When the Check Bounces, Some Firms Cash In

Rubber checks cost businesses billions of dollars. In Prince George's County, they have drained Brenda Howard's dental practice of untold thousands. But in the past year, she's gotten back at least some of that -- $630.42, to be exact.

"If you've done the work, you truly want to be paid for it," she said. "I know an ophthalmologist who has stacks of bad checks. The physician's office next door to me, she had so many $5 co-pays that bounced she stopped taking checks for them."

So the Prince George's County state's attorney's office is making a to-do today of returning the 2 millionth dollar to local businesses that have received bad checks from customers. State's Attorney Glen F. Ivey will display an oversized cardboard check in the parking lot of a Beltsville Costco.

"A lot of your typical suburban businesses -- retail, grocery stores -- are affected by this," Ivey said.

The state's attorney's office, like others in the D.C. region, contracts with a company that goes after the bad-check writers. Those who attend a financial responsibility course, repay their debt and pay a fine can avoid a criminal record. The businesses are refunded what is owed them, and the county retains a portion of the fines.

"The businesses get their money back, and the defendants benefit because we only have a 3 percent recidivist rate," Ivey said. "I can use the county's lawyers to prosecute more violent criminal cases and other types of crimes. So it just works all the way around, and there's no taxpayer money used for it."

And business is booming for companies that administer these programs.

-- Anita Huslin