Imperial Merchant Services, Inc. v. Hunt

Opinion

CHIN, J.

Civil Code section 17191 permits a payee seeking to recover on a dishonored check to collect a service charge, or treble the amount of the dishonored check if certain statutory requirements are met. Section 3287 governs the award of prejudgment interest on damages. We granted a request by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.548) to decide a question of California law: whether a debt collector recovering on a dishonored check may recover both a service charge under section 1719 and prejudgment interest under section 3287.

We…