page 2
daily nebraskan
monday, february 9, 1981
Checkrite watches out for wrongs of bad checks
By Margie Honz
Think twice about writing a bad check
in Lincoln.
Not only is it illegal to write a check
with insufficient funds, but it could be
costly if your check bounces into the
hands of a merchant protected by Check
rite collection agency.
About 500 Lincoln businesses use the
service, said Checkrite's Kathy Jo Nissen.
Nissen said Checkrite started in Lincoln
in January 1980. The agency attracts mer
chants because it goes after people who
write bad checks, she said. This saves mer
chants both time and labor costs, she
added.
Any bad check received by a Checkrite
merchant goes directly from the bank to
Checkrite, Nissen said.
The agency then attempts to collect
money from the check writers. Checkrite
then adds a $7 service charge to every
check it receives, Nissen said.
Checkrite keeps the service charge. It
also charges each merchant an annual fee,
Nissen said.
In return, the merchant receives the full
amount for which the check was written.
The merchant gets a bulletin which has the
names of people who have written bad
checks to Checkrite merchants, she said.
Legal action
Although Checkrite does not take legal
action against uncollectable accounts, mer
chants are free to do so after the agency
notifies them of the account's status,
Nissen said.
The Checkrite decal that warns people
of the $7 service charge for bad checks is
often displayed at businesses. Nissen said
this may make customers more cautious.
Taco Inn. 13 and R streets, has used
Checkrite for about a year, said Manager
Jon Scholl. Although the number of had
checks has not been lowered, collection
rates have increased, he said.
Scholl said Taco Inn needs the service
because Checkrite is more consistent in
collecting than the store would be.
Checkrite uses a different billing
method than other collectors. Most other
collection agencies charge a business even
if they are unable to collect on a check, he
said.
Mark Oppegard, manager of the Nebra
ska Bookstore at 1 135 R St., also express
ed satisfaction with Checkrite. He said the
agency has been successful because many
collection services keep half of the amount
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collected. Oppegard said the yearly sub
scription fee to Checkrite is worth the
successful collection rate - which he esti
mated at about 90 percent.
He said Nebraska Bookstore gets a
number of bad checks from students,
faculty and other shoppers.
Oppegard said the store received 75 bad
checks in January. They totaled more than
$3,500.
He said the store gets more bad checks
during the first part of each semester and
before Christmas.
Discourage checks
Oppegard said the store started display
ing Checkrite stickers about a year ago,
hoping to discourage customers from writ
ing bad checks, but it didn't work.
"In fact, 1(W0 was one of our worst
years, but that was mostly because of the
economy," he said.
Oppegard said legal action is damaging
to people who write chocks that bounce.
"They're breaking the law when they do
it. and a lot of people don't realie this."
he said.
liven Menu's Liquor Store, IM4 P St..
is cracking down on check writers, accord
ing to manager John (ioldsberry.
Menu's cashes personal checks written
for S15 without a purchase or for $15
above the amount of the purchase. On Jan.
24, the store began requiring a drivers
license and 10 cents for each check written
without a purchase, Goldsberry said.
Me said llerm's does not use Checkrite
because the late Herm Strackbein, owner
of the liquor store, never wanted it. Golds
berry said Strackbein thought the $7 ser
vice charge would scare away business.
"Herm never did do anything about bad
checks," Goldsberry said.
This gave the store a reputation of not
collecting on bad checks.
Goldsberry said he sends letters to
customers who write bad checks. If the
customer does not reply within a week, he
files the check with the county attorney,
he said.
The county attorney charges S2 for
each check filed, but (ioldsberry said this is
reimbursed to the store if the attoine
collects the money. If not, Goldsberry said,
he loses the fee and the amount of the
check.
Before (ioldsberry began taking legal
action. Merm's received about $100 to
$200 in bad checks every week, he said.
Now, two-thirds of the checks are taken
care of immediately.
Goldsberry said the store's check-cashing
policy is good for business, but
admitted it might be a temptation for
people to write bad checks.
"We need something here to let people
know we don't just give money away," he
said.
Broadcasting department
to co-sponor competition
The UNL School of Journalism's broad
casting department was chosen by the
board of directors of the Broadcasters Pro
motion Association to co-sponsor its 1981
International Awards Competition.
Professor says
warmth to stay
UNL's Art Douglas says Nebraskans can
expect warm and dry conditions that have
dominated this winter to return and con
tinue for another month or two, but preci
pitation may be near normal early in the
spring.
Douglas, an assistant professor of geo
graphy, is on a one-year leave of absence
from UNL at the Scripps Institute of
Oceanography in LaJolla, Calif.
From California, Douglas reports that
the northward swing of the jet stream
above Canada, which he pointed out last
November would likely result in warm,
dry air for the northern plains this winter,
is likely to come more out of the south
west in the early spring. This will bring
above normal temperatures and near nor-mal-or
slightly below normal -precipitation
through April, he said.
Prof. Pete Mayeux of the broadcasting
department said the department asked to
help with the contest for several reasons.
The co-chairwomen of the awards com
mittee, Judy lloran of WOWT and Deb
McDermott of KOLN-TVKGIN-TV, are
located in Omaha and Lincoln.
Mayeux, an active member of BPA, said
the broadcasting department has supervis
ed many contests before, and that is
another reason UNL was chosen.
The contest has 17 categories, including
multi-media campaigns, television and
radio announcements, in-house announce
ments, syndicated materials, various pro
motions, outdoor advertising, program dist
ributors, and community involvement. The
categories are further broken down among
radio and television stations and market
sizes. The contest is open to all radio and
television stations and program distribut
ors. Competitors do not have to be memb
ers of BPA. The deadline for entries is
March 9.
Mayeux said the university's role will be
administrative: preparing and mailing the
entry forms, publicizing the contest,
supplying the judging facilities during
spring break and arranging for the judges,
advertising and promotion professionals to
get to Lincoln.
Awards will be presented June 13 at the
Waldorf Astoria in New York City.
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