Complaint Review: Bank Of America - Arlington Texas

John, First of all, I am not in defense of any bank nor do I feel they are that honest. HOWEVER, it doesnt matter if NSF fees were $100, because they just don't affect me. Banks are in business to make money, and it is soley YOUR decision as a customer as to how much you GIVE them. Only people who mismanage thier accounts pay NSF fees. Period. End of story. As far as direct deposits go, banks do get the money several days prior for direct deposits, and each bank has it's policy clearly spelled out on availability of those funds. No rip off here, as they never promised to make funds available on the same day they recieve them. They promise to make them available sometime during the business day on the date promised. It could be at close of business, if they wanted to. In summary, here is the "black and white" dissertaion you asked for. Only financially irresponsible morons have NSF issues. people who refuse to keep registers and those who use money on the "float". That is the only issue here, and it really is black and white. If you don't like a bank's policies, don't deal with them. If you could do it better, open your own bank. Stop whining and blaming others because you are irresponsible.

Those of you whom claim to work in banks, or worked at banks, it must have been in the Cayman Islands or somewhere else, maybe Fantasy Island. Say hi to Tatu for me. I developed software for banks for approximately 8 years. I know the industry. There are many manual processes, don't think the bits and bytes take care of everything. There is no such thing as Check22, we may have to wait 94 years for that to come. Banks will not exist by then if they continue these practices. We (the human race) will probably have invented something ethical and honest by then. Is not my faith huge! Fact # 1: The Check21 system (stands for "Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act") which allows one institution (the receiver, also the bank where the store deposits the checks that they receive) to digitalize the check and transmit it electronically to the payer (the actual bank where the check writer has his account). The payer may process this digitalized check as if it were the physical check that it had received. This was basically a system promoted by the banking industry to accumulate huge profits from those customers who stretch payday to payday. This process is not instanteneous, it has 3 main steps. First, the transmission to the receiver bank from the store, second, the transmission from the receiver bank to the Federal Reserve (banks have to keep their money somewhere), checks have to be compensated, third the transmission from the FR to the payer bank. There are more details to this, I am trying to keep it simple. This process despite being claimed to be immediate, it is not, it still takes hours, most over 8, normally between 24 and 48. Fact # 2: By law the Banks have a closing time and which promotes the opening of a new day. Most banks have it at 2pm on the eastern coast, but many may have it at other times as well, but rarely before 1pm or after 7pm. If you write a check today, the 14th at 10 pm this check will most likely be presented by 11 am tomorrow, the 15th. Banks do not go by the physical date, they go by a banking day. You must have funds on the banking day, not on the physical day, and when the check hits your account. Fact # 3: If you have direct deposit to your account then by the time the check hits your account you have provision of funds to pay it. You wrote the check on the 14th with the intent to pay it. Note: Crime is committed if you write a check without the intent of paying it! You may have funds and you still may be committing a crime, this sounds bizarre right, but it can happen, and I will explain it later. Fact # 4: You may write a check anytime, having or not having funds. You may postdate the check also. The only rule is that once the check is being presented for cashing, the account must have the funds in it. And it must have funds prior to the processing time which is around 11 AM EST. Fact # 5: If your check has been converted to an Electronic Fund Transfer, it quit being a check and it is regulated by other laws (I am not getting into the legal details of the system). This is the case with stores that take your check, process it, and give it back to you. Fact # 6: The Check21 System became effective October of 2004. Most banks have only recently started the implementation, 3 to 4 months ago, and with the infamous results that many account holders are experiencing. The banks always knew that they could rip a profit from it. The systems had been designed long ago, it was the legal issues that kept them from hitting the "GO" key. Fact # 7: I will continue tomorrow, because I am tired.

Steve, why don't you write a dissertation proving that Banks are honest and post it on this site? Oh, I love your black and white outlook! Please read Gaylon's report again, he tracked it and once you are marked as an easy target... Steve, we are waiting!

