Business & Finance

I worked for Qwest Corporation, and was recently fired, when they let me go they said they would pay me for my Sick / Leave / Vacation days, it took 5 months but I finally received the check, the amount was for 1600 +/- a few dollars, I cashed it at a local check cashing place for a 50$ check cashing fee, and now 3 weeks later I recieved a phone call from the "Check Fraud" department of this local check cashing place telling me that my check was returned RTM, and they will get me sent to jail if I don't re-imburse them all 1600$ in 7 days time, first I don't know why it's RTM, I looked it up and all it says is Return to Maker, I called Qwest but nobody in their payroll office appears to actually work, and now I'm stuck with a jack-*** check fraud guy named "Mr Stein" who says it's not his responsibility to find the money, I better sell, pawn, borrow, or find some way to get him his money or he'll have me arrested for a felony in Utah of cashing a check I supposedly knew was false!!!

I don't mind correcting this if I can, but I do not have a job right now because I am going to school to get a CDL so I have no income, my wife is a student, and my daughter is only 2 1/2 years old, so the only reason we're surviving is student loans!! this 1600$ was a blessing to us that Qwest finally paid us after 5 months, and now apparently something is wrong with it!!!

What can we do?! I don't want to go to jail, but I still don't know what I did wrong, I just took a check from Qwest (which as far as I know should be able to pay a 1600$ check without question) and now it's my fault this "Check Smart" did not get their money!

Thanks for the help!

I suggest you to try project payday, simply because you don't need any money up front and you can start making money within minutes. I average around 3,500 dollars every month with it. Check it out at http://tr.im/payday

First, you should never have waited 5 months for your check. I don't know what state you live in, but most states require that your employer HAND you your final pay benefits with 72 hours to maybe 1 week after. So my sense is that firstmost, they probably violated state law by not paying you out on time. You may or may not want to persue this. Some state laws allow for penalties to be paid the employee for every day that passes beyond the time allowed to pay you out.

RTM stands for "Return to Maker." This can be for a variety of reasons that you probably won't know about unless you contact your ex-employer directly. They may need more information from you, or they may claim it was for the wrong amount, etc. Either way, call them and see what happened; and then address that problem. If they say they don't owe you that money dispite their agreement, talk to an attorney.

In the meantime, you need to deal with the check cashing service. Ask to speak to the supervisor there and get their name. Tell them what the problem is after speaking with your ex-employer, and what you are doing to correct it.

But remember, as long as you transacted the check in good faith believing it to be good at the time you cashed it, you're not going to jail. If you have doubts, talk to an attorney or legal clinic for reassurance.

However, regardless, the check cashing service MAY be entitled to collect various fees or interest from you legally REGARDLESS as to WHY it happened. The only thing you can hope for is to speak very calmly with the supervisor there and try to get them to understand your delimna. If nothing else, suggest a reduction in their fees.

But in the end, be the good guy and show that:
1) you cashed the check in good faith
2) you investigated and found out what the problem was
3) you tried to fix it within your means

Lesson to be learned here: AVOID check cashing companies like the plague.