What is the statue of limitations on a bounced check?

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What is the statue of limitations on a bounced check?

My daughter received a call from a “investigator” who says a check was written on her checking account 6 years ago that was returned NSF for $26. He says a warrant will be issued for her arrest if this isn’t cleared up. He wanted to verify her social security number over the phone to make sure this was her. We refuse to give it to him. She has never been in trouble and has always paid her bills. She has never received anything about this before and no longer has the bank account she had back then. We don’t know if this is a scam, and definitely don’t want her to be arrested.

Asked on October 8, 2011 under Bankruptcy Law, Illinois

Answers:

FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

In all likelihood the statutue of limitations for a check that failed to clear for insufficient funds could be based upon a theory of recovery based upon breach of contract, common counts, and possibly farud.

In California, the statute of limitations on any of the above theories of recovery would not be more than four (4) years.

Trust your intuition regarding the call from the supposed "investigator". Most likely the call is a scam. Have your daughter get as much information from the "investigator" regarding his name, place of employment, mailing address and telephone number. Your daughter should give no personal information about herself.

You need to be aware that threatening someone with a criminal matter is an unfair debt collection practice in many states and under federal law.

I recommend that you and your daughter report this person to law enforcement.

Good luck.


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