John, I am not missing the point at all. No bank looks at a customers account and decided when or how to process checks and/or deposits. That is ridiculous! Do you really think that a bank the size of BofA would take the time to look at each and every account before applying debits/credits to said account? It is impossible from a manpower standpoint alone. You wrote: "Steve, With all due respect, everyone knows that writing check without sufficient funds is illegal and yes I am aware of the various electronic transfers similar to Check 22 and Debit Cards do the same thing! The only safe way to avoid NSF fees is to maintain a $500 to $1500 dollar cushion. Most people do not make enough to do this! Please take comfort in your simple Black and White approach to life. Take comfort in that illusion. Trust your Government and trust your bank. However while you live in a fantasy world please keep in mind that I have talked to Banking Industry insiders and it does occur as described. I have also watched exposs and listened to industry insiders admit to this fact! (It was on TV so it must be true. Ha Ha Ha.) Steve it goes on! Steve, if the Bank knows a customer is living on the edge, the Banks are known to delay running a check through to see if other checks will come in so that they could charge NSF fees. What do you think the Bank will say Steve? Do you think they would admit that they are cheating customers? No they won't! They will say, Oh I am sorry Mr. Regulator as you see this person has a clear history of NSF, we are not doing anything wrong! Why do you think more and more Banks are not sending the cancelled checks to the customer? It is because it would have the time-stamp on it! Steve I have not seen a cancelled check in over two years. In closing: Steve, instead of slamming a person who was watching their checking account, why don't you write a complaint about Theft-by-Bank? In fact Steve, why don't you write a dissertation proving that Banks are honest and post it on this site"? John P. - Cincinnati, Ohio U.S.A. John, As far as cancelled checks go, I can get copies of the front and back of my checks for free anytime 24/7 for 180 days online. Check safekeeping was designed for 2 reasons, the first being cost savings. The manpower and postage to mail those cancelled checks was huge. The second is for safety of the customer. Those checks are kept for 10 years in case the customer ever needs one. If they are sent to the customer and lost, they cannot be replaced. I can run my account down to $50 and still never have an NSF fee. Thats because I keep an ACCURATE register, and wait until deposits are POSTED before I draw against them by check or debit card. I have NEVER had an NSF fee in my life that was the banks fault. I had one when overseas due to losing a reciept from a debit purchase while travelling, and forgot about it. I explained it to the bank and they reversed the NSF fee. In my 15 years with BofA I have never had any problem with them and not 1 NSF fee. There must be a reason. I have had checking accounts for 30 years and have never had a problem, not even as a teenager! It is called RESPONSIBILITY and basic math. Paying attention to detail. I have seen people get thrown out of the military for NSF activity, more than once. Plain and simple. people who pay NSF fees are those who cannot/will not keep an accurate register, and/or spend money on the "float". Period. Those expose's you spoke of are BS.

Stile, Yes it happens the way you described and that is not the only way!

The ultimate solution to overdrafts is to open an "Overdraft Protection" account with the bank. You wil no longer have any overdraft charges and the fees for the account will be far less than any "Overdraft Fees" that you may have incurred.

The ultimate solution to overdrafts is to open an "Overdraft Protection" account with the bank. You wil no longer have any overdraft charges and the fees for the account will be far less than any "Overdraft Fees" that you may have incurred.

I used to process checks for a bank. we don't see the account. We just post the account information into the computer and the computer processes it. I'd type in the info on the bottom of the check. You could have a dollar in the account or you could be Kerry Wood of the Cubs and have a lot of money in the bank (I have no idea how much KW does have in the bank but I assume at 9 million a year it's a lot) It is when the check comes in. If I write a check to Steve and one to Nicole and one to Bob and one to the Cubs it depends on which goes in first. Steve might not get to his bank til next Monday. Nicole might go today. Bob might go tomorrow. the Cubs may do it electronically.

Steve, With all due respect, everyone knows that writing check without sufficient funds is illegal and yes I am aware of the various electronic transfers similar to Check 22 and Debit Cards do the same thing! The only safe way to avoid NSF fees is to maintain a $500 to $1500 dollar cushion. Most people do not make enough to do this! Please take comfort in your simple Black and White approach to life. Take comfort in that illusion. Trust your Government and trust your bank. However while you live in a fantasy world please keep in mind that I have talked to Banking Industry insiders and it does occur as described. I have also watched exposs and listened to industry insiders admit to this fact! (It was on TV so it must be true. Ha Ha Ha.) Steve it goes on! Steve, if the Bank knows a customer is living on the edge, the Banks are known to delay running a check through to see if other checks will come in so that they could charge NSF fees. What do you think the Bank will say Steve? Do you think they would admit that they are cheating customers? No they won't! They will say, Oh I am sorry Mr. Regulator as you see this person has a clear history of NSF, we are not doing anything wrong! Why do you think more and more Banks are not sending the cancelled checks to the customer? It is because it would have the time-stamp on it! Steve I have not seen a cancelled check in over two years. In closing: Steve, instead of slamming a person who was watching their checking account, why don't you write a complaint about Theft-by-Bank? In fact Steve, why don't you write a dissertation proving that Banks are honest and post it on this site?

