It's hard to believe anyone really writes checks anymore, but apparently they do, and lots of bad ones--enough that collecting on them has turned into a big business. And according to ProPublica, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the bad-check collection biz may be your local prosecutor. District attorney offices around the country have outsourced bad check collections work to sleazy debt collectors. Because they are technically working for the local DA (check kiting is a criminal offense) the debt collectors, often pretend to be law enforcement officials when they call up to hound people into paying off their $47 checks (plus hefty fees to the collection agency), even threatening people with arrest. Writes ProPublica:

"Budget data from a dozen of the biggest counties that use ACCS show that DA offices have cashed in. Over the past four years, Los Angeles County received $1 million. In Illinois, Cook County collected more than $160,000 over a 12-month period. Florida's Miami-Dade County raked in $375,000 between April 2005 and September 2008)."

Perhaps just another good reason to pay with cash...