Banks have come up with a lot of "self-help" ideas for collecting on charge-offs. This is one of them. Another one is misapplying the right of set-off (or offset, if you prefer) and grabbing all or part of a check like the one you've asked about and just telling the payee it's being applied to his debt.
Either of those schemes might get short-term results, but at the risk of legal hot water that could make the attempt more costly than helpful.
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John S. Burnett
BankersOnline.com
Fighting for Compliance since 1976
Bankers' Threads User #8