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 Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 11:10 am Subject: Check Restitution Program |
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I made a payment on some bad checks that I had out there a few months ago to the Prosecuting Attorney Bad Check Restitution Program and waiting for the paperwork to be sent my way. I never received anything and now I got a call from the same lady yesterday telling me that the proceedings have already taken place and the paperwork is in the court system. I wanted to set up another payment or plan with her, but she told me that it was too late and there was nothing that I could do. I called the stores that the checks were from and they confirmed that the checks had been passed on to there.
I just can't believe that I can't send them a payment now and then some more when I get paid or set up any kind of plan with them? I don't want to go to jail seeing that I am a single mother and all, and I am just scared that they are going to come to my place of employment or something.
Has anyone out there had the same or similar situation? And anyone that could shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all for your time and help. 
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Angel
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:01 pm Subject: |
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You have to try and settle this matter outside the court. Talk to them and explain that you are willing to make the payments and that some arrangements will be helpful to you. Send some money in advance certified so that it proves your effort to pay the debt. Chances are that they might accept it, but even if they don't, you have a point to defend that you tried to pay them, but they were not accepting it. The judge will make an unbiased decision and this might favor you. Your concern should be to settle this matter outside the court so talk to them as much as you can.
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john
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| Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:07 pm Subject: |
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John~
I have been in contact with the woman that is handling my case. She said that I am in a race against the clock and that if I am served the papers there isn't anything that I can do. I made a payment before so I have no problem of taking care of this, but they are absolutely un willing to work with me, they gave me Western Union instructions so I am just going to go and make a small payment on my own and either they take it or they don't either way I am trying, I guess?
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Angel
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:09 pm Subject: |
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May want to call your prosecuting attorney's office and see the status. Usually they will issue a summons for you to appear in court and not arrest you unless you have really been writing numerous bad checks. You may be able to talk with the attorney explain what happened and get back on the program. Normally these programs do not send you paperwork beyond the initial notice. It doesn't make sense that any proceedings would have taken place without you being served a summons.. what state are you in?
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jj
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| Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:14 pm Subject: |
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Yes, your trial is what counts here. Things will be clear that you are trying from your part whether they accept payment or not. As I said earlier, the judge can't make unbiased decisions at all.
In most cases, if payments are made regularly and there is regular activity in the account, the matter does not reach to the court. I am just hoping things that are possible here. Don't stress yourself much on this issue. Don't fear going to the court if it reaches there. You have proved your part and tried every bit to take care of the situation. Everything will end up nicely. Relax!
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john
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| Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:29 pm Subject: |
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JJ~
I have contacted the PA's office and was told that they just oversee this program and there wasn't anything that they could tell me about it and gave me the 800 number to the Bad Check Program that I have already. They couldn't give me any information at all. Though the lady that I am trying to work with on this says that I will be served papers first with a court date on them.
John~
The thing that looks really bad on my part is that these checks are older from October, that's a few months back, but with moving and all I never received anything in the mail until the lady phoned me and then I knew about them.
She is telling me that I am racing the clock, could she just be telling me this kind of to frighten me further? I am still going to just make the payments as I can and how much and can via Western Union, if they take them and it does get to court, like you said, it will look better on my part.
I just wish that I had the outlook that you do and didn't worry about the court issue , but I definitely can't RELAX!! 
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Angel
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:40 pm Subject: |
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You will feel more frightened if you take the words of that lady seriously. So, don't let these words affect you. The thing that is important here is to keep sending those payments. Actually, if you see it in legal terms, the lady is saying what she intends to do and she is making you aware of it. Do your part and things won't reach that far. If I had been you at this stage, I would have gone out to breathe in some fresh air and have some ice creams.  Cheer up!
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john
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| Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:50 pm Subject: |
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John~
How do I not let them affect me? That I could be facing 90 days to 2 years in jail! That frightens the heck out of me. Especially when I think about my daughter.
She technically can't do anything, the PA is the one that taking it further? But I just don't understand why she would call in the first place if there wasn't anyway of making a plan with her?
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Angel
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| Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:56 pm Subject: |
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I can understand what you are trying to say when it concerns your daughter. But at the same time, you are trying to take care of the problem also. The payments that you are sending will be counted. Are you taking the advice of your lawyer?
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john
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| Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 1:07 pm Subject: |
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John~
I have only made the one payment seeing that I was suppose to get something in the mail. So if I go and make a payment tonight hopefully it will look like I am 100% willing to get this resolved.
I don't have any money for a lawyer!
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Angel
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| Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 2:33 pm Subject: |
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Angel a few things, 1) Most likely the company running the program is a CA, so yes a good faith payment is a good idea. 2)If the prosectuor has not yet filed charges then you do have some time. 3)If they file charges you should be able to qualify for a public defender (attorney) 4) let me know what state your in and I will try and find a muber for legal aid for you.
5) Because you are trying to pay the debt, and as long as you have no criminal record, you very likely would not have to serve jail time even if you did lsoe your case. Most likely you would haev to pay a fine, repay the check and maybe do community service
6) Most importantly keep your chin up and keep plugging away. I will try and help you as much as I can, as will a lot of other folks on here, you are not alone
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jj
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| Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 6:07 am Subject: |
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How did you make the payments?? Money order? Credit card? If you did it in some manner that is traceable (i.e receipt or statement showing the transaction took place) then contact the prosecuting attorney's office. Even if it is in the court system, it can be pulled out at anytime up till you are found guilty of a crime.
