Is writing a bad check a felony?

Texas

Texas: issuing a bad check is a Class C misdemeanor, or a Class B misdemeanor if the check was for a court-ordered child support payment.¹

Knowledge that the account lacked funds is presumed if the writer had no account, or if the bank refused the check for lack of funds within 30 days and the writer did not pay in full within 10 days after notice.

Florida

Florida: writing a worthless check is a first-degree misdemeanor, and a third-degree felony if the check is for $150 or more and the payee or a later holder receives something of value for it.²

Obtaining goods or services with a worthless check is a first-degree misdemeanor under $150 and a third-degree felony at $150 or more. Using a debit card knowing there is not enough money is covered too.

California

California: writing a check with intent to defraud, knowing the account lacks funds, is punishable by up to one year in county jail or by a felony jail sentence under Penal Code section 1170(h), so it can be charged either way. If the checks charged total $950 or less, it is punishable only by county jail up to one year.^3,4,5,6

The $950 rule does not apply to a person with three or more earlier California convictions for forgery-related crimes, bad checks or related petty theft, or with certain earlier out-of-state or federal convictions for similar crimes. Even under $950, a person with a prior conviction for one of the very serious crimes listed in Penal Code section 667(e)(2)(C)(iv), such as murder or a sexually violent offense, or for an offense that requires registration under California's sex offender law (section 290(c)), may face a felony jail sentence.

New York

New York: issuing a bad check is a class B misdemeanor. The larceny law also counts issuing a bad check as a way to commit larceny, which can be graded by the value of the property.^7,8,9,10

Larceny of property worth more than $1,000 is grand larceny in the fourth degree, a class E felony.

Illinois

Illinois: issuing a bad check to get property, labor or services is a deceptive practice and a Class A misdemeanor. It is a Class 4 felony if the property obtained exceeds $150 within 90 days, or on a second or later offense.¹¹

A judge or jury may infer knowledge and intent to defraud when the account lacks funds at issue, or when the check is dishonored on each of 2 occasions at least 7 days apart. A writer who does not pay within 30 days after a certified-mail demand can also face a civil claim for three times the check amount, from $100 to $1,500, plus attorney's fees and court costs.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania: a bad check under $200 is a summary offense. It is a third-degree misdemeanor from $200 to under $500, a second-degree misdemeanor from $500 to under $1,000, a first-degree misdemeanor from $1,000 to under $75,000, and a third-degree felony at $75,000 or more.¹²

A third or later offense within five years is a first-degree misdemeanor whatever the amount, unless the check is $75,000 or more. A conviction carries an order to repay the face amount, interest and sometimes a service charge.

Ohio

Ohio: passing bad checks is a first-degree misdemeanor. It is a fifth-degree felony at $1,000 up to $7,500 to one payee, a fourth-degree felony at $7,500 up to $150,000 and a third-degree felony at $150,000 or more.¹³

For several payees, the fifth-degree felony starts at $1,500. A court may add up all checks issued within 180 consecutive days, and the law covers debit card and electronic check transactions.

North Carolina

North Carolina: a worthless check of $2,000 or less is a Class 3 misdemeanor, and a check over $2,000 is a Class I felony.¹⁴

It is a Class 1 misdemeanor if the account does not exist or was closed. The law also covers presenting a check that was already presented for payment.

18 U.S.C. § 1344

A check scheme can become a federal crime if it is part of a scheme to defraud a financial institution, or to get its money or property by false pretenses. Federal bank fraud, 18 U.S.C. section 1344, carries up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000.¹⁵

The law covers a person who knowingly executes, or attempts to execute, the scheme.

Under 12 U.S.C. § 1829, a person convicted of a criminal offense involving dishonesty, breach of trust or money laundering may not work at, own or control, or otherwise take part in the affairs of an FDIC-insured bank without the FDIC's prior written consent. FDIC rules exempt bad-check convictions or diversion entries when the checks across all of them total $2,000 or less in face value, no bank or credit union was a payee, and the person has no more than one other de minimis offense.^16,17,18

Whether a bad-check conviction counts at all is decided from the offense's statutory elements or court rulings on them. FDIC rules also leave out of the dishonesty category a misdemeanor committed more than one year before the person files a consent application, not counting time spent incarcerated. The statute caps any FDIC bad-check exemption at $2,000 in total face value.

The bank ban in 12 U.S.C. § 1829 does not apply once 7 years have passed since the offense, or 5 years since release if the person was incarcerated for it. For an offense committed at age 21 or younger, it stops applying once more than 30 months have passed since sentencing.^16,17,19

It also does not apply to a conviction covered by an expungement, sealing or dismissal order meant to destroy or seal it from the person's record. A pardoned conviction still needs FDIC consent. The time limits do not apply to certain listed federal offenses, including bank fraud (18 U.S.C. 1344). For those, the FDIC may not consent for 10 years after the conviction becomes final, though the sentencing court may grant an exception on the FDIC's motion.

