Ventura Bounces Back With Official Classes for Bad-Check Writers

Beginning in April, people who write bad checks in Ventura County may wind up in a “bad-check writer class” modeled after classes for traffic offenders.

Under an experimental project designed by the state, people who write bad checks for less than $1,000 and who refuse to quickly pay the amount they owe will be given two choices--either pay their debt and attend the four-hour class or face prosecution.

Attending class will enable them to avoid a criminal record, much as people who attend traffic school keep citations off their records.

The one-year program is being tried in five other counties--Placer, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino and Imperial--and is being considered by Los Angeles County, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said.

Balancing Checkbook

Community college instructors will be hired to teach bad-check writers about laws regarding bounced checks and how to balance their checkbooks, said Richard Harris, director of Ventura’s Victim/Witness Programs, which is supervising the classes.

“We’re obviously not after the criminal element here,” Harris said. “We’re looking at people who are basically unable to balance their checkbooks adequately and write checks for more money than they have funds.”

State legislation that went into effect Jan. 1 set guidelines for the classes and empowered local district attorney’s offices to offer the new option in potential misdemeanor bad-check cases, those involving less than $1,000, before an arrest is made.

Under the program, merchants are required to submit bounced checks to a bank twice--to give customers time to deposit funds to cover the check--before filing a complaint with the district attorney’s Check Restitution/Prosecution Project.

The district attorney’s office will issue two written warnings to the writers of the bad checks before initiating a criminal prosecution.

The first letter adds a $10 administrative fee to the amount of the check. The second letter, sent if there has been no response 10 days after the first, adds a $25 administrative fee and orders the bad-check writer to attend what officials are calling the bad-check writer class at a cost of $40.

People will be eligible to attend the class only once.

$3 Million a Year Lost

Business officials hope the program will help them recover some of the estimated $3 million a year lost to Ventura County businesses through bad checks of less than $1,000. Such cases usually are ignored by police, who focus on felony cases, Harris said.

By investigating and prosecuting the misdemeanor cases, the county expects to recoup by September at least $180,000, the cost of initiating the program, Harris said.

Previously, by state law, merchants stuck with bad checks had to make a written demand of the check-writer for payment. If no payment arrived after 30 days, the check-writer became liable for the amount of the check and treble damages of up to $500.

“Chances are, when you receive a letter from the district attorney’s office, you’ll pay attention,” said Stephen J. Rubenstein, president of the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce.