Lubbock County, Texas

State Of Texas - County Of Lubbock

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Special Kinds of Checks

Special kinds of checks

Rent Checks

All hot checks for rent are usually prosecuted as issuance of bad check (IBC). You must comply with the following for the Hot Check Task Force to prosecute your check case as felony theft by check. First, the total amount of the checks must exceed $2,500.00. If you enter the lease agreement because you are relying on the check being paid immediately by the bank and the check writer occupies the premises, then we may be able to file a charges for theft of service if that check is dishonored by the bank and the first month's rent is also paid with a bad check or not paid at all. An eviction notice must have been given immediately upon receipt of notice that the check has been dishonored by the bank.

 

Periodic Rent Checks

If the check writer gave you a check on the day the rent was due and the check writer continued to occupy the premises, then we may be able to file charges for theft of service if that check is dishonored by the bank. You must have served the tenant with an eviction notice immediately once you received notice that the check was dishonored by the bank. If the check was given to you in order to halt eviction proceedings, we may be able to file charges for theft of service if the check is dishonored by the bank. The lease must expressly state that occupation of the premises is contingent upon timely payment of the rent and the eviction notice must have been given immediately when rent was not paid, or if the rent was paid by bad check, immediately upon notice of the bank's dishonor of the check. If you don't give the tenant an eviction notice immediately when the rent is late, then you waive theft action in criminal courts! You must have withdrawn eviction proceedings because a check was given which you believed would be paid by the bank and the tenant remained in possession of the premises. Copies of your eviction notice and eviction papers mus tbe submitted with your checkThe most important element to be satisfied in order for us to file criminal charges is that the eviction notice must have been served at the first sign that the tenant has not paid in a timely manner!

 

Stop Payment Checks

When a customer directs, in the appropriate manner, a bank to stop payment on a particular check the bank is required to refrain from paying that check. If you receive a check for merchandise or service you provide and the bank returns the check to you unpaid because it received a stop payment order, you may be able to file a complaint against the check writer for theft under certain circumstances. On September 1, 1995, the law changed regarding steps one must take to initiate a theft case involving a stop payment check. Prior to that date, if a check writer wrote a check for either merchandise or a service and later stopped payment on that check, the deciding factor for prosecution was whether or not the account held sufficient funds to pay that check as well as all other lower numbered checks still outstanding. Checks written after September 1, 1995, the law differentiates between checks written for merchandise and those written for services. If services were obtained by writing a check that was later ordered stop payment, the letter sent is the same demand letter as for an NSF (insufficient funds) check and the process remains the same as before with the account balance the deciding factor. Checks written in order to obtain merchandise, however, which were later ordered not paid by the check writer are treated differently. The following paragraph describes in detail the steps necessary to initiate a theft investigation. A check written for merchandise and later not paid because of a stop payment order require that a special stop payment demand letter be sent. The letter, because the law requires it, gives the check writer 10 days to either return the merchandise or pay the check. (See specific verbiage in the sample letter.) Your acceptance of the return of the merchandise is not optional if you wish to file a criminal complaint for theft. In other words, if you wish to file a complaint with us on the check, you must accept the merchandise if it is returned to you. If you get the merchandise back, you may not file a complaint with us, but you may seek compensation for any degradation in the value of the merchandise through the civil courts. If the check you hold was written for perishable merchandise (for example, prepared sandwiches) or was for a mixture of goods and services, please contact the office via email at Hot Check or by telephone at 806-775-1111 to discuss which procedure must be followed.

 

Checks for C.O.D. Deliveries

When merchandise is delivered C.O.D. to a customer within Lubbock County by your company employee and it meets the criteria for an IBC or a theft by check, the case will be treated the same as a case in which the check writer came into your place of business and wrote the check for merchandise or services. However, remember to be able to prosecute an individual for IBC or theft by check we must be able to identify the check writer in court. Taking COD checks poses risks that normal checks do not.

Checks Given To Pay Debts

Checks given to pay debts are prosecuted only as IBC. In most cases checks given to pay pre-existing debts do not meet the requirements for a theft by check charge. If the check writer obtained possession of additional merchandise or secured performance of a further service because he/she paid a pre-existing debt, then the check writer may have stolen the additional merchandise or the further service if he/she would not have been able to obtain the merchandise or service without paying the existing debt. Feel free to contact us if you think your check may qualify as a theft even though its purpose was for payment of a pre-existing debt.

 

Post Dated Checks

If you willingly accepted a post-dated check in exchange for merchandise or services, you extended credit to the check writer. In most cases, the transaction does not qualify as issuance of a bad check or theft by check since you released the merchandise or performed the service in reliance of the check writer's promise to pay at some later date rather than in reliance of the check's negotiability. You may be able to file a civil suit in the small claims court of the Justice of the Peace of the precinct where the check was passed

 

Hold Checks

If you willingly accepted a check which you agreed to hold before presenting to the bank for payment in exchange for merchandise or services, you extended credit to the check writer. In most cases, the transaction does not qualify as issuance of a bad check or theft by check since you released the merchandise or performed the service in reliance of the check writer's promise to pay at some later date rather than in reliance of the check's negotiability. You may be able to file a civil suit in the small claims court of the Justice of the Peace of the precinct where the check was passed.

 

Third-Party Checks

In most cases in which you gave cash, merchandise, or services in exchange for a check made payable to someone other than yourself or your company you will not be able to file a complaint with the Hot Check Task Force. Those kinds of checks often prove to be impossible for us to establish which of the other parties involved possessed the intent to commit the theft. If you have a third party check call (775-1111) the Hot Check Task Force and see if we can help.

 

Drafts


If you willingly accepted a draft for merchandise or services, you extended credit to the check writer. In most cases, the transaction does not qualify as a theft since you released the merchandise or performed the service in reliance of the check writer's promise to pay at some later date rather than in reliance of the check's negotiability. You may be able to file a civil suit in the small claims court of the Justice of the Peace of the precinct where the check was passed.

 

Company Checks

As long as the transaction in which you received this check satisfies the requirements of issuance of a bad check or theft by check, you may file a complaint for theft with the Hot Check Task Force. Please be sure, however, to send all demand letters to the person who signed the check, not to the company generally. If two people signed the check, send a demand letter to each of them and fill out a separate complaint form for each signer.If the person who signs the check is not the person responsible for the account, the check may not be prosecutable.You take certain risks by taking company checks.

 

Forged Checks

If you receive a check back that shows it was forged, you should contact the police agency with jurisdiction in the area where you received the check. Because investigation of a forgery case requires resources in excess of those available with the Hot Check Task Force, we are unable to accept complaints on forgery cases. If the investigative agency believes that the check writer is indeed the account holder and that the checks are not forgeries, they will submit a complaint to the Hot Check Task Force.