Bad Check Laws In Virginia

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In these unstable economic times, businesses and individuals are finding it harder and harder to acquire credit and maintain a quality credit rating. When faced with monetary challenges, debtors sometimes depend upon future payments, profits, invoices or salary to meet their financial obligations. This practice often results in a cycle of nonpayment, late payments and checking accounts with insufficient funds.


Financial hardship has become more of a reality for people and businesses in recent years. The cost of resources, labor, consumer staples and energy have contributed to the development of an economic environment that is fraught with personal bankruptcies, foreclosures and poor credit. Many Americans find themselves using the services of payday lenders and credit card companies to pay their bills and remain solvent. Hardworking individuals and families sometimes find themselves in a financial situation which requires them to borrow money from friends or neighbors and depend on the following week’s payroll check to cover their expenses. The practice of using future income to pay debts can result in passing a bad check, a financial instrument that is worthless due to insufficient funds within an account.

While the majority of bad checks are written and passed due to an honest oversight or circumstances that are beyond the control of the account holder, some people use checks as a means to commit fraud. Writing a bad check to acquire goods and services is against the law which can result in criminal and civil penalties. While the risks of such consequences are ever present when deliberately passing a bad check, some people find the risk/benefit ratio to be in their favor.

Writing and passing checks with insufficient funds backing them has a negative impact on the economy. Often times, goods and services that are paid for with a bad check cannot be recovered by the provider and therefore, a financial loss must be taken. Police investigators are sometimes overwhelmed with such cases of fraud, which reduces the amount of time and resources that can be devoted to other criminal investigations. Banks can incur large costs recovering funds and taking civil action against account holders who write bad checks.

Bad check laws have been established to help prevent and reduce the occurrence of passing bad checks. The Commonwealth of Virginia has taken a proactive position to achieve that objective.

Below are the civil and criminal penalties for writing a bad check in Virginia under (Code § 18.2-181, Issuing bad checks, etc., larceny) and under (Title 8.01 — CIVIL REMEDIES AND PROCEDURE, Chapter 3 - Actions, Virginia Code § 8.01-27.2, Civil recovery for giving bad check).

Civil Penalties: The payee may recover, from the person who wrote the bad check, in a civil action brought by the filing of a warrant in debt, the lesser of $250 or three times the amount of the check in addition to recovery and mailing costs.

Criminal Penalties: Once you receive a dishonored check notice in the mail, you must pay it within five days or you may be charged with a felony or a misdemeanor for a violation under Virginia State Code 18.2-183. If the value of the check is $200 or more, the offense is considered a Class 6 felony and you can be sentenced from one to five years imprisonment in a state correctional institution. If the value of the check is less than $200, the crime is considered a Class 1 misdemeanor and is punishable by up to 12 months in jail and/or a maximum fine of $2,500.



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 Virginia 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.