Writing Bad Checks – What is the Penalty?
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Summary
Writing bad checks is against the law, but it happens to the best of us, and what the legal outcome will be depends on a variety of factors. |
Bounced checks happen to most people from time to time, especially in an era of constant ATM withdrawals and paying for purchases with debit cards which deduct money directly from your checking account. In most cases, if you accidentally bounce a check, and contact the payee as soon as you realize the error, they will allow you to pay them the value of the bounced check, along with any service charges which they may have incurred as a result of your check being returned.
But what happens if it goes beyond that? What if the payee actually initiates legal action? A reader wonders this when they write “I have to go to court on a Passing Bad Check charge soon. What will happen? Will I be able to make restitution or will I be jailed?”
Unfortunately, it’s really difficult to predict what will happen, as it depends on so many variables, including the state in which the event occured, and what events lead up to the filing of legal charges. Passing bad checks is a crime, but for the individual, with the occasional bounced check, it rarely rises to that level.
Under ordinary circumstances, if the bad check passing charge is a first offense, and the defendant was not trying to avoid paying the check, and the check bounced due to an honest mistake or circumstances beyond their control, it is likely that they will be allowed to make restitution – maybe even make payments – as well as being ordered to pay all of the plaintiff’s (the payee’s) legal fees and costs.
However, if this is not a first offense, or if the bad check was written intentionally, knowing that it would not clear, then probation or even some time as a guest of the state may be in their future.
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Anne P. Mitchell, Esq. is a noted family law expert, Internet law expert, and Professor of Law at Lincoln Law School of San Jose. Contact This Author
State laws vary, and the above is intended as general advice, and not direct legal advice regarding any one particular situation in any one state. For direct personal legal advice related to your own situation you should consult an attorney familiar with the laws of your state and with your situation.
