bouncing a check in Iowa gets your name in the paper...?!?

Question

this is only a small portion of the story...! does anyone know why one bounced check (90$) results in a visit to the sherriff's to be patted down, finger printed, (smthing about criminal investigation) and thrown in front of a judge only to be slapped with a $400+ fine, (or jail time!)..plus your name in the local newspaper announcing to all your crime........this is not right. pls help this poor mom in iowa. she is a solid member of the community, belongs to the local church there, works at a daycare center, is held in high regard by all who know her, and whose only real crime here is a miscalculation while balancing her checkbook.. this all occured the very day she was notified the check was NSF.

this iowan mom started her day like any other. coffee..work... lunch..body search..then off to see the judge! yeah. right. ....she set out to correct the prblm the moment she was notified. this has never happened b-4 or since.

Answer 1

For the future, have your friend get overdraft protection with her account. This will save embarrassment should she lapse again. Overdraft protection is a checking account feature in which a person has a line of credit to write checks for more than the actual account balance. Instead of getting charged about $25-$30 for bouncing a check, overdraft protection will in effect provide the account holder with an instant loan. The interest rate will be extremely high, but if it is paid off quickly it is usually much less expensive than the bounced check fee. Some banks do charge a fee when an account balance falls below zero even if the account holder has overdraft protection, but it's still significantly less than the bounced check fee.

Answer 2

Many business in Iowa have become fed up, so have the Clerks of Court.In most cases the business is required to present the check to thier bank twice before they can file charges. In years past the clerks would send you a notice to appear. Now they send deputies to arrest you. That's a case of a few screwed it up for many. An the more arrest a county makes the more federal funding they are entitled to.
Also many banks in Iowa will not cover the checks unless you've been with them forever or you have that type of account or a savings account they can transfer from. The NSF fee in most banks is $30. An most businesses charge you $30. as well.
As far as the name in the paper thing I've lived in Iowa my whole life, and that section of most papers is the most read.

Answer 3

I think you are lying. I live in Iowa and have bounced checks more than once and my bank just covers it and hits me with a big 20 dollar fee per bounced check. No name in the paper or court visit. Most banks just cover the check and charge a fee and especially for a 90 dollar check. It would have to be a person that repeatedly wrote bad checks to businesses and the bank did not cover it so then local area businesses would know not to take a check. I personally have never heard of a persons name in the paper and read the paper. The only thing I know Iowa puts your name in the paper for not paying is when you dont pay your house taxes.

Answer 4

I do not think that she is telling you the truth about her arrest.

You don't go to jail for a check that has bounced, unless she has committed check fraud.

When a bank check bounces, you just get a letter with the bank fees. Once you deposit monies into the checking account, the bank withdraws this fee from your account.

People do not go to jail because of this, unless they are making "multiple" checks, knowing that they do not have sufficient funds. Their are many other reasons, but not for 1 check.

Check out this site, it explains what is considered "check fraud".

Answer 5

Oh wow. That sucks. I bounced two checks before, and live in PA. The only consequences I received was a $20 fee, and the check went through once I had sufficient funds in my account anyway, so it wasn't that bad. One check was $195, and the second one was $40. Iowa sucks. I'd say move. =)

Oh, and the only time I've heard of people getting in trouble for it was doing it over and over, not just one time. My ex-boyfriend's sister got arrested for writing hundreds of bad checks.

Answer 6

Ya wow, thats rediculous. People bounce checks all the time. I thought it wasn't a criminal offense unless it was over $100 or possibly even more. Then you get charged with something and it ends up in the paper. That seems extremely harsh.

In Newberry Michigan, if you get a ticket for not wearing your seatbelt it goes into the local paper. Small town, they dont' have much else to post lol.

Answer 7

...jus shows u when a state wants to be proactive with pushing a do right code even the smallest infraction can hav a negative impact on someones life.Amazing how the poor can almost go to jail 4 tryn 2 survive and the rich jus rob us blind and sit back and smoke a cigar.
...man if she isn't left alone by the evangelical witch burning group that lives around U...F#*K them and move...ur better off away from there...

Answer 8

Well, it is illegal to write bad checks.

Unfortunately, saying that she miscalculated her balancing, is no excuse these days.

It may have been an honest mistake, but now a days, most people use their debit card so this won't happen.

I don't think she can get out of this one.
Tell her to use her debit card.

Answer 9

wow well over here its different so i feel sorry for the mother over there since dammmm it over here u will have to be caught in bounicing a check which its rather rare that people dont get caught in that sitution and if they do they just go to jail n deal with the consiquences

Answer 10

She just bounced the check to the wrong person.

When you bounce a check, that store or person isn't paid. When you don't pay for your goods, you're stealing.

Was it a little bit extreme? Sure. But chances are this wasn't her first time.