"In fact, you can write four checks on Monday the 15th, then write a check on the 14th to pay for a bill that is due on the 15th, then your direct-deposit comes in on the 15th and the Bank will come in on the next Monday the 18th look over the situation and realize they can make a huge profit for bouncing four checks." Your simulation assumes a couple of things which aren't in evidence, notably that the banks are looking to single out individual accounts rather than processing all transactions in a uniform way, and that they hold checks until such time as it is most beneficial to them. Neither of these things are true. Banks have to follow very stringent state and federal auditing guidelines and the penalties are incredibly stiff if they falsify transaction information. Your 4 overdraft fees are not going to cover the cost of those penalties, even if multiplied 10000 times over. All banks follow the same process, which is that transactions presented on a particular business day post on that business day if before the cutoff time for the transaction type. So, let's take your example where you write the 1 big check on the 14th, and then 4 small checks on the 15th, and they all post on the 18th. In each case, the receiver of the check has to present the check to their bank, who has to run it through their proofing department and present it to your bank. When the item posts to your account Depends on the day when it is presented to your bank. So let's say you wrote the big check to your landlord, and they take all their checks to the bank on the 16th, whereas the 4 merchants to whom you wrote the 4 small checks all present their checks to their banks on the 15th. The 4 small checks take 2 business days to run through their bank, but the landlord uses a more efficient bank that only takes 1 business day to run the check. The end result is that all 5 checks hit your account on the 18th, even though they were written at different times. This still doesn't explain why you're writing checks that exceed your balance, and why you don't expect to be penalized in accord with your deposit agreement.

First of all, lets get something ridiculous out of the way. Banks do not look at a customers account prior to posting a check. Nobody has time for this, especially a big bank like Bank of America. Your account only gets "looked at" when there is a problem, like NSF activity. Most financial institutions post checks/debits BEFORE credits. This is standard practice. If you write checks without the funds being IN YOUR ACCOUNT at the time you write the check, you are writing a bad check. You are spending money that is not in your account AND available. This activity is illegal, and is in violation of state and federal laws. Has anyone heard of "Check 22"? Checks written are now electronically presented for payment immediately upon presentation to the retailer. If there is any fraud or rip off here is is by you against your bank for using funds that are not in your account. You are taking a free loan from the bank. Why is this very basic concept so hard to understand? Keep an accurate register, and don't spend money until it is POSTED to your account. No NSF fees, guaranteed.

First of all, lets get something ridiculous out of the way. Banks do not look at a customers account prior to posting a check. Nobody has time for this, especially a big bank like Bank of America. Your account only gets "looked at" when there is a problem, like NSF activity. Most financial institutions post checks/debits BEFORE credits. This is standard practice. If you write checks without the funds being IN YOUR ACCOUNT at the time you write the check, you are writing a bad check. You are spending money that is not in your account AND available. This activity is illegal, and is in violation of state and federal laws. Has anyone heard of "Check 22"? Checks written are now electronically presented for payment immediately upon presentation to the retailer. If there is any fraud or rip off here is is by you against your bank for using funds that are not in your account. You are taking a free loan from the bank. Why is this very basic concept so hard to understand? Keep an accurate register, and don't spend money until it is POSTED to your account. No NSF fees, guaranteed.

First of all, lets get something ridiculous out of the way. Banks do not look at a customers account prior to posting a check. Nobody has time for this, especially a big bank like Bank of America. Your account only gets "looked at" when there is a problem, like NSF activity. Most financial institutions post checks/debits BEFORE credits. This is standard practice. If you write checks without the funds being IN YOUR ACCOUNT at the time you write the check, you are writing a bad check. You are spending money that is not in your account AND available. This activity is illegal, and is in violation of state and federal laws. Has anyone heard of "Check 22"? Checks written are now electronically presented for payment immediately upon presentation to the retailer. If there is any fraud or rip off here is is by you against your bank for using funds that are not in your account. You are taking a free loan from the bank. Why is this very basic concept so hard to understand? Keep an accurate register, and don't spend money until it is POSTED to your account. No NSF fees, guaranteed.

