Possible lost check

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AAA
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Possible lost check

Post by AAA »

I sent a fairly large check by mail to someone about 2.5 weeks ago and it still has not been received. Apparently there are two options - put a stop payment on the check for a fee of $30 or do nothing but if it's cashed by someone elseI could dispute it. A couple of questions:

o How successful would such a dispute be?

o The stop payment is only in place for 6 months. At first this seemed odd to me but then I found out that a check is not good after 6 months. That's in principle at least and assumes a bank teller actually looks at the date of the check when cashing it. Is it the case generally that a check older than 6 months won't be cashed? If not it would imply having to renew the stop payment multiple times.
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CAsage
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by CAsage »

Can you do an online stop payment for free? I know that under our current Postmaster USPS has real delivery issues.... but that's a long time. First class envelope? Birthday card looking envelope? Note that lots of stolen checks get modified for both "to" and "amount". Yikes. Awful. I would probably do the stop payment. The dispute does work, but it's painful (or so I hear).
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whodidntante
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by whodidntante »

A teller can decide to accept even an old check. And if the first teller someone tries does not accept the check, they can simply try another teller and another teller until one accepts the check. This can be an issue if you are sending money to someone dishonest.

Consider whether one should still be writing checks in 2022. I do it only when necessary, like if I am sending money to an old person.
JayB
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by JayB »

AAA wrote: Sat Nov 26, 2022 1:27 pm I sent a fairly large check by mail to someone about 2.5 weeks ago and it still has not been received. Apparently there are two options - put a stop payment on the check for a fee of $30 or do nothing but if it's cashed by someone else I could dispute it.
Months ago, I sent a large check in the mail and worked with my credit union to put an immediate stop payment on the check (which automatically incurred a charge that they reversed manually) until the recipient told me they received it. I then called the credit union and they removed the stop payment at no charge.
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enad
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by enad »

AAA wrote: Sat Nov 26, 2022 1:27 pm I sent a fairly large check by mail to someone about 2.5 weeks ago and it still has not been received. Apparently there are two options - put a stop payment on the check for a fee of $30 or do nothing but if it's cashed by someone elseI could dispute it. A couple of questions:

o How successful would such a dispute be?

o The stop payment is only in place for 6 months. At first this seemed odd to me but then I found out that a check is not good after 6 months. That's in principle at least and assumes a bank teller actually looks at the date of the check when cashing it. Is it the case generally that a check older than 6 months won't be cashed? If not it would imply having to renew the stop payment multiple times.
If your check was stolen could someone use your information including signature to cash multiple checks? You might be made whole, but the bank might also question why you did not put a stop payment on the check. If it's a large check, perhaps you may want to consider closing out the account and creating a new account.
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bradinsky
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by bradinsky »

Seriously, only $30 and you’re thinking someone might do something fraudulent. What are you waiting for? Put a stop on the check, or better yet, close the account & open another.
sport
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by sport »

In won't help this time. However, in the future, consider using your bank's bill pay system and let them write and mail a check for you. At my bank, a bill pay check does not even have my account number on it, and it certainly does not have my signature. The bank also guarantees delivery of the checks. This service does not cost anything and the bank even pays for the postage.
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AAA
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by AAA »

bradinsky wrote: Sat Nov 26, 2022 6:51 pm Seriously, only $30 and you’re thinking someone might do something fraudulent. What are you waiting for? Put a stop on the check, or better yet, close the account & open another.
The hesitancy is the fact that the stop is only good for six months and would have to be renewed (indefinitely?).

Closing the account would require updating at many sites, getting new checks, etc. I don't want to have to do that unless justified by the actual risk, which I'm trying to assess.
bradinsky
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by bradinsky »

AAA wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 6:48 am
bradinsky wrote: Sat Nov 26, 2022 6:51 pm Seriously, only $30 and you’re thinking someone might do something fraudulent. What are you waiting for? Put a stop on the check, or better yet, close the account & open another.
The hesitancy is the fact that the stop is only good for six months and would have to be renewed (indefinitely?).

Closing the account would require updating at many sites, getting new checks, etc. I don't want to have to do that unless justified by the actual risk, which I'm trying to assess.
Kind of like walking a tightrope. I will assure you that updating the many sites & obtaining new checks is a mere inconvenience compared to dealing with a fraud issue & delays in getting reimbursed. Please let us know how this works out. Good luck!
rustwood
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by rustwood »

AAA wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 6:48 am The hesitancy is the fact that the stop is only good for six months and would have to be renewed (indefinitely?).

Closing the account would require updating at many sites, getting new checks, etc. I don't want to have to do that unless justified by the actual risk, which I'm trying to assess.
FWIW, I understand your reluctance. I'd be inclined to wait at least another week or two, but I'd also speak with the fraud department at the bank to confirm that you will be made whole if the check is fraudulently cashed.

I just went through something like this with a family member's account and the bank covered a fraudulently cashed check. After it was discovered, I was inclined to stop payment on a range of checks that were potentially at risk, but they convinced us to close the account. As it turned out, switching to a new account wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I did almost everything within a few hours and it forced us to do some overdue account housecleaning. There were only 2 hassles - linking it to a treasury direct account and redirecting social security deposits. You can now call treasury direct to make an account change, but that typically requires at least an hour on hold (and your bank must participate in the service they use to verify ownership). I changed social security online, but for some reason they said it wouldn't take effect until the Feb 2023 payment. The bank is temporarily keeping the account open for deposits only, but they expect the next SS payment will go into the new account. Fortunately, the person I've been dealing with in the fraud department has been very helpful. YMMV.
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Watty
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by Watty »

To keep things in perspective having the lost check "out there" may not be as high a risk as it feels like. The reason is that everyone who you write a check to has all your account information that is needed to print up new fake checks on your account so your account information is exposed all the time an it is rare for there to be a problem.

