MT Administrative Rules (2014)
Rule/Regulation
Effective: September 19, 2014
Summary An administrative rule imposing a fee for insufficient funds checks, checks returned from the bank unpaid and returned e-checks has been adopted to compensate the Secretary of State’s office for time spent on collections efforts and to act as a deterrent to future writers of bad checks.
AffectsAdds Section 44.2.205 to the Administrative Rules of Montana.
Changes - Authorizes the Secretary of State’s office to charge service fees for checks returned due to insufficient funds, closed accounts, stop payments, incorrect dates, inconsistency in amounts, incorrect signatures, and/or lack of signature.
- Imposes a fee of $15 for the first returned check and $25 for each subsequent returned check by the same payer.
- Provides the following exceptions to the returned check fees: (a) a payer presents the Secretary of with written confirmation by the payer’s financial institution that the check was returned due to an error on the part of the financial institution; or (b) the check is a returned e-check from the Secretary’s online payment processor that states the customer entered an invalid routing or account number.
Analysis
An administrative rule imposing a fee for insufficient funds checks, checks returned from the bank unpaid and returned e-checks has been adopted to compensate the Secretary of State’s office for time spent on collections efforts and to act as a deterrent to future writers of bad checks. Since Notaries submit commissioning fees to the Secretary by check or money order, the new rule will impact applicants who submit checks with insufficient funds to the Secretary. The notice of proposed rulemaking indicates that based on an average of 190 returned checks each year, the Secretary’s office will collect $2,850 in fees to offset the costs the office incurs. The Secretary noted that the new fees reasonably reflect the prevailing rates charged in the public and private sectors for similar services.
To read the adopted administrative rule, download the PDF below (see page 1793).