First of all, lets get something ridiculous out of the way. Banks do not look at a customers account prior to posting a check. Nobody has time for this, especially a big bank like Bank of America. Your account only gets "looked at" when there is a problem, like NSF activity. Most financial institutions post checks/debits BEFORE credits. This is standard practice. If you write checks without the funds being IN YOUR ACCOUNT at the time you write the check, you are writing a bad check. You are spending money that is not in your account AND available. This activity is illegal, and is in violation of state and federal laws. Has anyone heard of "Check 22"? Checks written are now electronically presented for payment immediately upon presentation to the retailer. If there is any fraud or rip off here is is by you against your bank for using funds that are not in your account. You are taking a free loan from the bank. Why is this very basic concept so hard to understand? Keep an accurate register, and don't spend money until it is POSTED to your account. No NSF fees, guaranteed.

Michael, I am surprised that most people don't know about this because it is a very real and serious situation. The Banks do in fact manipulate the situation! In fact, you can write four checks on Monday the 15th, then write a check on the 14th to pay for a bill that is due on the 15th, then your direct-deposit comes in on the 15th and the Bank will come in on the next Monday the 18th look over the situation and realize they can make a huge profit for bouncing four checks. At $30 dollars a pop for a bounced check, that is clear profit! Everyone has heard about suicide-by-cop and I call this Theft-by-Bank! This affects the very people who can least afford it! I am surprised to see that more people are not aware of this. Frontline did and expose about this and I have several friends in the banking industry who confirmed that this does go on! People should keep in mind that Bank of America has been posting record breaking profits and at thirty dollars a check, that is a lot of penalties! I would encourage everyone on this thread to go back and re-read what Gaylon wrote because they were monitoring the account. Gaylon just didn't know about Theft-by-Bank. Michael, thank you for your kind words and I will close with the following thought. It is a shame that the Republicans are so pro-business and refuse too stand up for the voter and it is also a shame that Democrats sit idle with their thumbs up their butts doing nothing!

I tried to explain the situation in a technical manner. John P. managed to use an example that gets the point accross in a very clear way. Thank you John P.! The bank intentionally and unethically manages the situation in order to obtain a profit from borderline transactions. Is it fraud? I don't know. I leave that to the people to decide. We are not talking about writing checks without the provision of funds! Don't take this thread in the wrong direction. This thread is dealing with an issue that affects law abiding and honest citizens, and not crooks that go around giving "hot checks". This thread is trying to demonstrate that the bank willfully manipulates transactions in order to assess the account holder with multiple fees for non sufficient funds (NSF) when this honest and law abiding customer happens to write a check that hits his/her account the same day that his/her direct deposit does. I recommend all the readers to observe the Check21 timestamp which the banks are conveniantly ignoring while at the same time commiting this hedious act. I invite everyone to keep alive this thread and you will see that this will change! There are no secrets, no mysteries, simple math and logic. The banks owe a great deal of money to the public for doing this. And it is time for what our friends here at ripoffreport.com call the "ripoff revenge". Thank you John P. and I and thousands of others would continue your presence in this forum. And by the way, I don't have this problem. I have an income that allows me not to go through this ordeal. I do have friends that suffer a great deal trying to make ends meet and then dealing with a bank that instead of helping them what they do is screw them until they are skin and bones. Good night everyone!

Ok, I have to throw in my two-cent worth of comment to this post. Let's say that a person writes four of five small checks on the 10th and then four days later on the 14th he/she writes a large check for a bill that is to be paid on Friday the 15th, which happens to be the same day that their paycheck comes in direct-deposit. When the checks come in, the bank looks at the account balance and says: Hey, we can claim that the big check came in before the other checks did so we paid it, which depleted the account, then we can charge penalties for the first four checks that were written on the 10th and we can claim that this occurred before the persons direct deposit came in. This scenario has been well documented and the banks do rip-off people all of the time in the way that I just described and there is no way that the customer can prove that the bank did this! The only way to stop this rip-off is to always maintain a balance that is $500 to $1500 dollars higher than all of your monthly bills combined. Most people can not do this because they don't make enough and are barely scraping by! In closing: I believe that Bank of America is not a company I would do business with!

