I've got a certain "family member" who, I just found out from our conversation this morning, is in some hot water. 
Last December, she bounced a bunch of checks, and ended up $800 in the hole ... $400 of which was bounced check fees. She talked to her bank, and luckily the president/manager of the bank is a girl she went to school with. The bank agreed to drop the NSF fees THAT ONE TIME, and the girl gave her some much-needed pointers on handling her checkbook. My "family member" got caught back up, and was doing fine ...
(I'll let her e-mail take over from here ... I'm editing out any personal details ... )
I'm still reeling ... I mean, I knew she had some financial problems, but I didn't know it was THIS bad. 
My "family member" THINKS (but isn't sure) that the bank has paid all the would've-been bounced checks, but she's still in trouble with the bank itself for the NSF fees. She owes the bank almost $400.
What's the worst that can happen if she doesn't pay up? "Just" the current bank account getting closed? Or can they get her for check fraud ... as in JAIL TIME? After all, she did write checks that she knew were no good at the time!
Years ago, one could pretty well count on checks taking at least 2-5 days to clear the bank, even locally. But these days, checks clear VERY quickly ... sometimes instantly (if you write a check at our Walmart, it goes through RIGHT THEN, or so they say).
Any thoughts?
I've already told her that you CANNOT play "Beat The Bank" and win these days!
BTW, this is the same person who admitted a few weeks ago that she hasn't made a payment on any of her credit cards in over a year ...
And she can't file bankruptcy, at least not anytime soon. She just filed 4 or so years ago ... for careless use of credit cards.
I'm so worried about her, but there's nothing I can do to help her out financially. And even if I could, I'm not sure it would REALLY be helping her ... in the long run, I mean ... if that makes sense.
ETA: And I'd like to believe that her going to "money orders only" is a start ... but I've seen it too many times already. A promise to do better ... and 3-4 months later, she's in the same (or worse) predicament ...
Last December, she bounced a bunch of checks, and ended up $800 in the hole ... $400 of which was bounced check fees. She talked to her bank, and luckily the president/manager of the bank is a girl she went to school with. The bank agreed to drop the NSF fees THAT ONE TIME, and the girl gave her some much-needed pointers on handling her checkbook. My "family member" got caught back up, and was doing fine ...
(I'll let her e-mail take over from here ... I'm editing out any personal details ... )
During the next few months, I did really good. I wrote down everything, called the automated thing every single day 10 times a day, and went online to check the balance 10 times a day. Then I goofed again. My problem was (IS!!!!) that I am/was check happy. I write tons and tons of checks, and hope I can beat the bank with a deposit before those checks clear. BIG booboo. What I do is (well what I DID) go to 5-6 different grocery stores, buy something really cheap, and write the check for $20-$25 OVER the amount. I'd gather up a bunch of those, then deposit it in the bank. I was so scared of having more fees that'd I'd do that 3-4 times a WEEK. THEN all those checks would come out of (her husband's) check that Friday, and what was left out of his check would not be enough to cover bills that week. So off I'd go making my rounds to grocery stores trying to get enough to deposit to cover the bills. Same cycle over and over and over every week.
Well.....
Last week, I hit my limit. We got in the hole over $300 and there was NO WAY I could make it up in grocery store trips. I didn't even try. I didn't ask Momma for money to bail me out, and I didn't ask Daddy for money to bail me out. I just sucked it up and come up with the idea of opening a new acct somewhere else.....(name of new bank). If he had of deposited his check Thursday for $730 at (name of current bank), our balance would have been brought up to $300. :-| If he had of checked the balance, he would have been MAJORLY FURIOUS that over half his check was gone with no money to pay the Hyundai, the Grand Prix, Directv, and his cell phone. So I called him and told him to cash his check and hang on to it. Then I told him about my goof-up and the plan to save his check and put it in a new acct.
SO......
He agreed, after fussing of course. So now I grounded myself from the checkbook, and bills are paid with money orders ONLY. I sent the Hyundai a money order and the Grand Prix a money order. So now we have the job of paying back (current bank). She also told me that day that we'd have "so much" time to get it in the positive before our acct was closed. I really like (current bank), and we're gonna try to salvage it.
Well.....
Last week, I hit my limit. We got in the hole over $300 and there was NO WAY I could make it up in grocery store trips. I didn't even try. I didn't ask Momma for money to bail me out, and I didn't ask Daddy for money to bail me out. I just sucked it up and come up with the idea of opening a new acct somewhere else.....(name of new bank). If he had of deposited his check Thursday for $730 at (name of current bank), our balance would have been brought up to $300. :-| If he had of checked the balance, he would have been MAJORLY FURIOUS that over half his check was gone with no money to pay the Hyundai, the Grand Prix, Directv, and his cell phone. So I called him and told him to cash his check and hang on to it. Then I told him about my goof-up and the plan to save his check and put it in a new acct.
SO......
He agreed, after fussing of course. So now I grounded myself from the checkbook, and bills are paid with money orders ONLY. I sent the Hyundai a money order and the Grand Prix a money order. So now we have the job of paying back (current bank). She also told me that day that we'd have "so much" time to get it in the positive before our acct was closed. I really like (current bank), and we're gonna try to salvage it.
My "family member" THINKS (but isn't sure) that the bank has paid all the would've-been bounced checks, but she's still in trouble with the bank itself for the NSF fees. She owes the bank almost $400.
What's the worst that can happen if she doesn't pay up? "Just" the current bank account getting closed? Or can they get her for check fraud ... as in JAIL TIME?
After all, she did write checks that she knew were no good at the time! Years ago, one could pretty well count on checks taking at least 2-5 days to clear the bank, even locally. But these days, checks clear VERY quickly ... sometimes instantly (if you write a check at our Walmart, it goes through RIGHT THEN, or so they say).
Any thoughts?
I've already told her that you CANNOT play "Beat The Bank" and win these days!
BTW, this is the same person who admitted a few weeks ago that she hasn't made a payment on any of her credit cards in over a year ...
And she can't file bankruptcy, at least not anytime soon. She just filed 4 or so years ago ... for careless use of credit cards.
I'm so worried about her, but there's nothing I can do to help her out financially. And even if I could, I'm not sure it would REALLY be helping her ... in the long run, I mean ... if that makes sense.
ETA: And I'd like to believe that her going to "money orders only" is a start ... but I've seen it too many times already. A promise to do better ... and 3-4 months later, she's in the same (or worse) predicament ...
She has NO CLUE what she even bought.
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