pay off my bad checks before I get a warrant put out on me

Well, sort of…they aren’t looking for me yet, and as long as I pay off one of the checks ($12.71 turned into $136.71 in court fines!) before the 9th, the warrant will go away and I will not be prosecuted. So come payday I am paying them.

Those were like the most expensive Hungry Man dinners EVER.

I got one of those notices in the mail saying I have a “certified letter.” Probably admonishing me for committing the grievous sin of writing bad checks to Wal-Mart. Since I don’t have a car (well, I do, but I have to get the damn thing out of the impound, which I can’t afford right now!) and the post office is a couple miles away, I didn’t go pick it up, but I’m almost sure that’s what it was.

Still paranoid I have a warrant out, even though the county warrants website isn’t showing anything for me.

The good news is that I’m still under 21 (by a few months now) and have not used my “get out of jail free card” (that is to say, plea of youthful offender, which can be used for ANYTHING up until you’re 21 in this state…I have a friend who used it for a speeding ticket so her insurance wouldn’t go up…but you can only use it once) yet. The even better news is that if I am arrested for negotiating a worthless negotiable instrument (legalese for “my checks to Wal-Mart bounced so high they hit a 747”) I would be released on my own recognizance with a signature bond because I am employed. Basically, that means I get booked in, and then I sign myself out of jail. Not too terrible in the big scheme of things. Only shitty part would be having to walk home from the jail if I couldn’t get a ride. It’s not in the best part of town.

The bad check I wrote to the Exxon was run through again (for reasons unknown to me…I’m not mad about it, though, because it got paid and now I don’t have to worry about it), and I had $ in the account, so that’s one check I no longer have to worry about.

And I’m sure it did go through because under it on my statement a little ways is NSF FEE FOR CHECK #113: $29.00, and then where it went through is 113: $10.61.

AND I just noticed the one to Save-A-Lot ALSO went through again and did not bounce. Awesome. Two less things I have to worry about…

I’ve been told AGAIN how my ass is as good as in jail unless I can pay Wal-Mart back, so I am going to get on that as soon as I pay back the two places who have sent notices. As Wal-Mart has not sent a notice yet, I think I’m good until they do.

And I am DEFINITELY on the check-writing shit-list. Oh, well…that just means I can’t write any MORE bad checks. Can’t write good ones, either, which was what I was trying to do today, but that’s cool…I’ll just go withdraw money tomorrow and pay cash for the stuff I need.

Apparently I am on the “check-writing shit list,” because while I HAD a little money in my account, none of those electronic things they have at gas stations will take my check. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a driver’s license and had to use my social security number as an I.D. number. Don’t know.

And now I’m scared shitless for all the horror stories I’ve heard about Wal-Mart prosecuting. I’m scared to go in Wal-Mart for fear they’ll recognize me (really that’s stupid because EVERYONE goes to Wal-Mart, and I’m not even as freaked out about the one I wrote at a store I work at, and THEY haven’t said shit about it to me, but their collections agency sent out a letter, and I AM going to pay that one first because I need to keep my job there to pay off the rest).

Plus, Wal-Mart hasn’t sent me the official “your check bounced” letter, nor has the DA’s office. Since the address on my checks is correct, I guess that means I’ve got a little time to pay off the first two, whom I have gotten letters from. I will pay one this week and one next week.

Found out from my friend who used to work for the Sheriff’s Department that Wal-Mart WILL prosecute. Great. Better pay those off in the next couple weeks.

They’re in the $3-$4 range (both were for a pack of cigarettes) and to the corner store.

I’m going to start paying them off one by one next week, starting with the highest dollar ones, because I figure people are more likely to have you arrested over $20 than $4. Oh, and the ones that have been out the longest, because that’s more time for them to get the Worthless Check Unit involved. From what I’ve heard, they have to send you a notice saying your check was bad before they can put out a warrant. I have not gotten any of those except the one from the collections agency.

Oh, and just to set things straight, I am NOT writing any more checks EVER AGAIN. Those two finally bounced after like a week and a half when I thought they already had already gone through.

Wal-Mart (x2) $23.01
Bruno’s $12.71 (already gone to collection, so PROBABLY will not go to the Worthless Check Unit)
Publix $20.00
-Save-A-Lot $7.91-
-Exxon $10.00-

Anyone know if these people prosecute?