CheckSmart has ordered me to mediation!

I am not from ohio but here is what I could find on google for you:

http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/dispute_resolution/resources/publications/mip.asp

I am from Ohio, and live in Columbus. Sometimes referred to as the "bad check" program, this program is designed to bring check writers whose checks get returned for insufficient funds and the merchants to whom this checks were made payable together to resolve the dispute in an effort to avoid filing criminal charges. There is not much more on the cities website, as the above statement is taken from the website. Anyway it is http://www.columbuscityattorney.org/

After I posted the above, I found another link that gives you step by step what will happen
http://www.columbuscityattorney.org/pdf/09-16%20Check%20Program%20v2.pdf

I See You....that was really great information!! I had never heard of that before. I am from a different county in Ohio though. Ladybugmisty, just make sure that you go to this meeting fully armed with all your statements from T & C. That will be important to prove that you have been making payments.

But isn't defaulting on a PDL in Ohio not a criminal offense--so why would this storefront do this? Is this like arbitration in Ohio?

I am really not sure....we will see what I See You says about this one........I always thought it wasn't a bad check if it was for a pdl......I get really confused sometimes! :?

The payday info website says it is not a criminal action,the supreme court I was reading say it is a mediation program to keep the courts out of this,and his pdf states it could be criminal.I am one lost pup on this one.Ohio has now succeeded in making law more confusing than my La. Napoleonic code and that is a very high achievement. :?

I can help you out with this as they sent me to the same thing last month. You sit in a room with a rep of checksmart and a courthouse employee and try to come out to a payment agreement. I believe they will try to get you to pay off your balance within 4 months but I was able to talk them into 6 months. I am sending town and country an extra 50 dollars a month but I will be honest with you, the stuff from town and country didn't matter for me. They (checksmart and the county employee) never looked at it once nor a budget I have set up. The county employee just sat in the corner and said not one word except to induce me to the checksmart employee. If you have any more questions ask away, I am from Franklin County and with Town and Country since April 2007.

I am not 100% sure if it is criminal or not. I would think that the City Attorney office would not waist the time doing this, unless they could file charges on someone. But I could be wrong, and they may do it just to try to help out the check places. Not sure.
Call the Columbus Police Fraud and Forgery unit at 614-645-4750. They deal with bad checks as well, a detective will be able to tell you if they can file on you or not if you don't show, or don't work out a repayment plan.

If I remember right there was a post the other day and brownsugar's attorney said a storefront COULD press criminal charges for a bad check-she is in OH as well.

Ryan N, thanks for sharing your experience on mediation with CheckSmart. My upcoming meeting with CheckSmart is a mediation meeting, and the Small Claims Court division is handling the mediation. Did Small Claims Court handle your mediation as well? I don't think my meeting is the same thing as what I See You is talking about. My letter did mention the word mediation in it along with check resolution. None of the steps that the check resolution program that I See You found was followed - every correspondence I received from CheckSmart was not sent to me by certified mail, and the letter I received from the Small Claims Court was not ceritified. CheckSmart correspondence and Small Claims Court letter was sent to me via regular mail

Ryan N, did your letter say the following on it: Small Claims Court / Check Resolution Services?

And did your letter also say: CheckSmart is seeking payment for a loan they gave to you?

Thanks!


Misty

For anyone that's interested, I found more info about check resolution services, and the Columbus Bar Association of Franklin County, OH has a link about Franklin County Municipal Court's new program called Check and Credit Resolution Service aka CARS. The service was created specifically for payday loans that go into default, as well as other loans and some checks that go into default. Here is the link to read more info about it:

http://www.cbalaw.org/news/index.php?y=2007&i=354



What I'm relieved about is it's a service made specifically for payday loans that go into default. This helps me breathe easier about my own upcoming mediation meeting, since CARS is listed in my letter from Small Claims Court.


Misty

That is great information and thanks for sharing that. But I have one question: if you are with a program like T and C and they are sending payments to Checksmart which are being cashed by them, isn't that proof that they have accepted your arrangement? If they hadn't cashed them that would be one thing, but everything I have ever been told about a program says that if the creditor is cashing the checks that are being sent, that shows that they have accepted the arrangement.

T&C has copies of the checks they sent to CheckSmart for repayment, but CheckSmart has not cashed any of them. CheckSmart told T&C yesterday that they have already sent the checks back to T&C, but T&C says they have not received any of the checks back, and they think CheckSmart is just holding on to the checks without cashing them. ***Shrugs*** I'm not sure what's going on, but I guess I'll find out when I meet with CheckSmart soon. T&C will be sending me copies of the check payments and other documentation showing that I am trying to repay my loan. Hopefully, that will be helpful for me at mediation.


Misty

Holding on to the checks without cashing them is stupid. What are they trying to prove by doing that? They can't say they haven't been getting paid because the proof is right there. Not cashing the checks is their problem, not yours. Good luck, and I hope they get the book thrown at them!

I am sorry for the delay in getting back to you, some reason I never saw a new message for this subject. My letter came from the small claims court and said the same as yours. Nothing came certified to my home from the courts either. This was done at the small claims court division on the 16th floor, I believe. This was a breeze but I am not sure how it will go if you are unable to accept their demand for more money. At the time T&C was only sending 12 dollars a month and now they are sending 60-something to them. Checksmart never cashed a check from T&C but T&C never received any back from them also. I also had a loan out from Express Payroll and the corporate office allowed combining both of them. I know when you go in there, Checksmart will want enough of a payment to pay this back within 4 months but I was able to talk them into 6 months.

Ryan_N, were you able to get back the checks that T&C sent to CheckSmart? Did CheckSmart return the checks to you since they held on to them? T&C has told me that CheckSmart is holding on to the checks T&C sent to them on behalf of me, and I'm hoping I can get the checks back and send them back to T&C if CheckSmart is not going to apply them to my loan.

Thanks!


Misty

When I was done with the mediation hearing, I asked checksmart will you apply those checks to my balance. The guy said no, we would of sent them back. So I called T&C and they said they never recieved the checks. I asked if T&C goes through check and see what has cleared or not and they said yes. I have to call them on Monday so I may ask T&C about their offical policy on checks, if they see if they clear and what not.

hey ryan, what happened with this above situation? Did they ever cash them or explain why they wouldn't?

When I went to mediation their rep told me they should of sent back the checks. T&C said they never received any checks back. I'm sure before mediation Checksmart did not cash them since cashing them may make them agreeable to that repayment amount then. I know before I went to mediation I asked T&C if the checks cleared. T&C called their bank and the checks did not clear before mediation. After mediation I asked T&C if they ever recieved checks and they said no.