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#1869147 - 11/06/13 10:31 PM A Cashier's Check's Not "Come Home To Roost."
noelekal Offline
100 Club
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 116
Texas
A $100 cashier's check, dated from June of 2011, has never been cashed. A now-defunct flower shop had obtained it for payment to a local attorney who happens to sit on the bank's board and who does real estate work for the bank.

The flower shop is now out of business. The proprietor has moved to parts unknown. The attorney offices in our building. We see him every day.

The question has been posed: Do we (a) ask the attorney to review his records, cutting him a replacement check if he can't find anything, or (b)do we send it on to the State come next July and let them sort it out?

Obviously the hypothetical and the practical solutions could differ here in a small town bank. The fact that the payee is known to us, derives ongoing business from us, and sits on our board really shouldn't matter.

The proper course of action would be to send it on to the State.

The practical course of action is to replace the check and clear our books.

The practical solution does not bear up to scrutiny though.

What if more than one person possessed the same name as our attorney/director's as appears on the check? Not likely in this case but not impossible either to submit a replacement check to the wrong "John Doe."

What if the amount had been substantial? A hundred bucks is no big deal but what if the check was for thousands of dollars?

If the bank was to replace the check and the purchaser then came in the bank wanting to reclaim the funds, saying that he'd changed his mind two years ago about paying the attorney, then where would we be?

We're presently asking the attorney to check into this matter in his office records before proceeding.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

http://www.window.state.tx.us/up/reporting.html
_________________________
"The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it."
--George Orwell

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General Discussion
#1869482 - 11/07/13 07:36 PM Re: A Cashier's Check's Not "Come Home To Roost." noelekal
Neytiri Offline
Platinum Poster
Neytiri
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 645
Pandora
In my state the payee is the owner. (Why would the purchaser change his mind since he doesn't know the check is still outstanding? If this is from 2011 he would have changed his mind long before now by coming in and trying to stop payment on the check.) We would send the attorney - as the owner - an escheat notice letter, he can check his office files to see if he can locate the check, and if not then have the attorney sign an indemnity agreement and replace the check since he was the payee. You have to have a nice audit trail between the unpaid check and the replacement one.

You can always call your state Division of Unclaimed Property and they will answer your questions.

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#1869625 - 11/07/13 11:00 PM Re: A Cashier's Check's Not "Come Home To Roost." noelekal
noelekal Offline
100 Club
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 116
Texas
Thank you, Neytiri, for you help.

_________________________
"The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it."
--George Orwell

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