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Will I go to jail?
Anonymous8 views3 answers
We've been renting a house from the owners since August 2013. We bounced a check not purposely in November, something came out of the account we forgot about. This month we put all bills on hold so it didn't happen again and Aaron's computers messed up and made another check bounce. I told the landlord and they said to wire the money in their account by the next morning or they'd have me convicted of fraud. Will I go to jail even though both checks were accidentally bounced?
The statute for worthless checks is TCA 39-14-121. To be guilty of the offense, you must show fraudulent *intent* or *knowingly*. So acting negligently is not culpable. However, the *intent* or *knowingly* can be inferred if either 1) the bank account was closed at the time you issued the check or 2) payment is refused within 30 days of you issuing the check and after you received notice of that refusal of the check you failed to make good on the payment.
Your top priority needs to be 1) making good on the payment to the landlord quickly; 2) keep a good document trail and get something in writing from Aaron's showing the wrongful charge; and 3) if you are arrested you need to contact an attorney immediately. Worthless Checks are charged to a degree based on the dollar amount (A Misdemeanor
The short answer is no. You are most likely not going to jail for missing two months of rent due to two checks bouncing. Your landlord can file to have you evicted and you will still owe them the money. If your landlord does persuade a prosecutor to bring charges, you should hire an attorney immediately.
It is unlikely you will go to jail for bouncing 2 rent checks. This assumes you have no criminal record. If you do have a record of criminal convictions, this could play into the outcome of possible worthless check charges filed by the landlord. Your priority needs to be making good on the bounced check(s) ASAP. If worthless check charges are filed against you, you need to hire an attorney immediately. If you will be unable to hire an attorney, you need to tell the judge, on your first appearance in court, that you will need a public defender. Good luck.
