Below are questions and answers commonly received regarding merchants and citizens who have received bad checks.
Question: I have received a check as payment, and the check has been returned as "Non-Sufficient Funds." I have heard this is a crime. What should I do to get a warrant?
Answer: Yes, it is a crime to pay for a service or product utilizing a check that a person knows cannot be cashed due to insufficient funds or on an account that has been closed. However, the Code of Virginia requires the recipient of the check to take specific actions before a person can be convicted of the offense.
- You need to mail a certified or registered letter to the person who wrote the check to you. Sending it to the address on the check or the last known address of the person who wrote it meets this requirement. The letter should tell the person they have ten days from receipt of the letter to make the check good before you attempt to bring charges against him/her.
- Make sure you make a copy of the letter.
- Ensure you keep the receipt of the registered or certified letter and bring it with you to court.
- Bring the check with you to court as well (along with the person who took the check and can identify the defendant)
Question: What happens if the person doesn't make payment before I go to the Magistrate and swear out a warrant, but later wants to make payment; am I permitted to accept the money even though the warrant has been issued?
Answer: Yes, you may accept the payment. However, the case will still come to court. It is requested that you not give the check back to the person as this is necessary evidence needed in a prosecution if the Commonwealth's Attorney deems it appropriate to prosecute the case. Make sure you issue the Defendant a receipt for the payment.
Question: I recently had a customer write me a bad check for $300.00. When I informed him his check had been returned for non-sufficient funds, he agreed to pay me in three monthly installments of $100.00 per month. He paid the first two months, but it has been five months, and he hasn't made the final payment. Am I permitted to take a warrant out for the $300.00 bad check?
Answer: In a word, No. Once you have accepted partial payment on a bad check, it becomes a civil matter and no longer qualifies as a criminal charge. You are certainly permitted to sue for the balance of the debt owed.
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