We received some bills for deposit from a customer that we believe to be counterfeit. The bills have been turned over to the proper authorities and they gave us permission to talk to the customer about this. My question is, can we delay the availability of the deposit without knowing for certain that they are counterfeit? We used the counterfeit pen on the bills and determined that they were not good, however, the law enforcement agency said that they may be. Can anyone help me?!?!

Seems to me you don't need to take the risk of whether they are good or not. I would tell the customer no credit until the issue is resolved, if they don't like it they can go talk to the Secret Service or get replacements from wherever THEY got the bills to start with.

There is no requirement to give the customer immediate or delayed credit for the suspected note. We have a developed a receipt that describes the note, obtains the customer information for reference and explains the following:

The U.S. Secret Service, under the U.S. Department of the Treasury has the responsibility of investigating any Federal Reserve notes and/or monies suspected of being counterfeit.

Federal Reserve note(s) provided by you, either as a bank customer and/or depositor, may be counterfeit and will be forwarded to the U.S. Secret Service, Resident Agency, (Address, Phone Number) for review and analysis.

If the note(s) are determined to be genuine by the U.S. Secret Service, the note(s) will immediately be returned to the bank who will advise you accordingly.

If the note(s) are determined to be counterfeit, the note(s) will be taken out of circulation by the U.S. Secret Service and the bank, which provided the counterfeit note(s) for review, will be notified and provided with a counterfeit note receipt. As a bank customer/depositor, you have the right to ask for a copy of this receipt.

I concur, no credit need be given until the bills have been confirmed. I have found that the pen's are somewhat unreliable, especially on the older bills