Bad Check Laws In Hawaii

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Hawaii, like other states in the Union, has state laws specifically addressing the actions of people who write bad checks within the island's territory. Bad checks aren’t just a problem for the vendor who mistakenly takes one for payment. They also put the integrity of the check system at risk. If people and businesses can’t trust checks, the system begins to fail for law-abiding bank customers. As a result, Hawaii's laws are fairly punitive when someone gets caught intentionally bouncing a check.


State laws come in two types to deal with bad checks in Hawaii: civil and criminal. The civil approach tries to make it financially painful for someone to pass a bad check, charging the amount of the check plus three times the value until it reaches $500. On the criminal side, a bad check conviction can get a guilty party a misdemeanor record as well as a $1,000 penalty. Between the two, the cost involved can begin to add up.

Hawaii law was written in such a way to allow for mistakes and giving parties a chance to come clean. Vendors and parties stuck with a bad check are required to allow parties 10 days to pay up before a prosecution begins and charges get filed. Parties taking checks also need to make sure they don’t get upset about a post-dated check either. Just because the date hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean the check is bad.

Businesses and accepting parties should make every effort to get as much identification as possible to make it easier to find a party should a check end up bad. This makes it a much more simple project to track down the party and resolve the problem or prosecute. Good identification data includes the person's full name, street address, driver's license number, or even a social security number if possible.

Below are the civil and criminal penalties for writing a bad check in Hawaii as defined in the Hawaii Revised Statute § 708-857 : Hawaii Statutes - Section 708-857: Negotiating a worthless negotiable instrument. This information can also be found at http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/histatutes/5/37/708/VI/708-857.

If you fail to make good within ten days after actual receipt of a notice of the dishonored or bounced check the following cations can then be taken against you:

Civil Penalties: Amount due, costs of suit, protest fees.

Criminal Penalties: Up to one year in jail or $1,000 fine or both.

Negotiating a worthless negotiable instrument in Hawaii is a misdemeanor. [L 1972, c 9, pt of §1; am L 1993, c 33, §2]



For more information on bad check laws and for criminal and civil penalties in other states for writing bad checks, please read Bad Check Laws

Check with your state statutes for the most current information on the State of Hawaii bad check laws.

You may want to also read Getting A Checking Account While On The Chex System

Learn how to Prevent Overdraft And Bounced Check Fees

Although all information has been written in good faith and has been reviewed, please email us at [email protected] to report any inaccuracies.