§ 17.1-626.1 Recovery of costs in civil actions for bad checks
A. In any civil action by a holder to recover the sum payable of a check drawn by the defendant on which payment has been refused by the payor bank because the drawer had no account or insufficient funds, or in any civil action following an arrest under § 18.2-181 or 18.2-182, the court, upon a determination that the plaintiff has prevailed, shall add the following amounts, as costs, to the amount due to the plaintiff for the check: (i) the sum of $30 to defray the cost of processing the returned check; and (ii) the base wage of one employee for time actually spent acting as a witness for the Commonwealth; provided, however, that the total amount of allowable costs granted under the provisions of this section shall not exceed the sum of $250 excluding restitution for the amount of the check.
B. Such award of costs shall be contingent upon a finding (i) that the plaintiff complied with the provisions in § 18.2-183 relating to notice and (ii) that the defendant failed to deliver payment or evidence of bank error to the plaintiff within five days after receipt of such notice.
History
This law was first created in 1977. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 329 of that year’s edition of “Acts of Assembly,” the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1977 “Acts” aren’t available online. It has been modified 1 time. Those modifications are cataloged by “The Acts of Assembly,” a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly’s website will be linked accordingly. That modification is as follows: in 2010, chapters 343 and 794.
1977, c. 329, § 6.1-118.1; 2010, cc. 343, 794.