- 1). Immediately contact the person who wrote or sponsored the check. Ask them to cover the money for the bounced check. A simple mistake may have been made. If this is the case, this may be all you have to do. If this is not the case, other steps will have to be taken.
- 2). Contact your respective state's Attorney General's office or go to their website to find out the specifics of the bad check law in your state. You must do this as bad check laws vary from state to state.
- 3). Compose a letter requesting that all monies be paid back in the form of a money order or certified check and send it to the check writer. Within the letter, you can also request that all fees imposed from your bank be paid back as well, as this is not your responsibility. Depending on the state, the check writer must either respond in the time span of 10 or 30 days.
- 4). File a claim with your local small claims court and follow the court clerk's instructions regarding the case. Remember to bring documents such as the original bounced check, the original certified letter you composed and sent to the check writer, bank statements and documents, plus any responses from the check writer. In some states, it is possible to sue a check writer for up to three times the amount of the bounced check.
- 5). Go to court on the date given. The check writer will be summoned to court as well. If you choose, bring a lawyer to represent you in court. Let your evidence (documents, records) be presented to the judge and await a final judgment. If the check writer does not show up to court, they will automatically forfeit the case and a judgment will be exercised against them.
- 6). Return to court, in the case that the person does not pay even after the judgment, and request a wage garnishment or property lien against the check writer until the judgment amount is paid in full. Judgments are usually in place for 10 years.
- 7). Find out if your local jurisdiction has a check recovery unit. Check recovery units go after those who owe judgments. This relieves the pressure already on the victim. If the check writer does not cooperate, they can be arrested.
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