This is not the end of the story.
When the project was completed and approved, the bank officer issued me the final draw at closing. The architect wrote my company a check for the agreed amount. To close out the project, the bank had me sign a document that all monies had been paid to the general contractor and that any and all subcontractor and supplier invoices outstanding were my sole responsibility and that the bank and owner would be held harmless for them. No problem.
While walking to our respective vehicles, the architect pulled me aside and asked me not to cash the check for two weeks so that he could properly fund his checking account. Incredulous, I stammered, “You just wrote me a rubber check? Didn’t you just get a substantial check from the owner for your design services?” He responded that he was having some financial issues and that if I delayed depositing the check he’d written me, it would give him some breathing room.
I got in my truck, drove directly to my bank, and deposited the check. When I called my attorney, he assured me I had done the right thing. (Here is where I learned my next lesson: Have a clear, tight contract. With my attorney’s help, I modified my construction contract to clarify, define, and eliminate change order responsibility issues.)
The check bounced. It was deposited and redeposited several times over the next several weeks, with the architect promising each time that there would be adequate funds present to cover the check. After three or four months of wrangling among my attorney, the architect, the bank (mine and his), and the county law authorities, I had all but given up on ever receiving payment. The architect had moved out of state and left a bread line of creditors.
Then a glimmer of hope. I was at a community service event and ran into several friends, including the local chief of police who asked me about the check. I said it was over and done with, but the chief wanted to know more. “I’m going to have one of my detectives contact you,” he said.
A few days after I provided the detective with all of the information in my file, including a photocopy of the check, he contacted me. “We’ve entered the information into the national felony crime computer system. Let’s see if this rubber check will bounce right back into this architect’s lap.”
Several weeks later, the architect was pulled over for a traffic citation in another state. The police routinely ran his information through the crime database, and his name popped up on the “wanted” list. He was arrested. The authorities contacted my local police department, who in turn contacted my attorney about the felony check charge. The architect would be held in jail, without bond, until the matter was either dismissed or resolved. And so the architect agreed to make payments, with interest, to me through my attorney, until all money had been paid. It took 18 months of payments, but the detective was right. That rubber check did bounce back!
Dennis A. Dixon is an author, contractor, and speaker with more than 20 years of experience in the building industry. He can be reached at dixven@aol.com.
