If you are given a bad check, you can sue for the amount of the check plus bank fees. You can also add damages to your claim.

Writing a bad check, also known as a hot check, is illegal. Banks normally charge a fee to anyone who writes a bad check unintentionally. The punishment for trying to pass a bad check intentionally ranges from a misdemeanor to a felony.

As defined under California Penal Code Section 476a, writing a check while knowing that funds are insufficient can be charged as a misdemeanor offense that can result in sentence of up to one year in county jail.

What to do if you received a bounced check

1. Contact the check writer. The first step is to contact the person or company who wrote you the check.
2. Try to cash the check again.
3. Send a formal demand letter.
4. Take it to court.
5. Contact the check recipient.
6. Make the payment.
7. Pay your bank fees.
8. Keep documentation.

How to Avoid Bouncing Checks

1. Balance your checking account so that you know how much you have to spend.
2. Review account balances before you spend.
3. Use a budget so that you know where every dollar goes before you even get it.
4. Stop electronic payments if they’re tripping you up.

Banks aren’t required to notify you when you bounce a check because of insufficient funds. If you deposit a check, not seeing the check amount added to your checking account balance after several business days could alert you to a potential deposit return.

If the issuer doesn’t have enough money in his or her account to cover a check by the time it clears, the check may bounce — in other words, it will be returned to the payee who tried to cash it. Whether you write or receive a bounced check — also called a nonsufficient funds, or NSF, check — it will cost you.

If you’ve accidentally bounced a check, there are some simple steps you can take to resolve the issue. If you now have the correct amount of money in your account, you can ask the recipient to redeposit the check. A returned check can be deposited again, but generally only once.

The good news is that checks generally clear fairly quickly, usually the day after you deposit the check at your bank (unless you make the deposit on a weekend, in which case you can expect to wait two days for the check to clear.)

If you deposit a check on a Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday, the bank will treat the deposit as though it were made on a Monday, the first business day of the week; in that case, the check will usually clear on a Tuesday. Day 2: The cash is deposited into your bank account.