worthless check.
It is well settled that a worthless check which ends up in litigation will result in treble damages, plus the amount of the check, in addition to attorney’s fees, costs and interest.
Mechanic’s Liens
Under Florida law, a validly recorded construction lien must be sued upon within one year or the right is lost forever. There are very specific rules which determine how these liens should be filed. In most cases, these intricate procedures vary depending upon whether a lienor is a contractor, sub-contractor, sub of a sub-contractor etc…
The degree of separation from the owner of the property to be liened seems to be a major factor in the intricacy of the procedure. For example, the notice provisions are more lax for the laborer which was contacted directly by a homeowner; contrast the supplier that may never even see the property and is typically called by a sub-contractor - this entity needs to ensure perfect procedural compliance in order to guarantee its rights.
Even when properly recorded, a lien which fraudulently misstates the amount owed will result in waiver of lien rights and potentially a hefty counter claim for slander of title. Moreover, amending a lien could be tricky business. Recent amendments have called into question whether case law is still effective; this case law has held that an amendment will not extend the year limitation.
A homeowner faced with a fraudulent lien, should contact an attorney an explore the option of filing a Notice of Contest of Lien. This device will shorten the time limit to file a lawsuit from one year to sixty days. The decision to do this must be explored with legal counsel before proceeding due to the myriad of results which could occur.
Tags: bouced check, collections, construction, liens, worthless check