Hot Check Division
1800 N. Graves St., Ste. 200
McKinney, Texas 75069
972-548-3601
The Hot Check Division administers the District Attorney’s Hot
Check Loss Prevention Program, conducts investigations into patterns
of fraud that may be indicated by worthless check schemes, and offers
assistance to those who may be victimized by identity theft.
The Hot Check Division’s primary purpose is to receive complaints
of theft arising from the passing of worthless checks and to develop
those complaints into prosecutable cases. To help in this effort, the
DA’s Office provides information to merchants on the proper procedures
they should use in accepting a check for payment for a merchant’s
goods, products, or services. When proper procedures are used, the likelihood
of catching the offender, obtaining restitution for the merchant, and
getting a conviction against the writer of a hot check greatly increases.
You can review or download Accepting
a Check and Procedure
for Taking a Check to assist you in learning those proper procedures.
You can download Acrobat Reader here
for free.
In 2003, the Hot Check Division returned more than $568,000 to merchants,
exclusive of restitution ordered in criminal hot check cases. In 2004,
more than $700,000 was recovered. Some bad check writers who have qualified
have been placed on the DA’s Periodic Payment Plan that will recover
an additional $309,000 this year.
Filing a Check with the DA
If the check is an NSF check:
- Send a certified letter to the person who signed the check to the
address on the check if you have not enrolled in the DA’s Fast
Filing Program. A sample fill-in-the blank letter is available here.
- If the certified letter is returned unclaimed, wait ten (10) days
to file the check with the DA’s Office.
- If the certified letter is claimed, wait ten (10) days from the
date the certified letter was signed for as shown on the return receipt
before filing the check with the DA’s Office.
- When you file the check with the DA’s Office, you must file
BOTH the CERTIFIED
GREEN CARD RECEIPT AND THE ORIGINAL CHECK along with the Hot
Check Crime Report you can download here.
If the check was written on a closed account:
- No notice by certified mail or otherwise is required.
- File the original check with the DA’s Office along with the
Hot Check Crime Report.
Merchants’ Hot Check Fast Filing Program
You can enroll in the DA’s Hot Check Fast Filing Program:
- The Hot Check Division of the DA’s Office will send any required
certified notices for you. This is a FREE SERVICE
for those enrolled in the program.
- You can enroll in the program by downloading, completing, and sending
the Fast
Filing Agreement to the Hot Check Division at the address shown
on the Agreement. You only have to enroll once.
- When you file the check with the DA’s Office, you must file
the ORIGINAL CHECK along with the Hot Check Crime Report you can download
here.
Even if the Hot Check Division cannot develop a prosecutable case from
a hot check you submit, we will still attempt to collect restitution
for you as well as the statutory merchant fee to which you are entitled.
If the case is a prosecutable case and is filed in court for prosecution,
we will require restitution and the merchant fee be paid as a condition
of any plea bargain agreement or, if the court agrees, as a condition
of probation if probation is granted to the offender by the court. The
District Attorney’s Office will not dismiss a case solely because
the offender pays restitution or because the victim wants to drop charges.
Once filed, the criminal case will proceed as any other criminal case
would.
Substitute Checks
Federal law now allows banks to replace a check with an imaged substitute
check. Your bank may use this process, and you would not receive the
actual hot check you received and deposited. It is likely that in the
near future original processed paper checks will no longer be available
to you, but for a fee you can obtain a substitute check from your bank.
The imaged checks you receive with you bank statement are not substitute
checks. Because of this fee, the Hot Check Division will begin to collect
the maximum merchant fee of $30.00 on all returned checks written in
2004 and later. The collection of this fee should help to offset the
cost of obtaining a substitute check.
Substitute checks from your bank are the only exception to the requirement
that the Hot Check Division have the original hot check in order to
accept it for collection and prosecution. When all restitution and your
merchant fee have been collected from the offender, you will receive
that money in a restitution check from the Hot Check Division.
Some Things a Merchant Should Know
- You should have a check acceptance policy consistent with the information
provided on this website regarding a accepting
a check and a procedure
for taking a check, and you should follow that policy consistently.
- The DA’s Office cannot accept the following kinds of checks
for prosecution:
- Post-dated or “hold” checks
- Checks not presented to a bank for payment within 30 days of receipt
- Checks presented outside Collin County or for services performed
outside Collin County
- A check given as a substitute for another
- Checks received in the mail
- Two or more party checks
- Checks altered or forged
- Checks where no goods, products, or services were given in immediate
exchange
- Checks given to pay a pre-existing debt
- Drafts, which are an extension of credit
- Checks that are not marked or flagged “account closed”
or “NSF”
- Checks where the apparent signer cannot be identified as having
actually signed and presented the check
- If you are not sure how to submit a check to the DA’s
Office, or if you have any questions about any aspect of accepting a
check, call one of the staff of the Hot Check Division. He or she will
make sure your question gets an answer.
