The check writer is told that if s/he successfully completes all program requirements, the case against him/her dismissed without any possibility of arrest, criminal charges or a record thereafter.
According to law enforcement agencies and district attorneys, BCRPs are diversion programs operated by the county, state, or other jurisdiction that are responsible for collecting funds owed to victims.
Sometimes the program is handled internally by the law enforcement agency itself, which often generates a substantial portion of its overall budget from the check fees that it collects.
The private company essentially pays the law enforcement agency a small portion of the fees it collects in exchange for permission to send demand letters on official law enforcement agency letterhead and to threaten to prosecute check writers who do not pay up to $200 in fees, plus the check itself.
This is when, in most instances, there is no criminal case to dismiss, and no law enforcement official has reviewed the check writer's file to even determine if there is/was evidence of a crime.
[citation needed] These programs have been criticized in news journals across the country as being unfair, unethical, predatory and possibly illegal.
[9] A federal court in Michigan ruled that the private company was violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by using district attorney letterhead and falsely threatening consumers with arrest.
[10] A federal court in Sacramento, California ruled that the person who ran the private company violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and California law by charging unlawful fees, pretending to be the district attorney's office and making false threats to have check writers arrested.,[11] and later awarded about $750,000 in damages.
[15] Then, in March 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit against National Corrective Group, Inc. and related entities, and obtained a consent order prohibiting these companies from masquerading as the prosecutor and making phony prosecution threats.