As holiday shopping picks up there is a warning to check writers both good and bad: make sure you can pay before you tear that paper out of your ledger.
The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office is empowering those on the receiving end of an insufficient- funds transaction with the Bad Check Restitution Program.
The program is carried out by a separate company free of taxpayers? expense. In its eight years, it has recovered $1.8 million in Oakland County. Bad checks written anywhere in the county, both to businesses and individuals can be turned over to the program.
The cheated party would need to file first a statutory certified notice to the alleged fraudulent party, an example is available at the program’s Web site at, and allow five days for the check to be repaid.
If repayment is not made, the plaintiff can file a bad check crime report, also available at the Web site for download, and file with the prosecutor’s office.
When the money is recovered, the face value of the check will be issued to the victim. The guilty party is then forced to attend an educational class at their own expense.
Bad checks eligible for prosecution cannot exceed $1,000 because those fall into criminal proceedings.
‘It’s a big eye-opener,? said Community Relations Representative for the prosecutor’s office, Diane Sloan.
‘If they had paid in full in the first place, they wouldn’t have had to pay so much in the long run.?
The program is not only helpful to the defrauded party, but to the criminal justice system.
‘Most police departments really support the program,? Sloan said.
Because the program takes these cases off their desks and out of the courts, the bad check restitution program is a ‘diversion? system.
Sloan visited members of the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce during a recent luncheon to address the program.
Penny Shanks, executive director of the chamber, said the presentation was good because the chamber has several new members.
‘People at the luncheon loved it,? she said.
‘We have so many new members, many of them had not heard of the program.
Many members remained at the event after it had wrapped up, to discuss the program with Sloan. Such a quick response is not typical, Shanks said.
‘We had several people stop and tell us it was a great program,? she said.
Shanks credits the vision of leaders from the county in developing programs such as this and the Wireless Oakland project.
For more information, visit http://www.checkprogram.com/oaklandcountymi or contact the prosecutor’s office at (800) 225-7133.