Penal Law § 190.05

Issuing a bad check · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 190.05 Issuing a bad check.

A person is guilty of issuing a bad check when:

1. (a) As a drawer or representative drawer, he utters a check knowing that he or his principal, as the case may be, does not then have sufficient funds with the drawee to cover it, and (b) he intends or believes at the time of utterance that payment will be refused by the drawee upon presentation, and (c) payment is refused by the drawee upon presentation; or

2. (a) He passes a check knowing that the drawer thereof does not then have sufficient funds with the drawee to cover it, and (b) he intends or believes at the time the check is passed that payment will be refused by the drawee upon presentation, and (c) payment is refused by the drawee upon presentation.

Issuing a bad check is a class B misdemeanor.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/190.05

In plain English

A person issues a bad check when:

(1) as drawer or representative drawer, the person utters a check knowing funds are insufficient, intends or believes payment will be refused, and payment is refused; or
(2) the person passes another’s check knowing the drawer lacks sufficient funds, intends or believes payment will be refused, and payment is refused. ★

It is a class B misdemeanor.

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.