Waiting too long to cash a check

[Dreamstalker]

We had to get our washer fixed back in March; we're really financially strapped right now, but at the time had sufficient $ in one of the checking accounts to cover the cost...we assumed the guy (friend of a friend who was highly recommended) would deposit/cash our check right away.

Nope.

Check date: March 31.
Date of attempted deposit: June 10.

Not only did we get dinged with another NSF fee (the account is not overdrawn, but somehow it lost all overdraft protection), but he also insisted I cover the $12 he was charged when the check was returned...it's not really our fault; you're the one who sat on it too damn long (I did repay that fee; it wasn't that much and it seemed like the right thing to do).

I was able to write another check which I know will be good, but WTF? Who waits over two months? I deposit checks from clients in the bank that day (if not cash them outright, I'll do that if I don't quite trust the person or know they're scatterbrained) so I know I'll get paid.

[blas]

That drives me nuts, but the problem I have is, it's not always the people who I write checks to that take so long, it's the damn bank. My parents and I have the same bank, and my parents tell me that they cash payments I make to them the same day or the next day, and sometimes it's two weeks before the funds are taken out

Ironically, when I go pay my rent, by the next day, the funds are taken out, unless it's a Sunday.

But I do have a special hatred of people I write checks to, and they take their sweet sweet time cashing them. When I bought girl scout cookies a while back, it was almost two months before that check cleared, and it wasn't even over $20.

[Spork4pedro]

I had the same problem but with my credit/debit card! We went to Vegas in March for The Boy's bday and I treated him to the buffet @ the Rio. They didn't charge me until June! I have no idea how that worked out. We were fine but it confused the hell out of us to see that large of charge so much later than expected.

[Dreamstalker]

I don't know how that would work either; those charges are supposed to be immediate. The only way I can think of that would work out is if the card was run using a manual imprinter and the slips got misplaced (boss at the game store would do that; run cards at a con, then not actually enter them to be processed until weeks later).

My old apartment manager/landlady would sit on my rent checks for weeks, and mom's does that too (even with direct debit autopay they don't actually process it for a while; we're trying to figure out if the upfront fees for cashier's checks are worth it). It's embarrassing/annoying as hell to have a check bounce that you know could have been covered if the payee wasn't lazy.

On one paw I hate checks, on another paw there are some entities that I do not want to have access to my bank accounts (Paypal went in yesterday and took out an "automatic payment" for ebay after I removed that bank account as an auto payment method; apparently since the bank account is listed they don't need a manual authorization to go in).

[Geek King]

Dreamstalker, I think you did this to yourself. Written checks are good for deposit up to a year after the date on the check. You really should have taken that money out of your running balance in your check book ledger, and pretended that money was already gone. You just can't go off of your current balance unless you have accounted for all your outstanding checks.

I think paying your buddy back for the bounced check fee is the right thing to do in this case.

[paxillated]

I'm with Geek King. Keep your checkbook balanced, and things like this won't happen. Sadly, I keep re-learning that!

[Lurking Sockpuppet]

Dreamstalker, I think you did this to yourself. Written checks are good for deposit up to a year after the date on the check. You really should have taken that money out of your running balance in your check book ledger, and pretended that money was already gone. You just can't go off of your current balance unless you have accounted for all your outstanding checks.

I think paying your buddy back for the bounced check fee is the right thing to do in this case.

I agree completely.

Overdrafts suck but this could/should have been avoided.

Sockpuppet

[LadyAndreca]

I learned the hard way to keep up with the checkbook register, too.

Still, it's at the very least annoying and certainly FEELS rude, even if it's legal, when someone sits on a check for months. In the past, I've checked in with people to see if they lost the check, so I could cancel/re-write the check because they've taken so long.

[Dreamstalker]

Our register is up to date and I'm not sure what happened (unless there was an automatic draft that I don't know about; it's a joint account so I have to ask mom if she knows about it). There was $ to cover the check when it was written.

Eh, no big deal. Mom's said she'll cover the NSF fee (she wrote the original check) and we're splitting the cost of the repair anyway.

[wagegoth]

(the account is not overdrawn, but somehow it lost all overdraft protection)

With the changes in the law, I believe you have to authorize the bank for overdraft protection, and agree to pay the fees they charge for the privilege. If you agreed to this, but it's not happening, you need to contact your bank and let them know it's not working. You might also see if you qualify for an overdraft credit line on your checking account; it can come in very handy, but be sure to check out the costs and fees associated with it.

[MoonCat]

I understand that checks can be deposited for up to a year for payout, but it's rude to wait that long. You don't know how many other things might come up in that person's bank account; I would want to cash a check right away for my own protection if nothing else. There is no reason to wait three months to deposit a check.

[Moon]

This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry had kept all the Birthday checks his grandmother had written him for the last 10-15 years or so... He didn't want to take her money as she was on a fixed income, and he was making a lot of money anyway so he didn't need it. Kramer talked him into cashing them, as "she would want him to have that money". Jerry does, it overdraws Grandma's bank account. Grandma goes to her old bank branch to take care of it (as she hung up before her banker could tell her she could do it by phone) and it's been closed for years. Plus the neighborhood is now a ghetto.

[Teskeria]

(On a positive note, his daughter has three more years until he can stop the support directly to her mother. She graduates COLLEGE then.)

Check your state law. If she is 18 and out of high school (the two don't always match), in other words, in college as his daughter is, in many states the check is supposed to go direct to her now. As it is support for her. Her mom should not be getting it unless she is still living full time with her mom.

[KellyHabersham]

This reminds me a little of a problem we had when I worked in the church office - people would call and say that a check they'd written X months ago still hadn't posted to/been deducted from their account. Not having access to the financial records, I really couldn't do anything for these people, but sometimes I would be asked if I could look and see if the check in question was laying around somewhere in the office.