- In order to be liable under Ohio bad check laws, the writer of the check must have known that they did not have enough money in their account to cover the check, did not have an account for the checks funds to be withdrawn from at all, or wrote the check on an account they knew was opened using false information and/or identification. Further, a notice of insufficient funds must have been issued to the writer within 30 days of the check being written and no payment made within 10 days after that notice was delivered.
- When a bad check, or several bad checks, are written to either one vendor or several vendors but do not exceed $500.00, passing the check(s) is considered a criminal offense and a first degree misdemeanor in Ohio. The statute of limitations for a misdemeanor bad check offense is three years for a teller's check, cashier's check or traveler's check.
- A bad check becomes a fifth-degree felony offense in Ohio when it is paid to a single person or vendor and is written for any amount more $500 but less than $5,000. If several checks are written to multiple parties that cumulatively amount to more than $1,000 but less than $5,000, that also is a fifth-degree felony.
A bad check or checks written for more than $5,000 but less than $100,000 constitutes a fourth-degree felony.
Any bad check or checks exceeding $100,000 are a third-degree felony. - In Ohio, the civil punishment for a bad check is either the greater part of $200 or three times the amount for which the bad check was written. In addition, the writer of the bad check is responsible for attorney's fees.
- The criminal punishment for writing a bad check in Ohio depends on whether it is a misdemeanor or a felony. A misdemeanor can result in a $1,000 fine and/or up to six months in jail and a felony can result in a sentence of up to five years in prison and/or a $2,500 fine.
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