This happened to me. Met a buyer she paid with a check. I called her bank to verify funds were in the account prior to me giving her the bag they were. I cashed the check it came back NSF. I then took her to small claims court without an attorney. (I went to the free legal advice and they helped me fill out all the paperwork.) It cost very little to file, maybe $60. I had the sheriffs office serve her the papers. She didn't show up in court, I got a default judgment. In California you can sue for three times the cost of the check plus the service fee your bank charged you. Her check was for $800. I sued for $2435. The court allows them 45 days to pay the judgment, she didn't pay. I used a skip tracer to find out her place of employment, assets, etc. I then did a wage garnishment using my default judgment and was paid every month directly from her employer. She lost her job when she owed me about $300 more. I decided not to pursue it further for the $300. Its a lot of leg work but well worth it. My small claims court required me to send a certified letter giving them 14 days to give me the money and then after the fourteen days I was able to file in court. Make sure you save all paperwork, emails, certified receipts, notice of service, etc. Hope this helps.