- Be suspicious of :
- Starter checks
- Temporary, expired, or out-of-state driver’s licenses
- Department of Public Safety ID cards (intended for senior citizens
and the disabled)
- Anyone who cannot produce a driver’s license
- Any variation between the information on the check, the ID produced
and/or the check writer
- Always keep a copy of everything you send to the DA’s
Office, Hot Check Division
Over The Phone Payment
We accept Visa and Master Card only.
There is a $5.00 convenience fee for making a payment over the phone. Please call 972-548-3601, 972-548-3602, or 972-548-3632 or the metro number 972-424-1460 with any of those 3 extension numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
I received notice from the Hot Check Division that some
hot checks I wrote have been filed with the DA. What should I do?
You should immediately contact the Hot Check Division,
find out how much you owe, and make arrangements to pay the checks, the
merchant’s fee, and the DA’s fee. If eligible and if you want
to, you may be able to pay by installments. You can pay by mail with a
money order or cashier’s check, and if paying in person, you may
pay in cash. As you would expect, the Hot Check Division does not accept
personal checks. Never send cash in the mail. Do not make restitution
to the merchant directly. It will not save you.
Well, I didn’t pay the hot checks I wrote and now
I have criminal cases filed against me. What do I do?
A warrant has been issued for your arrest. You are advised
to surrender to the county sheriff.
OK, now that I have criminal cases filed against me, what
happens after I am arrested? If I pay restitution and all the fees and
costs, will the criminal cases be dismissed?
Your criminal case will be handled as any criminal case
would be. You should have a lawyer and consider his or her advice. Your
attorney will advise you about the procedures in a criminal case. Under
no circumstances will your criminal case be dismissed just because you
pay restitution, fees and costs. The Hot Check Division is not going to
be your banker. Once a criminal case is filed against you, the Hot Check
Division only collects your money while the prosecutor assigned to your
case seeks your conviction.
Can I get a list from your office of the hot checks I have
written?
You can get a list of hot checks you have written that have
been filed with the Hot Check Division. You have to appear in person and
have a state driver’s license or other official photo identification.
We will not release the information to anyone but you or your attorney.
If hot checks I have written are filed with your Hot Check
Division, will I have a criminal record if I pay the checks and fees before
a criminal case is filed against me?
You will not have a criminal record for the hot checks filed
with the Hot Check Division if you pay those checks before a criminal
case is filed. However, merely paying the checks you owe will not necessarily
prevent a criminal case from being filed. The decision to file a criminal
case involves many factors, and no one in the DA’s Office can tell
you with certainty that a case will not be filed just because you made
restitution, although payment of restitution is a factor in making that
decision. All in all, you are likely to be better off if you pay the checks
and fees than you would be if you don’t.
Hot Check Division Staff
Felony Investigator Rodney Gene Neal received an undergraduate
degree in Political Science from Grayson College in Sherman, Texas,
in 1973. Mr. Neal attended the Homer C. Garrison Law Enforcement Academy
in Austin, Texas, becoming the youngest Texas State Trooper ever commissioned
by the State Texas. He served as a State Trooper for fifteen years,
and achieved the rank of Senior Highway Patrol Trooper. Mr. Neal left
the Department of Public Safety to accept a position as Criminal Investigator
with the Collin County Criminal District Attorney’s Office in
1988, and is currently the senior felony investigator in the Felony
Division. He joined the Special Crimes Division in October 2003.
Investigator Todd Low attended the Tarrant County Junior
College Police Academy in December 1992 and received his basic peace
officer certification. In February 1993, he began his career as a patrol
officer for the City of Bridgeport, TX. He was promoted to patrol Sergeant
in 1997. In 1999, he was assigned to the Governor’s Office Task
Force as an investigator. Investigator Low joined the Flower Mound Police
Department in 2000 as a patrol officer. He was promoted to the motorcycle
traffic division in 2001 and later joined the SWAT team. Investigator
Low joined the Collin County District Attorney’s Office in December
2004 and serves as the Investigator for County Court at Law No. 5. Besides
work, Todd loves to spend time with the most important people in his
life, his two children.
Lisa McCurdy received her undergraduate degree from Texas
A&M Commerce in 1996. She began work for Collin County in 1997 as
a deputy clerk, became civil clerk for County Court at Law No. 4, and
joined the Collin County District Attorney's Office in 2001. Ms. McCurdy
currently serves as a felony secretary for the Hot Check Division.
Ms. Preskitt started
as the receptionist for the District Attorney's office in April 2004.
She was quickly promoted and is currently working in Intake.
Mrs. Watkins began her career with Collin County in 1982
as a clerk in the Election Department. Before leaving the Election Department,
she was promoted to Assistant Elections Administrator. In 1989 she transferred
to the District Attorney’s Office as receptionist and within the
year was moved into the Hot Check Division where she has worked for
15 years. Mrs. Watkins now supervises the day to day activities of the
Hot Check Division.
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