Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes

18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4105 (2026)

Bad checks.

✓ current as of May 2026

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§ 4105. Bad checks.

(a) Offense defined.--

(1) A person commits an offense if he issues or passes a check or similar sight order for the payment of money, knowing that it will not be honored by the drawee.

(2) A person commits an offense if he, knowing that it will not be honored by the drawee, issues or passes a check or similar sight order for the payment of money when the drawee is located within this Commonwealth. A violation of this paragraph shall occur without regard to whether the location of the issuance or passing of the check or similar sight order is within or outside of this Commonwealth. It shall be no defense to a violation of this section that some or all of the acts constituting the offense occurred outside of this Commonwealth.

(b) Presumptions.--For the purposes of this section as well as in any prosecution for theft committed by means of a bad check, the following shall apply:

(1) An issuer is presumed to know that the check or order (other than a post-dated check or order) would not be paid, if:

(i) payment was refused because the issuer had no such account with the drawee at the time the check or order was issued; or

(ii) payment was refused by the drawee for lack of funds, upon presentation within 30 days after issue, and the issuer failed to make good within ten days after receiving notice of that refusal.

Notice of refusal may be given to the issuer orally or in writing by any person. Proof that notice was sent by registered or certified mail, regardless of whether a receipt was requested or returned, to the address printed on the check or, if none, then to the issuer's last known address, shall raise a presumption that the notice was received.

(2) A check or order stamped "NSF" or "insufficient funds" shall raise a presumption that payment was refused by the drawee for lack of funds.

(3) A check or order stamped "account closed" or "no such account" or "counterfeit" shall raise a presumption that payment was refused by the drawee because the issuer had no such account with the drawee at the time the check or order was issued.

(c) Grading.--

(1) An offense under this section is:

(i) a summary offense if the check or order is less than $200;

(ii) a misdemeanor of the third degree if the check or order is $200 or more but less than $500;

(iii) a misdemeanor of the second degree if the check or order is $500 or more but less than $1,000;

(iv) a misdemeanor of the first degree if the check or order is $1,000 or more but is less than $75,000; or

(v) a felony of the third degree if the check or order is $75,000 or more.

(2) When the offense is a third or subsequent offense within a five-year period, regardless of the amount of the check or order and regardless of the grading of the prior offenses, an offense under this section is a misdemeanor of the first degree unless the amount of the check or order involved in the third or subsequent offense is $75,000 or more, then the offense is a felony of the third degree.

(d) Venue.--An offense under subsection (a) may be deemed to have been committed at either the place where the defendant issues or passes the bad check or similar sight order for the payment of money or the place where the financial institution upon which the bad check or similar sight order for the payment of money was drawn is located.

(e) Costs.--Upon conviction under this section the sentence shall include an order for the issuer or passer to reimburse the payee or such other party as the circumstances may indicate for:

(1) The face amount of the check.

(2) Interest at the legal rate on the face amount of the check from the date of dishonor by the drawee.

(3) A service charge if written notice of the service charge was conspicuously displayed on the payee's premises when the check was issued. The service charge shall not exceed $50 unless the payee is charged fees in excess of $50 by financial institutions as a result of such bad check or similar sight order for the payment of money. If the payee is charged fees in excess of $50, then the service charge shall not exceed the actual amount of the fees.

(July 6, 1984, P.L.647, No.134, eff. 90 days; Dec. 20, 1996, P.L.1531, No.201, eff. 60 days; June 22, 2000, P.L.382, No.50, eff. 60 days; Dec. 18, 2007, P.L.462, No.70, eff. 60 days)

2007 Amendment. Act 70 amended subsec. (e).

1996 Amendment. Act 201 amended subsecs. (b) and (c).

Cross References. Section 4105 is referred to in section 6122 of Title 7 (Banks and Banking); sections 3573, 3575, 8304 of Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure); section 2303 of Title 44 (Law and Justice).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 47 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1974–2026 · leading case: Ass'n of Settlement Companies v. Dep't of Banking, 977 A.2d 1257 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2009).

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Ass'n of Settlement Companies v. Dep't of Banking, 977 A.2d 1257 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2009). · cites it 2× “A licensee may collect a fee for a subsequent dishonored check or instrument taken in payment, not to exceed the service charge permitted to be imposed under 18 Pa.C.S. § 4105 (relating to bad checks).”

Commonwealth v. Bossche, 471 A.2d 93 (Pa. 1984). · cites it 2× “[2] 18 Pa.C.S. § 4105. [3] The sentencing judge repeatedly noted that he intended to modify only the sentence imposed on count two.”