Your best bet is to talk to the District Attorney (state, proesecuteing whatever they call them in our area) and try and resolve it from there.
If you have had multiple outstanding bad checks, then they may have proceeded with a crminal charge based on the numbers of check which were forwarded to them. Many of these programs take into account the number of times you have been referred to them, and the number of outstanding checks they have for you when making a determination if they will work with you for repayment or simply proceed with criminal charges.
Most businesses generally won't refere someone into these programs unless they have been unable to collect for several months, so its in your best interests to settle these matters quickly to keep them from escallating rapidly.
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Last edited by LCW on Sun Feb 05, 2006 6:32 am |
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LCW
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| Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 6:19 am Subject: |
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Two Things Bother me here:
| Quote: | | I made a payment on some bad checks that I had out there a few months ago to the Prosecuting Attorney Bad Check Restitution Program and waiting for the paperwork to be sent my way. I never received anything and now I got a call from the same lady yesterday telling me that the proceedings have already taken place and the paperwork is in the court system. I wanted to set up another payment or plan with her, but she told me that it was too late and there was nothing that I could do. I called the stores that the checks were from and they confirmed that the checks had been passed on to there. |
Are you certain this lady is with District Attorney's office?? becasue you also said:
| Quote: | | She said that I am in a race against the clock and that if I am served the papers there isn't anything that I can do. |
and
| Quote: | | they gave me Western Union instructions so I am just going to go and make a small payment on my own and either they take it or they don't either way I am trying, I guess? Sad |
That doesnt exactly sound like the l;anguage a DA's office would use. Furthermore, most DA's(prosecuting, States, Etc) would not tell you to make payment through Wesert Union. They would want the payments made Directly to their office (plus their intent is not to add cost but to recover damages, western union would add costs). It sounds like you may be dealing with a Colection Agency that is violating of the fdcpa.
Please Call the District Attorney's Office first thing monday morning to figure out the current situation and status.
If it is a collection agency, they may be saying to pay them before it gets turned over to the
District Attorney. If this woman actually is in the DA's office, then ask to speak to her superior and start working your way up the ladder as tis woman is clearly not working in public interest , which is a requirement of any public servant.
If you are dealing with the DA, then FDCPA does not apply (no validation , etc required).
If you don't mind my asking, what county and state are you livin in? someone here maybe able to help you find out more information on the check restition program in your area.
You need to do some serious ground work in short time to make sure your are covered on this one.
Though they said they only administer the program and apparently they contract a collection agency to conduct the collections, still talk to the DA's office. Becuase this CA is working for the DA's office they MUST comply with certain state and federal laws, which you seem to indicate they are not. The DA is responsible to ensure their contractor is fully compliant. If they are not, then the DA's office must take action to ensure they are compliant or cancelling the contract and finding another Contractor who is compliant.
Bsaically a CA working for the DA's office must be beyond reporach.
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LCW
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| Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 7:12 am Subject: |
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I am a former law-enforcement officer, so I can tell you what I have witnessed n our local court system. Of course, state laws vary, as do individual judges, so this may be somewhat different than your area.
You might be arrested for writing even a very small bad check - I have seen arrests for a single check under $5.00. In this event, you would bond out (bond amount would depend on the amounts of the outstanding checks). Then you would be given a plea date.
If you could make good on the checks before your plea date, the charges are usually dropped (unless someone is attempting fraud). If you can't get them paid before the court date, just showing that you were paying on them might make a favorable impression on the judge and he might continue your case to a later date to allow you more time. If neither of these events take place you will be required to make a plea of guilty or not guilty.
If you plead guilty - the judge can sentance you to whatever your state law allows or he can give you a "suspended" sentence that only goes into effect if you fail to hold up the terms of the suspension - ie paying off all the bad checks with in a specific time.
If you plead not guilty, you will be given a court date. In our system that date would be several months down the road. That might allow you time to make good on the checks and get your charges dismissed at the next court date. If you get an attorney, he might be able to "continue" your case long enough to buy you additional time to pay the checks off and then your case would probably be dismissed. If you go to court and have not paid off the checks, but have made a substantial effort to pay them the judge might again go the "suspended" sentence route. Generally speaking, if this is your first offense, the judge would rather allow you to be free to work so you can pay your checks off.
Please keep in mind this is only what I have witnessed in our local system and your best bet is to seek the advice of an attorney.
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It's more like a jar of jalapenos.
What you do today,
may burn your butt tomorrow!
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Taquita
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| Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2006 8:13 am Subject: |
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To all of you, thank you so very much for your advice. I live in Macomb County, MI, but the checks are for Macomb Cty and Oakland Cty. When I asked the lady certain questions, she told me that I couldn't go directly to the DA's office to pay them off because he is a busy man and doesn't see people on an individual basis.
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Angel
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| Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2006 8:18 am Subject: |
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Angel, did the lady you talked to work at the da's office or was she at the 800 number?
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jj
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