Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Alabama
liability in check fraud
Scenario: two people have a joint checking account of which there is $2.00 in the account. Person ''A'' writes several hundred dollars in checks, to individuals, when there is no money to cover them. Can the ''individuals'' include person ''B'' in their law suit?
Additional data:
This generates several hundered dollars in overdraft fees on the joint account. The bank notifies person ''B'' of overdrafts. Since both persons are authorized to write checks on the account, they state that both persons are accountable to the bank for the fees. Person ''B'' pays the fees, places a stop payment on all outstanding checks and closes the account.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: liability in check fraud
Well, yes, they can include anyone they want in their lawsuit. Whether or not those persons are proper defendants is a different question. As far as liability for "check fraud", there are actually two questions here. 1.) criminal liability for negotiating worthless checks. As long as you did not sign the checks in question, you did nothing wrong. 2.) Civil liability-what you are referring to apparently in your question: it depends. You won't be held liable for writing the bad checks if you didn't sign them but if you owe these individuals money jointly with the other account holder, you can be held liable for that debt-if it's not paid as agreed. Yes, the bank can charge overdraft fees to the account and both holders are responsible. Hope this helps. If you are named as a defendant in a lawsuit, you should definitely contact a local attorney because even if you aren't liable, if you don't respond in a timely manner to the suit or make the proper motion to be dismissed as a defendant, you could end up losing. Good luck!
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