promise, worthless, check, program

A merchant who has had a check returned first has to try to collect without going to the District Attorney's office. The merchant usually documents this by sending a certified letter. After that, he takes the worthless check to the Worthless Check coordinator's office. He completes an affidavit that says he received a bad check and whether he has incurred certain fees, such as a bank fee or charge to process the bad check.

The Worthless Check Program office sends a letter with an invoice for the amount of the check and any bad check fees to the person who wrote the worthless check. The letter lets the writer know that he may be liable for criminal prosecution and that he can avoid this if he pays the full amount of the invoice at the office of the Clerk of Superior Court. When the writer pays the invoice, the merchant receives a check from the Clerk's office.

The worthless check can be no fewer than 15 days old and no more than two years old. In addition to the check, the merchant may charge a fee of up to $25.00 as allowed by state law G.S. § 25-3-506. The DA's office will also assess a processing fee. If the invoice is not paid within the allotted amount of time, the Worthless Check office will refer the check to the Magistrate's office on behalf of the merchant for a Warrant or Criminal Summons. The case will then be prosecuted as any other criminal case.