Countywide : Banks, Cities Join in Fighting Bad Checks

A new partnership between several Orange County banks and cities will help curb the hundreds of bad checks floated each month at businesses countywide, Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi said Wednesday.

Participating banks will help spread the word about the county’s Bad Check Restitution Program by telling business owners where they can go for help when they fall victim to bad checks. Capizzi said at least 18 cities have also agreed to offer program information when merchants apply for or renew business licenses.

“Don’t write a check if you don’t have money in the bank,” Capizzi said. “If you do write a bad check, we’re coming after you.”

Last month, the Bad Check Restitution Program collected $58,000 for merchants left holding bad checks--a record recovery since the program started in September, 1990, Capizzi said. In all, the program has collected $1.3 million in restitution.

The program is fully paid for by fees charged to bad-check writers, who also must attend an eight-hour education class to avoid criminal prosecution. People with criminal records or those who bounced checks totaling more than $1,500 are not eligible for the class, Capizzi said.

Capizzi said the program is critical because taxpayers wind up paying when businesses fail because of their losses, or hike prices to cover financial gaps.

“I resent the idea I have to pay the cost of these bad-check writers,” Capizzi said, adding that the program also frees his deputies to prosecute more serious crimes, while costing taxpayers nothing.

Merchants are asked to file a complaint with the program after efforts to recover the check amount fail. Bad checks written for more than $1,500 are investigated for possible criminal prosecution, Capizzi said.

More than 11,000 people have gone through the program. Less than 1% have been caught writing more bad checks, the county’s top prosecutor said.

The typical bad-check writer is not a criminal looking to rip off a business, but someone looking for a short-term, interest-free loan, said Don Mealing, president of American Corrective Counseling Services in Santa Ana, which runs the education program.

“Some of these people are stretched to the limit financially, and this is a last-ditch effort to stay afloat,” Mealing said. “They don’t really think of it as a crime.”