Commonwealth v. Wallace, 97 A.3d 310 (Pa. 2014). “Justice SAYLOR flies a concurring opinion. . 18 Pa.C.S. § 2702; 18 Pa.”

Commonwealth v. Kaminski, 368 A.2d 776 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1976). · cites it 2× “334, § 1, 18 Pa.C.S. § 4105 (1973). [1] As I shall explain more fully later in this opinion, this court has received only a very small portion of the record.”

Commonwealth v. Burruss, 551 A.2d 580 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1988). · cites it 3× “WIEAND, Judge: The issue in this appeal is whether the two year statute of limitations within which to prosecute for writing a bad check in violation of 18 Pa.C.S. § 4105 is tolled or extended by the drawer’s fraudulent promises to make the check good after the payee learns that…”

Commonwealth v. Kyslinger, 484 A.2d 389 (Pa. 1984). · cites it 2× “As the majority concedes "[i]t is well established that, under 18 Pa.C.S. § 4105, supra, the legislature intended to denominate the passing of a check for which there are insufficient funds, where the insufficiency is within the knowledge of the issuer, as a crime regardless of…”

Commonwealth v. Carter, 656 A.2d 463 (Pa. 1995). “18 Pa.C.S. § 4105. 7 . 18 Pa.C.S. § 3922.”

Commonwealth v. Horton, 348 A.2d 728 (Pa. 1975). · cites it 2× “This crime has now been recodified as 18 Pa.C.S. § 4105. 3 . An appeal from a sentence of probation may be had to challenge matters leading to the conviction.”

Saia's Used Cars v. Commonwealth, 596 A.2d 1212 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1991). · cites it 2× “Section 4105 of the Crimes Code, 18 Pa.C.S. § 4105. 9 . 75 Pa.C.S. § 1957 provides: Whenever any check issued in payment of any fee or for any other purpose is returned to the department as uncollectible, the department or municipality shall charge a fee .”

Commonwealth v. Merlo, 364 A.2d 391 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1976). “18 Pa.C.S. § 4105 (1973). 1 The sole and narrow issue presented involves statutory interpretation of the Agreement on Detainers; 2 it is an issue of first impression, not only in this Commonwealth but in all jurisdictions that are party states to the Agreement on Detain-ers.”

Balao, 20 I. & N. Dec. 440 (BIA 1992). “18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4105 (a)(1) (1987). The statute speaks only of the "knowing" issuance of bad checks.”

Commonwealth v. Boyce, 450 A.2d 83 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1982). “18 Pa.C.S. § 4105. 2 . Appellant’s sole statement of question involved is: I.”

Show all 47 citing cases →

— 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4105(A)(1) — 1 case

Com. v. Adbullah-Talib, H. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015).

— 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4105(a) — 1 case

Perez v. Bureau of Commissions, 854 A.2d 998 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2004).

— 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4105(a)(1) — 8 cases

Mirat v. Attorney Gen. of the United States, 184 F. App'x 153 (3rd Cir. 2006).

Com. v. Jones, N. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2019).

Com. v. Heindl, S. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2019).

Com. v. Williams, T. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2014).

Com. v. Gadaleta, P. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015).

— 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4105(a)(2) — 1 case

Perry Petroleum Equip. Ltd. v. Pennsylvania (In re Perry Petroleum Equip. Ltd.), 564 B.R. 821 (Bankr. M.D. Penn. 2017).

— 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4105(a)(l) — 1 case

In re Anonymous Nos. 75 D.B. 94 & 7 D.B. 95, 34 Pa. D. & C.4th 32 (Pa. 1996).

— 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4105(b) — 1 case

Com. v. Wilkerson, M. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015).

— 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4105(b)(1)(ii) — 1 case

Com. v. Rock, A. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015).

— 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4105(b)(2) — 1 case

Commonwealth v. Burruss, 551 A.2d 580 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1988). “WIEAND, Judge: The issue in this appeal is whether the two year statute of limitations within which to prosecute for writing a bad check in violation of 18 Pa.C.S. § 4105 is tolled or extended by the drawer’s fraudulent promises to make the check good after the payee learns that…”

— 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4105(c)(1) — 2 cases

Com. v. Griggs, E., 2025 Pa. Super. 285 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2025).

Com. v. Griggs, E. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2025).

— 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4105(e)(1) — 1 case

Dorsey v. Bd. of Prob. & Parole, 573 A.2d 628 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1990).

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.