A lead from the Indy Star: "A Hendricks County developer is facing 6-1/2 years behind bars under a plea deal reached with prosecutors for writing $217 million in bad checks to cover his failing business." Granted we're talking millions of dollars here, but knowingly writing a bad check is a crime, no matter if you do it over several accounts or just one. And the dollar amount to some prosecutors is also irrelevant. It IS a crime. Notwithstanding that, people do it...sometimes with luck, other times, such as is the case with the OP who is now listed in ChexSystems, not so much.

I appreciate your explaining this practice to us. I have had similar problems with a different bank and NOT ONE person ever explained (could or would) that this was the reason I am paying several hundred dollars a month in OD fees. Thank you Michael. And, thank you for proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. That made the reading of your information much easier and didn't put to question your intelligence or knowledge.

Robert, No one denies that civil action may be pursued if someone writes a check that bounces. Furthermore, no one denies that legal remedies may be concurrently pursued to obtain payment of said debt. But what you implied (and maybe you did not intend to be taken this way) is that it is illegal from a criminal sense to have a check returned. I think it is important to shame those who blame banks for their NSFs into proper accountability - so don't get me wrong. But let's not try to criminalize the often unintentional act of overdrawing a bank account - because factually, such a claim is inaccurate. In most states INTENT when writing excessive or multiple checks on long-overdrawn or closed accounts is necessary before a bounced check becomes a crime that can be prosecuted (save the previous kiting reference, of course).

Robert, No one denies that civil action may be pursued if someone writes a check that bounces. Furthermore, no one denies that legal remedies may be concurrently pursued to obtain payment of said debt. But what you implied (and maybe you did not intend to be taken this way) is that it is illegal from a criminal sense to have a check returned. I think it is important to shame those who blame banks for their NSFs into proper accountability - so don't get me wrong. But let's not try to criminalize the often unintentional act of overdrawing a bank account - because factually, such a claim is inaccurate. In most states INTENT when writing excessive or multiple checks on long-overdrawn or closed accounts is necessary before a bounced check becomes a crime that can be prosecuted (save the previous kiting reference, of course).

Robert, No one denies that civil action may be pursued if someone writes a check that bounces. Furthermore, no one denies that legal remedies may be concurrently pursued to obtain payment of said debt. But what you implied (and maybe you did not intend to be taken this way) is that it is illegal from a criminal sense to have a check returned. I think it is important to shame those who blame banks for their NSFs into proper accountability - so don't get me wrong. But let's not try to criminalize the often unintentional act of overdrawing a bank account - because factually, such a claim is inaccurate. In most states INTENT when writing excessive or multiple checks on long-overdrawn or closed accounts is necessary before a bounced check becomes a crime that can be prosecuted (save the previous kiting reference, of course).

Robert, No one denies that civil action may be pursued if someone writes a check that bounces. Furthermore, no one denies that legal remedies may be concurrently pursued to obtain payment of said debt. But what you implied (and maybe you did not intend to be taken this way) is that it is illegal from a criminal sense to have a check returned. I think it is important to shame those who blame banks for their NSFs into proper accountability - so don't get me wrong. But let's not try to criminalize the often unintentional act of overdrawing a bank account - because factually, such a claim is inaccurate. In most states INTENT when writing excessive or multiple checks on long-overdrawn or closed accounts is necessary before a bounced check becomes a crime that can be prosecuted (save the previous kiting reference, of course).