Writing a bad check, also called issuing a worthless check, generally means giving someone a check while knowing the account does not have enough money to pay it. Prosecutors have to show you knew, and in many states that you meant to defraud.^1,2,7,12,20

Texas covers a person who knows the account lacks the money to pay the check in full, along with all other outstanding checks. New York requires that the writer know the funds are lacking, intend or believe the bank will refuse the check, and that the bank does refuse it. Virginia requires intent to defraud. Florida's main law does not apply when the payee knew or was told the account lacked funds, or to a postdated check.

A bad check differs from other check crimes, which have their own laws. Florida separately punishes stopping payment on a check with intent to defraud and cashing or depositing an item with intent to defraud, and Illinois separately covers possessing stolen or fraudulently obtained checks.^2,11,21

In Florida, stopping payment with intent to defraud is a third-degree felony if goods or services worth $150 or more were obtained, and cashing or depositing an item with intent to defraud is a third-degree felony. In Illinois, possessing such checks is a Class 4 felony when it involves 3 or more checks of different account holders within 12 months.

Writing a bad check is usually a misdemeanor at lower amounts. Texas makes it a Class C misdemeanor, New York a class B misdemeanor, Illinois a Class A misdemeanor, Florida a first-degree misdemeanor, North Carolina a Class 3 misdemeanor at $2,000 or less and Virginia a Class 1 misdemeanor under $1,000.^{1,2,3,7,11,12,13,14,20}

Ohio makes it a first-degree misdemeanor below $1,000 to a single payee. Pennsylvania grades it from a summary offense under $200 to a first-degree misdemeanor below $75,000. In California, if the checks charged total $950 or less, the offense is punishable only by up to one year in county jail, with exceptions for certain prior convictions.

Larger checks can be felonies. The lines in our examples are $1,000 or more in Virginia, over $2,000 in North Carolina, $150 or more in Florida when the payee gives something of value for the check, and $75,000 or more in Pennsylvania.^{1,2,3,11,12,13,14,20}

Ohio makes it a fifth-degree felony at $1,000 or more to a single payee, or $1,500 or more to several payees, and Illinois makes it a Class 4 felony when the property obtained exceeds $150 within 90 days. In California it is punishable by up to one year in county jail or a felony jail sentence under Penal Code section 1170(h). Texas's bad-check section sets no felony level and says it is not a lesser included offense of theft.

Repeat offenses can raise the penalty. Illinois makes a second or later bad-check deceptive practice a Class 4 felony, and California's $950 misdemeanor-only rule does not apply to a person with three or more earlier convictions for forgery-related crimes, bad checks or related petty theft, or with certain earlier out-of-state or federal convictions for similar crimes.^3,11,12,14

Pennsylvania makes a third or later offense within five years a first-degree misdemeanor, or a third-degree felony if that check is $75,000 or more. In North Carolina, a fourth or later conviction is punished as a Class 1 misdemeanor and the court must order the person, as a condition of probation, to avoid keeping a checking account or writing a check for three years.

In some states a bad check is treated as theft, so the value of what was obtained can decide the grade. Virginia calls it larceny, and New York's larceny law lists issuing a bad check as one way to commit larceny.^8,9,10,20

In Virginia, a check with a represented value of $1,000 or more is a Class 6 felony and a smaller one a Class 1 misdemeanor. In New York, larceny of property worth more than $1,000 is grand larceny in the fourth degree, a class E felony, and petit larceny is a class A misdemeanor.

Some states set a window to pay after notice, but in most of the states we read it only affects how intent is proved. In Texas, Pennsylvania and Ohio, a writer is presumed to have known the check would bounce if the bank refused it for lack of funds and the writer did not make it good within 10 days after notice. Florida's window is 15 days after written notice and Virginia's is 5 days.^{1,2,12,13,22,23}

Paying within the window removes the presumption, not the possibility of charges. Texas says prosecutors can still prove knowledge with direct evidence, and Florida's law says paying a bounced check is not a defense or a reason to dismiss. Texas, Pennsylvania and Ohio apply the presumption only when the bank refused the check within 30 days after it was issued. In all five states, a check on an account that did not exist raises the presumption without waiting for notice.

Paying the money back does not always end the case. In Florida, payment of a dishonored check is not a defense or a ground for dismissal. In New York, paying the full amount within ten days after the bank refuses the check is an affirmative defense.^1,2,11,12,24

In Illinois, for a check over $150 given on a credit transaction, the offense requires failing to put funds in the account within 7 days after actual notice that the check was dishonored. A person charged in Texas may make restitution, and a Pennsylvania sentence must include repaying the face amount plus interest.