The biggest risk is that after a long delay the mail with the lost check might finally be delivered months late and the original person who it was made out to will deposit it either intentionally or by mistake. Who the check is made out to makes a big difference.

Once the check is replaced if the check is large enough then it might bounce if you do not normally keep that much money in that checking account.

Something to do is it check with your bank to make sure that they will actually bounce the check that is more than your account balance and that automatic overdraft protection is not turned on. They will often have that turned on by default just so they can generate a lot of overdraft fees when checks bounce.
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AAA
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by AAA »

So as it's almost been three weeks since the check was mailed, I today put a stop payment on it. As far as the stop only being good for six months, the bank rep said that after that time the check is no longer valid and a bank clerk should not cash it. I asked what would happen in the event it nevertheless was cashed, and she said she's never known that to happen but the bank should not hold me responsible.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by ResearchMed »

AAA wrote: Mon Nov 28, 2022 2:51 pm So as it's almost been three weeks since the check was mailed, I today put a stop payment on it. As far as the stop only being good for six months, the bank rep said that after that time the check is no longer valid and a bank clerk should not cash it. I asked what would happen in the event it nevertheless was cashed, and she said she's never known that to happen but the bank should not hold me responsible.

To be "safer", could you place a new stop payment on that check in 6 months, covering a year? As unlikely as it is for someone to be able to cash the check after 6 months (and I wonder sometimes), it should be even more difficult for the next 6 months...

Have you notified the payee that IF the check shows up, *not* to cash it, but to wait for payment some other way (another check dated <date> or whatever method, and to notify you? Then at least you wouldn't have this nagging worry on your mind.

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tibbitts
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by tibbitts »

sport wrote: Sat Nov 26, 2022 8:04 pm In won't help this time. However, in the future, consider using your bank's bill pay system and let them write and mail a check for you. At my bank, a bill pay check does not even have my account number on it, and it certainly does not have my signature. The bank also guarantees delivery of the checks. This service does not cost anything and the bank even pays for the postage.
Yes, this has worked well for me. When someone I wrote a check to lost it, it didn't cost anything to re-issue it. Today I would use an online payment system like Zelle, although recently I know of someone who lost a very large amount of money due to fraud through Zelle, so I should probably investigate that further.
bradinsky
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by bradinsky »

AAA wrote: Mon Nov 28, 2022 2:51 pm So as it's almost been three weeks since the check was mailed, I today put a stop payment on it. As far as the stop only being good for six months, the bank rep said that after that time the check is no longer valid and a bank clerk should not cash it. I asked what would happen in the event it nevertheless was cashed, and she said she's never known that to happen but the bank should not hold me responsible.
I’ve seen checks older than a year cashed before, so I’d certainly want a guarantee from the bank if I were to leave it floating around out there.
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AAA
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by AAA »

ResearchMed wrote: Mon Nov 28, 2022 3:09 pm
Have you notified the payee that IF the check shows up, *not* to cash it, but to wait for payment some other way (another check dated <date> or whatever method, and to notify you? Then at least you wouldn't have this nagging worry on your mind.
It's a family member and they have been told, so no worries along those lines.
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AAA
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by AAA »

bradinsky wrote: Mon Nov 28, 2022 3:54 pm I’ve seen checks older than a year cashed before, so I’d certainly want a guarantee from the bank if I were to leave it floating around out there.
Nothing is ever straightforward these days, is it? I don't know why the stop payment can't just be permanent. It's just an entry in some database. But I guess the six months limit is there because that's supposed to be the lifetime of the check. In any case, an image of each cashed check is available to me so I think I would have a strong case if this one was cashed after six months from the date it was written.
aerofreaky11
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by aerofreaky11 »

I am waiting on a payment sent in December 28th from Auburn, Alabama to make it to NYC. I have a verified that it is not been cashed yet. Same deal. I can actually start payment but it's a money order and that will require a several week wait for reissue. I believe if it were stolen it would already be cashed. Perhaps the mail is just extremely delayed from the weather around the holidays. This is stressful.

I did search and found that there's a huge staffing issue in Alabama for the Post office. It was sent first class mail so there's no tracking. :confused
aerofreaky11
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by aerofreaky11 »

I am waiting on a payment sent in December 28th from Auburn, Alabama to make it to NYC. I have a verified that it is not been cashed yet. Same deal. I can actually stop payment but it's a money order and that will require a several week wait for reissue. I believe if it were stolen it would already be cashed. Perhaps the mail is just extremely delayed from the weather around the holidays. This is stressful.

I did search and found that there's a huge staffing issue in Alabama for the Post office. It was sent first class mail so there's no tracking. :confused
MarkerFM
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Re: Possible lost check

Post by MarkerFM »

You really should consider switching to Fidelity. $30 is crazy for a stop payment. At FIDO they are free. I had to do one yesterday, another lost check mailed in December. One of only a handful of actual checks I write in a year. I stopped payment only in the unlikely event someone tried to wash it.

They asked me the reason and if it is lost the stop payment is permanent. For other reasons (did not inquire about examples), the stop is good for a year.
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