I believe most of you drifted away from the original problem. First, kiting has to be consumed to become a crime, and it has to be with the intent of unlawfully obtaining a profit. It is normal banking operations if it is the transfer of money from one account to the other. Writing a check counting on funds that will be available on the same banking day is not fraud. Banks are guilty of misleading their customers with respect to bank closing times and dates. I believe this is one of Gaylon's problems. I believe Gaylon recognizes his innability to manage his account on the margins (near payday). I don't think he is trying to write a "bad check" in the fraudulent sense of it, he is simply counting on an inmediate future deposit which is his payroll direct deposit and he is attempting to use his funds like most have done in some period of their financial life. Gaylon has to understand how banks work, first they do so to their advantage, they are a business and they love making money. Having a checking account does not give them a profit, so they will try to do so through your mistakes, or misconceptions, or on misleading premises that they have themselves taught you. If today is the 14th and you are counting on your direct deposit for tomorrow, and as most banks have taught us in the past, the new banking day is after 3pm (other banks might have different closing times). If you count on this granted premise and you write a check at 8pm on the 14th, common sense tells you that you are already on the 15th as far as the bank is concerned. For the bank this is true. For the customer, it is not. The bank first processes all the debits (checks, ACH's and whachamacallits), then they process the credits (your direct deposit!). So when the bank receives 2 or 3 items that you wrote and counting them as hitting your account the next day, because no bank works after 7pm, then you are surprised because you received 3 NSF charges to your account, immediately after that you see your direct deposit! You are right! The bank used the system to their sole favor. Your direct deposit hit your account by 2 or 3 Am, those checks you wrote had not hit your account by that time. The system then once it starts its daily opening, it inverts the process by posting the debits first and then your Direct deposit gets processed last, and the bank made a profit by showing a negative balance and with 3 hits. We are not talking about crime, fraud, kiting, etc. We are talking about business ethics. There are no ethics in those systems. Those systemas are designed to suck the money out of your pockets by a small mistake that you receive. By the way there is a "panic button" that is pressed when there are too many complaints. You will notice that there are times when this doesn't happen to you. I have written software for banks and most of the persons involved in designing these processes are outraged, but the rules come from above. These processes are designed smart enough to go back in time and even on the 15th they timestamp (not the check21 timestamp) your checks as if they were from the 14th. You can always claim the digital copy of your check and you will notice that the check has the check21 timestamp as the 15th and another less conspicuous one indicating the 14th. There are many people trying to pass laws to stop banks from doing this, but they always distract the public opinion by talking about fraud, laws, schemes, etc. This is about ethics. Thank you

"Indiana. Treble amount of check not to exceed $500 plus amount of check, attorneys' fees of not less than $100 and interest at 18% per annum." This is the civil penalty for uttering a worthless check to someone. In order for a cilvil penalty to be imposed, a Crime had to be committed. The OFFICIAL Indiana site dealing with CRIMINAL complaints about utterers of worthless checks is as follows: -Bad Check Division The Bad Check Division informs and assists businesses and individual complaints with the prosecution of "bad" check writers. The division handles matters that involve checks drawn on accounts that have been closed and accounts that contain insufficient funds. Bad Check Procedures: The Complainant must immediately send the bad check writer a certified letter giving him/her ten (10) days to honor the check If there is no response at the end of the (10) day period, the complainant should contact the Bad Check Division at the LaPorte County Prosecuting Attorney's Office and request a bad check complaint form The Complainant should fill out the bad check complaint form COMPLETELY The Complainant should attach a copy of the check (FRONT and BACK), a copy of the certified letter, and also a copy of the certified (GREEN) card to the bad check complaint form The Complainant should return all of the information to the Bad Check Division of the Prosecuting Attorney's Office Once a complaint has been received by the Bad Check Division, a notice is sent to the bad check writer for him/her to appear in the Prosecuting Attorney's Office and clear up the check(s) All payments must be handled through the Bad Check Division. Reimbursments to businesses and individuals are done once a month If payment is not made by the bad check writer, the Prosecuting Attorney's Office will determine whether criminal charges will be pursued or whether civil actions is required If civil action is necessary, the Bad Check Division will advise the Complainant of the legal options If criminal charges are warranted, the Bad Check Division will prepare and mail the appropriate documents to the Complainant. These must be signed and returned to the Bad Check Division. The case is then filed by the Prosecuting Attorney's Office which may seek a fine, jail time, and/or restitution The Bad Check Division will advise the Complainant of the case's progress through the court system Bad Check Division (219) 874-5611 Ext. 818-

Kiting is a specific type of check fraud involving the exploitation of Reg CC rules to defraud a bank account. Bouncing an individual check (or even a couple of checks) unintentionally is not illegal. Intentionally passing bad checks is. All this being said, even if you're unintentionally passing bad checks (or otherwise overdrawing your account) you're still spending money that doesn't belong to you, and the bank charges you a penalty for doing so.

