Some of my chars can get caught stealing by a non guard npc, and get the bounty but don't get a negative status. Even killing still no bad status. I still get stopped by the guard for the bounty but with no status they don't really chase me if I run or seek me out. There is no status indicator appearing on the lower right at all.
As a casual player I was satisfied that at one point I had a char max level and near max crafting with almost all motifs and I pretty much lost interest. Then ESO discovered DLC's and now my main is just a wanabe and I am happily pulled back into the game.