Suppose a Girl Scout shows up at my door looking for donations and feeling in a generous mood I hand her a check for $2,956.03 no strings attached. Then later that night I go on a gambling spree in empty my bank account, so that when they try to cash the check it bounces. Can the Girl Scouts come after me for the amount of the check? It wasn’t exactly fraud because I didn’t receive anything of value that I didn’t pay for, but on the other hand I did write a bad check.
Inspired by this article here which doesn’t specify why he wrote them the check, and left me wondering if it could just be a donation, although if it was its an oddly specific amount.
Most states, to my knowledge, have remedies in their laws in favour of the payee of a bad check that are independent of remedies for the underlying transaction that the check was written for; see an example from a state code here. Where such remedies exist, they can go after you. Whether it would be good PR for their organization is another matter.
It’s going to vary by statute, but here’s the relevant Florida law.
It is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to draw, make, utter, issue, or deliver to another any check, draft, or other written order on any bank or depository, or to use a debit card, for the payment of money or its equivalent, knowing at the time of the drawing, making, uttering, issuing, or delivering such check or draft, or at the time of using such debit card, that the maker or drawer thereof has not sufficient funds on deposit in or credit with such bank or depository with which to pay the same on presentation
The crime is committed when you write a bad check. Not when the check is deposited.
The “knowingly” bit is also important. I think quite a lot of people have unknowingly overdrafted their accounts in lean times. I certainly did when I was in school.
From the website of the Office of the State Attorney, 2nd Judicial Circuit, Jack Campbell, State Attorney:
Under Florida law, any check returned from a bank stamped “NSF” (Non-Sufficient Funds), “Insufficient Funds,” “No Such Account,” “Account Not Found,” or “NSF Unless Otherwise Indicated” is a worthless check that may be subject to prosecution under Florida’s criminal statutes. Checks returned “Refer To Maker” or “Uncollected Funds” may require additional investigation before being charged criminally.
That form is to be filled out by the recipient. If you give me a check that’s returned by the bank stamped NSF, I’m going to fill it out. I don’t care that there was money there when you wrote out the check. I only care if I get paid.
My reading of that law is that you still owe the money for the check that bounced, but it’s only a crime if you write a bad check on purpose, knowing it was bad when you wrote it.
And while i don’t know the law in other states, i know that accidentally writing a bad check is common, and the usual remedy is to ask the writer to cough up the money, not to prosecute. I’ve been given a new check and been told, “don’t cash this until Tuesday”, and it cleared an Tuesday and i considered the matter done.
In the situation in the OP, where it’s a donation I don’t think the Girl Scouts would be able to sue for the “donation” ,at least not unless it was a large donation that they relied on to their detriment , but they possibly could sue for what they were out for their bank fees.
But as far as the actual situation , my guess is that Ms. Hill was using a personal check to pay money a troop owed to the council - for cookies or camp or some other activity. It’s very common for small groups not to have a bank account and for someone to write a check on their personal account when a check is needed once or twice a year. ( They should, but they often don’t if it’s only a couple of checks a year). Which would also explain why the Girl Scouts sued - if it was for cookies , the council had to pay for the cookies. If it was for camp or another activity , the council probably didn’t cancel the scout’s registrations since presumably they would have paid.
Responding to the OP’s question about a civil action (not the criminal issue), a quick googling came up with a couple of states that provide for a civil action based on the bad check, not tied to the reason why the person gave the check.
And from the Office of the Attirney General of California:
Both pages talk about when criminal charges may apply, which I’ve omitted since that’s not what the OP asked about.
Both Ohio and California provide for civil damages three times the amount of the check. That makes me suspect there may be a Uniform Commercial Code provision lurking in the background, with a recommended « three time damages » provision, but I don’t know where to look for that.
As for why a civil action exists without regard to the reason for the check, raised in the OP, I assume it is to maintain the reliability and trustworthiness for checks.
As always, IANAUSL. If you need legal advice about a bad check, talk to a lawyer in your jurisdiction.
Thanks everyone for the responses its been interesting reading.
That was my guess as well, again because of the oddly specific amounts involved. But just thinking about the other possibility made me wonder how it would turn out it it was just a donation.
I agree that the recipient could not sue for a donation given via a bad check. As Judge Wapner taught me while watching The People’s Court, a contract requires an offer, acceptance and consideration. I don’t think there’s any consideration given by the recipient to the donor, so no contract would exist.
Yes, on that point(separate from the cheque itself), the traditional common law position is that a gift / donation is not a contract. You can’t sue on a bare promise.
(Civil law is different, historically, where the motive for promising a gift may be consideration.)
Where it may get tricky is if the person/agency who is promised a donation takes steps to their financial detriment in reliance on the promise. If the wealthy university alum promises big $$$ to build a new gym, and the university buys the land, and then the alum backs out, that might trigger liability.
As always, I’m not a U.S. lawyer and I’m speaking in generalities. If you need legal advice, talk to a lawyer in your jurisdiction.