You were paid with a bounced check: the 10-day notice the law requires

It is the law that criminalizes issuing or delivering checks, drafts or bills without sufficient funds in Puerto Rico, in force since 1934 and codified at 33 L.P.R.A. §§ 1851-1856. It covers whoever makes, draws, endorses or delivers the instrument against any bank or other depositary, knowing when doing so that the issuer or drawer lacks sufficient funds or established credit for full payment on presentment. The word "credit" is interpreted as an arrangement or understanding with the drawee bank or depositary for the payment of the check, draft, bill or order.

Anyone who was paid with a check, draft, bill or money order whose payment the bank refused for insufficient funds or lack of credit. The law protects the holder of the instrument: the person who received it and presented it for payment. It also reaches the endorser, not only the original drawer, both in liability and in the notice that must be given.

• That the bank or depositary refused payment of the check, draft or order for insufficient funds or lack of credit.Verified against the official source
• Having personally notified the drawer and the endorser to pay, stating the address where to pay, with a term of not less than 10 days (same locality) or 15 days (another municipality).Verified against the official source
• That the term given in the notice expired without payment: payment within the term releases from criminal liability.Verified against the official source

• The returned check, draft or order, with the bank’s record that it refused payment for insufficient funds.
• Proof of the notice to the drawer and endorser and of its date: the law requires proving the notice to the court’s satisfaction, and the term runs from the date of the notice.

1. 1

   Step 1: Keep the returned check as is

   The dishonored instrument is your best evidence, because Section 2 says the drawee refusing payment for insufficient funds or lack of credit constitutes prima facie evidence of the drawer’s or endorser’s knowledge of that insufficiency. Do not alter it or give it back: keep it together with any bank record of the return.

2. 2

   Step 2: Personally notify the one who drew and the one who endorsed

   This is the step the law turns into a requirement: no one shall be punished unless it is proven, to the court’s satisfaction, that the holder of the check or their agent personally notified the drawer and the endorser to pay the holder or their agent, at the address to be stated in the notice. The notice must say where to pay. And note the law says drawer AND endorser: if the check came endorsed by someone else, the notice goes to both.

3. 3

   Step 3: Give the correct term based on where they live

   The notice term may not be less than ten (10) days if the drawer or endorser addressed resides in the holder’s locality, nor less than fifteen (15) days if they reside in another municipality. The term runs from the date of the notice. A notice with a shorter term than the legal one does not meet the condition the law itself imposes before anyone can be punished.

4. 4

   Step 4: Wait out the full term before going to court

   The law builds two opposite consequences around the term. If they pay within it, Section 6 releases whoever issued or endorsed the check from criminal liability: you got paid and the criminal matter ends there. If they do not pay after the notice, Section 5 says that non-payment shall be considered prima facie intent to defraud, which is precisely the element of the offense.

5. 5

   Step 5: If they did not pay, take the case with your proof of notice

   Once the term expires without payment, the offense Section 1 describes is a misdemeanor, and the penalty the text sets is a fine of no less than double the amount of the check, or one day of jail for each dollar or fraction left unpaid, or both at the court’s discretion. Remember the court will demand proof of the notice: without it, the law itself says no person shall be punished.

The criminal case is heard at the Court of First Instance; the complaint is channeled like any offense, starting with a report to the Police or the prosecution. If what you want is to collect the money more than to punish, remember the civil route exists separately: for amounts up to $15,000 there is the Rule 60 proceeding, which we explain in its own guide.

• Going straight to press charges without giving the notice: the law says no person shall be punished without proof of the prior notice.
• Giving a shorter term than the legal one: 10 days minimum in the same locality, 15 if the drawer resides in another municipality.
• Notifying only the person who signed the check and forgetting the endorser, when the law requires notifying both.
• Not stating in the notice the address where payment must be made, which is part of the content the law describes.
• Being unable to prove the date of the notice: the term runs from that date and the court demands proof to its satisfaction.
• Returning the original check to the person who drew it: it is your prima facie evidence.
• Believing the case continues even if they pay late: payment within the notice term releases from criminal liability.
• Confusing the criminal route with collection: if what you want is the money, the civil claim (Rule 60 up to $15,000) runs on its own track.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov