Writing a bad check is a crime.
Merchants who accept personal checks run the risk of being defrauded, even if unintentionally, by customers who lack the funds to cover the check. All states have adopted statutes to help merchants recover the money represented by the bad check and to punish consumers who fail to honor bad checks. Hawaii has enacted a "bad check" statute at section 708-857 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes. However, portions of the Uniform Commercial Code are also relevant, such as Hawaii Revised Statutes section 490: 3-103 through 3-306 and section 490: 3-501 through 3-506.
Civil and Criminal
Writing a bad check can result in civil action against the writer of the bad check or criminal charges if the writing party fails to honor the check. Damages can be equal to $100 or triple the amount of the check up to $500. Writing a bad check also can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor with a penalty of up to one year in jail and or a $1,000 fine.
Procedure
The Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney recommends that if you receive a bad check, you should make contact with the check writer and allow him 10 days to honor the check. If the check writer remains unresponsive, a victim could contact the Honolulu Bad Check Restitution Program either via their hotline at 1-800-842-0698 or download the Bad Check Complaint form at their website.
Suggestions
Several steps can be followed to ensure that accepted checks are valid and can be prosecuted in criminal court. For example, always make sure the check has the current date on it. Post-dated checks cannot be the basis of criminal prosecution in Hawaii. Get a complete street address and phone number from the check writer. Make sure the digits for the amount of the check match the written amount and make sure the signature matches a signature on identification.
Tags: check writer, Writing check, amount check, Hawaii Revised, Hawaii Revised Statutes, honor check, make sure