Seventy residents of Bexar County, Texas were recently issued arrest warrants for bouncing checks worth $900,000. "These are people who have already had numerous opportunities to take care of this problem," said District Attorney Steve Hilbig. "We've already sent a letter saying, ëI'm sure it's a mistake. Come on in and take care of it and all of these charges will go away.'" The checkwriters will be booked and prosecuted, according to Hilbig.
The checks ranged in amount from $120 to $121,900 and many checkwriters will face misdemeanor theft-by-check charges. Those who wrote worthless checks for $1500 or more may be charged with felonies.
These merchants need check guarantee! Already this year, county residents have written 58,000 bad checks worth $4.3 million. The police even have a "Hot Check Section." Think about it: Would consumers rather have their local sheriff come to their home and arrest them, or would they prefer a third party, such as a check guarantee service, handle it? And, if you're a merchant, do you want your customer telling other potential customers that you sicked the cops on him?
