Law-Forums.org

[hampton83]

Awhile back I wrote a bad check to a credit agency for 80 dollars it was my first time writting a bad check.and it was an accident. I wrote it from a closed account because I grabbed a check from my old account. Anyways I resolved it. They never pressed charges. The only reason I even new that I wrote a bad check was because I got a letter in the mail saying that if my balance wasnt paid in full by a certain date then they would take me to small claims court but it said noyhing about a bad check. I called them because I was confused since I thought I sent them 80 dollars then they explained the check was bad and I resolved it. I asked if it would affect my criminak record and they said no because it wasnt criminal so my questions are why was that not crminal? I thought writting a check from a closed account was a felony? And two, if they had pressed charges would the police been in touch with me by phone, mail, and/or in person? Sry for the long question but im very nervous about this. I live in massachusetts if that helps

[muata2]

...it becomes a "non-issue" because the company (you) wrote the bad-check to, did NOT take out a complaint against you for 'Larceny by Check'... for it to have become a (crime) in Massachusetts, "they" would have had to gone to the Clerk of the District Court and taken out a complaint against you.
(Obviously, "they" didn't)...It's NOT a Felony unless the value of the check is over $100.00. The Police won't be involved in a misdemeanor (not committed in their presence)... All the Police will do is serve you with a Summons...(if) the Company had sworn our a complaint against you...

[max]

1) in theory writing a bad check is illegal but since it was a genuine accident they didn't press charges and you'd get away with it even if they did. 2) the police would generally contact you in person but if they decided to take you to court you'd get a letter through the post called a writ that tells you when and where to be there.

if they're not pressing charges don't worry about it

[adin55]

Two answers should give us 4 points, not 2.

[rickie]

I don't know what the levels are in MA but it generally depends on the amount of the check. $80 here would make is a gross misdemeanor.

It is entirely up to the victim (the credit agency) to report it as a crime or not. It appears they choose to handle the incident as a civil matter and not as a criminal matter, so I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Normally business won't go the criminal route unless you can't pay beacause its a big hassle for them and court order restitution is a difficult to obtain.

The courts and police have a motto "no victim, no crime". And its appears the credit agency isn't interested in making a criminal report as a victim.

[varik]

It would be a crime if they pressed charges. But since you immediately fixed the issue when you where contacted and claimed it was an accident they decided not to press charges. How long ago was this? If they pressed charges you would be notified almost immediately.

On that note pressing charges takes time and since you already resolved the issue it is unlikely that you would get more then a warning if they were to press charges. Its not like this was a large sum of money. If you hadn't paid it off then pressing charges would make sense.