On Tue, 15 Aug 2000 Philip.Belben_at_pgen.com wrote:
> English law makes a distinction between the civil offence "Innocent
> misrepresentation" - the seller genuinely did not intend to sell you a
> dud - and the criminal offence "Fraudulent misrepresentation" - the
> seller actually intended to defraud you. (A lot of English law
> depends on intent - very hard to prove, but...)
These matters are pretty black & white in the U.S. Either it's fraud or
not, and if so, we execute you :)
Seriously though, you make a reasonable point.
> I suggest you find out what the American equivalent of innocent
> misrepresentation is called, and accuse him of that - privately first,
> and then backed by lawyers and the courts. Again, in the UK a matter
> of $200 (plus costs of course) would be the province of the Small
> Claims Court, but I don't know how it works in the US.
It may very well be that if he does report this to the District Attorney
that the D.A. will simply refer him to the Small Claims court (I think the
maximum claim heard in Small Claims in the U.S. is $5,000?) However, I
think the US Post Office might be more inclined to investigate it.
However, I think what's more important here is the threat of taking these
actions. The seller will hopefully realize that Jim genuinely feels he's
been defrauded/misrepresented and might volunteer to repay the money
rather than go through all the hassle.
What would help, Jim, is if you do your research with regards to the law
in advance of talking to the seller again. Maybe call the D.A. and see
what they say about the incident. Or call the PO if the D.A. does not
have jurisdiction and see what they say. Armed with this knowledge, you
can very precisely explain to the seller what will happen if he refuses to
refund your money.
Sellam International Man of Intrigue and Danger
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Received on Tue Aug 15 2000 - 10:56:46 BST