[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Again, I disagree. The check is not valid because it was issued to the contractor under false pretenses, and it had a stop payment order on it. The check store does have a "dog in the hunt" because they charged the contractor a fee to cash a third party check and they didn't verify the stop payment order. Cashing third party checks is risky, which is why many people won't do it. When you cash checks, you should know who you are cashing them for. The check store could have also verified the check by contacting the OP. When I built a house, I often received calls from banks to verify that I had actually written a check to a construction worker.

Seems to me that the stop payment order was made after the check was cashed at the "check casing place"...