Kiting is a specific type of check fraud involving the exploitation of Reg CC rules to defraud a bank account. Bouncing an individual check (or even a couple of checks) unintentionally is not illegal. Intentionally passing bad checks is. All this being said, even if you're unintentionally passing bad checks (or otherwise overdrawing your account) you're still spending money that doesn't belong to you, and the bank charges you a penalty for doing so.

Kiting is a specific type of check fraud involving the exploitation of Reg CC rules to defraud a bank account. Bouncing an individual check (or even a couple of checks) unintentionally is not illegal. Intentionally passing bad checks is. All this being said, even if you're unintentionally passing bad checks (or otherwise overdrawing your account) you're still spending money that doesn't belong to you, and the bank charges you a penalty for doing so.

Kiting is a specific type of check fraud involving the exploitation of Reg CC rules to defraud a bank account. Bouncing an individual check (or even a couple of checks) unintentionally is not illegal. Intentionally passing bad checks is. All this being said, even if you're unintentionally passing bad checks (or otherwise overdrawing your account) you're still spending money that doesn't belong to you, and the bank charges you a penalty for doing so.

is fraud. It is illegal. It does not matter if you think the money will be in your account before the check hits your account. It is still illegal. Most states now have laws stating that if it can be proven that you have a pattern of floating checks intentionally, you can be prosectuted. Some of the stricter laws can put you in jail up to a year. Now, simply overdrawing your account is not illegal. If it is not on purpose. That is, however, grounds for a civil judgement. The best bet is, keep a register, and write down everything. Do not write checks if you do not have money, because more and more often, checks go through immediatly. If you do not have money, or a check has not cleared, do not spend money! If you cannot manage this, go back to cash.

From the website of Wilkepedia comes the true definition of "KITING". Take notes here, Robert: "Check kiters typically write a check on one account, then deposit into their second bank account (this type of check is referred to as a kite). Just before the check is submitted to the first bank for payment, the kiter then deposits a check written off the second bank account, which also has insufficient funds. This is possible due to the delay created by the collection of funds by one bank from the other (known as float time), which creates an artificial balance. In accounts with interest that compounds frequently, this can provide a significant amount of profit for interest over time on top of other funds." KITING was coined initially due to the predilection of WHITE COLLAR criminals to use the scheme to earn interest from the practice. This is a far cry from simply mishandling your SINGLE bank account or forgetting to log a transaction in your register. Honestly Robert...if bouncing a check was illegal, why would the bank even bother charging a fee? Why not simply alert the police - then file a suit for damages after the conviction? That's because in America, we do not jail people who are unable to pay their debts. Of course, if you wish to make criminals out of those who bounce a check, you can always lobby for it on the legislative level. I'm sure Bush (a spoiled ne'er-do-well who hasn't worked for a paycheck in his entire life) will sign it without thinking...just as he does everything else.

If you would kindly pass on the Specific title (not some hyperbolic blather like the nickname of what it is considered) of the law and where it is found in the criminal code, we would all love to hear it. Funny...I did an engine search and could not find one person in the state of Indiana who has been prosecuted for bouncing a check. That's because nearly every person has overdrawn his/her account at SOME point in their lives (except those of you who CLAIM to have kept flawless registers for your entire life). Maybe the laws in FANTASY LAND are different that for those of us in the really real world....

"I hate to break the news to you, but overdrawing your bank account by "floating checks for money you don't have" is not a crime." YES IT IS!!!!! It's called KITING, and it IS a criminal act. Writing a worthless check is a CRIME! Good grief.

Mike, I hate to break the news to you, but overdrawing your bank account by "floating checks for money you don't have" is not a crime. Writing checks fraudulently (I.E. stolen from another person and/or on an account that you closed or were notified by the bank had been closed) is a misdemeanor in most states. However, while we may justifiably demean and insult those who whine about overdraft fees when they can't balance a checkbook...in America, we do not jail or arrest people who cannot master 3rd grade mathematics. Perhaps you may want to hustle to the airport...your flight back to the Cold-war era Soviet Union is about to leave without you (I believe they executed people for far less than a bounced check)

The only way what you say happened could have happened is that you floated checks on money you didn't have, which is a crime. I too have BOA and direct deposit and my money is available as of around 7 or 8 AM Friday morning. Since I don't spend money I don't have, keep a check register and don't float checks, I have yet to incur an NSF fee from BOA. It is amazing to me how everytime someone on this site complains about an NSF fee, it's because the don't get the concept that they spent more than they have.