North Carolina Penalties for Writing a Bad Check

North Carolina sends people to jail who intentionally write bad checks.check in macro image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com

Write a bad check. Go to jail. Or not, depending on how much you really knew when you wrote it. Writing a bad check means you didn't have enough in the account to cover it. It may or may not lead to the criminal justice system. North Carolina has specific conditions that control whether it's a minor annoyance or a trip before the judge.

North Carolina Special Costs

Whether the bad check is settled in civil or criminal court, there will be costs for the bad check if you refuse to make it good within 30 days. The person who received the bad check will get three times the value of the check, but not more than $500 or less than $100. You may also have to pay court costs and attorney's fees. These costs can be reduced or eliminated, if you can prove economic hardship.

In North Carolina, charges for a bad check range from a Class 1 misdemeanor with a jail stay of 12 months and a $2,500 fine, to a Class 6 felony with a jail term of five years with the same $2,500 fine. If the check was written for less than $200, it's a misdemeanor. If it's for more than $200, it's a felony. These are sentencing guidelines only. The judge can depart from them dramatically.

You can reduce the pain to a bad-check charge from the bank, if you can cover the check. The bank will send a registered letter notifying you of the failure of the check. You have five days to cover it. As a practical matter, it is unlikely that the penalty will involve a mug shot. The prosecution has to prove that you knew the check was going to bounce when you wrote it; establishing that proof is difficult. There must be incontrovertible evidence such as the closure of the account by the defendant before the check was written, or a confession.