Released: May 07, 2006

Check bounced? Be scared

Source: By Michelle Singletary, Syndicated Columnist [Washington Post]

Lois Artz of Petaluma, CA, is a 70-year-old retired bank employee who wrote a bad check. Artz said she intended to deposit another check to cover the $28 check that bounced, but she forgot.

Simona Pickett, a 35-year-old federal government worker who lives in Middle River, MD, also bounced a check. Pickett wrote a $21.66 check to a local supermarket. That check was returned for insufficient funds.

No question these two women were wrong. You should never write a check when you do not have the funds in your checking account. Certainly Artz, the former bank employee, should have known better.

For their errors, both consumers were referred to a check-restitution program operated by prosecutors in their local areas. They were sent letters telling them they owed fees several times the amount of the bounced check. They were informed they would have to take a class intended to teach them financial responsibility. And they were told that if they didn’t pay up and go to class, they would be prosecuted.

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