New Jersey Statutes

N.J. Stat. § 2C:21-5 (2026)

Bad checks, money orders, electronic funds transfers

✓ current as of May 2026

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2C:21-5. A person who issues or passes a check or similar sight order for the payment of money, or authorizes an electronic funds transfer, knowing that it will not be honored by the drawee, commits an offense as provided for in subsection c. of this section. For the purposes of this section as well as in any prosecution for theft committed by means of a bad check, an issuer is presumed to know that the check, money order, or electronic funds transfer (other than a post-dated check, money order, or electronic funds transfer) would not be paid, if:

a. The issuer had no account with the drawee at the time the check or money order was issued or the electronic funds transfer was made; or

b. Payment was refused by the drawee for lack of funds, or due to a closed account, after a deposit by the payee into a bank for collection or after presentation to the drawee within 46 days after issue, and the issuer failed to make good within 10 days after receiving notice of that refusal or after notice has been sent to the issuer's last known address. Notice of refusal may be given to the issuer orally or in writing in any reasonable manner by any person.

c. An offense under this section is:

(1) a crime of the second degree if the amount of the check, money order, or electronic funds transfer is $75,000.00 or more;

(2) a crime of the third degree if the amount of the check, money order, or electronic funds transfer is $1,000.00 or more but is less than $75,000.00;

(3) a crime of the fourth degree if the amount of the check, money order, or electronic funds transfer is $200.00 or more but is less than $1,000.00;

(4) a disorderly persons offense if the amount of the check, money order, or electronic funds transfer is less than $200.00.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 9 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 2008–2022 · leading case: State of New Jersey Vs. John C. Van Ness (13-01-0208, Monmouth Cnty. & Statewide), 163 A.3d 911 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2017).

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State of New Jersey Vs. John C. Van Ness (13-01-0208, Monmouth Cnty. & Statewide), 163 A.3d 911 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2017). · cites it 2× “2C:20-4 (counts one, five, and nine); three counts of fourth degree passing a check knowing it will not be honored, N.J.S.A. 2C:21-5 (counts two, six, and ten); three counts of third degree forgery, N.”

Land v. Helmer, 843 F. Supp. 2d 547 (D.N.J. 2012). · cites it 2× “New Jersey’s bad check statute, N.J.S.A. § 2C:21-5, prohibits issuing a check for the payment of money where the issuer knows that it will not be honored by the drawee and the issuer fails to make good on the payment when notified of the check’s failure.”

Commonwealth v. Goren, 893 N.E.2d 786 (Mass. App. Ct. 2008). “51, 52-53 (1973) (interpreting an earlier version of N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:21-5 [2005]). *684 Statutes in some States explicitly apply to a bad check tendered to pay an antecedent debt.”

State of New Jersey Vs. Josephine M. Shipps (15-04-0238, 15-04-0239, 15-12-0584 & 16-01-0045,warren Cnty. & Statewide) (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2017). “For the purpose of our decision, we need not recount the extensive procedural background of defendant's third and fourth- degree charges for issuance of bad checks, N.J.S.A. 2C:21-5. Suffice it to say that on April 27, 2015, she pled guilty to charges in Warren County.”

State of New Jersey Vs. Shawn D. Hollabaugh (08-04-0724 & 11-05-0671, Middlesex Cnty. & Statewide) (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2017). “2 The disorderly persons offenses consisted of bad checks, N.J.S.A. 2C:21-5, and shoplifting, N.J.S.”

State of New Jersey Vs. John W. Daniels (17-10-1394, Monmouth Cnty. & Statewide) (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2019). “Daniels entered a negotiated guilty plea to one count of third-degree bad checks, N.J.S.A. 2C:21-5. He was sentenced to a one-year probationary term, conditioned upon the payment of $3750 in restitution to the victim, C.”

State of New Jersey Vs. Roy Depack (12-04-0693, Hudson Cnty. & Statewide) (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2020). “Defendant pled guilty to passing bad checks, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:21-5, in connection with a scheme to defraud the victim of several thousand dollars.”

State of New Jersey Vs. John C. Vanness (13-01-0208, Monmouth Cnty. & Statewide) (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2021). “2C:21-1(a)(2) (counts three, seven, and eleven); third-degree uttering a forged instrument, N.”

Special Police Org. v. City of Newark (l-7121-19, Essex Cnty. & Statewide) (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2022). “2C:30-2 pertains to official misconduct; and N.J.S.A. 2C:21-5, which defines the offense of misapplication of entrusted property and the property of the government.”

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