If you are in Ontario, there are very, very, very few independant Notaries. Notaries in Ontario are pretty much only lawyers, unlike some other Provinces.
If your customer is in the US, a letter from a notary wont mean anything as anyone with a clear record can become a notary for about $10 (I was one in Georgia as an example).
For that matter, for a habitual fraud artist or someone bouncing cheques anll over the place, a letter from a lawyer will mean absolutely nothing.
Writing an NSF cheque in Canada is not a crimincal offense and is of no conseqeunce to the Attroney General. It is a civil matter between 2 parties.
This is different from US law which treat the writing of a cheque where funds are not available, as a criminal offence for fraud. In Canada, a cheque is treated simply as a Promissory Note.
Sending the cheque out on collection by way of your bank through the customer's bank as suggested by Michael is an excellent suggestion and the best way to proceed.
You should give your bank instructions to put the cheque out for 30-day collection (typically they will put it out for a 10-day collection only).
Small claims court will do you very little in terms of actually collecting the money and will cost you about $75 to file, plus your time, parking etc etc etc..
What you will end up from going the Small Claims route is a judgement against the buyer which you can use to attach to his assets or income but you will still have to find the person, where they live, bank and work.
In all likelyhodd, you will get default jusgement as the person will not attend Small Claims Court to defend the action. So no money, just a piece of paper confirming that you were ripped off and the other person didnt defend the action and you are out of pocket at least another $75.00.
I can also tell you that I started a Small Claims action over a year ago and my trial date has been set for Spetember 17th, almost a full 18 months from when I filed to get my day in court.
You can also turn your NSF cheque over to a commercial collection agency. They will likely charge you 50% of what they collect but they will be more aggressive than you will be and better at finding where your customer resides, banks and works.
50% of something is better than 100% of nothing.
I would try sending the cheque out on collection first and then consider the collection agency. Remember, if the collection agency doesnt collect anything, you pay them nothing and you can always turn the cheque over to a 2nd collection agency.
Just haveing a series of collection agencies going after him may be a way of getting it paid or getting some personal satisfaction that he is not being allowed to enjoy what he got from you without paying some sort of a price,in this case harrassment from collection agencies.
Malcolm
