Recently a customer at my financial institution had checks stolen from their mail and altered with a new payee name. We were not aware of the alterations within the 24 hour timeframe to return through the Feds. Our customer signed an affidavit stating that they did not authorize, endorse, or receive any benefit regarding the altered check.

THE BOFD sent us a letter stating that our affidavit is not sufficient. They stated that the affidavit needs to be correct to state what the original check information was and what it was then altered to. We sent additional documentation showing the nature of the alteration as well as what caused the check to be altered as well as proof of the alteration. The BOFD states that the proof of alteration does not replace the need for the affidavit to state this information. Is it required for the affidavit to state the information from the original check and the altered check. I am not aware of anything that states that this information is required on the signed affidavit.

The account in which the altered check was drawn off of was a business account. The only signer on the account was the person who filled out the affidavit. The BOFD is also requesting that the person who signed the affidavit list their title within the company. I also believe that this should not be required.

If anybody could let me know if either of these requested changes are legally required it would be greatly appreciated. My belief is that we have a signed affidavit stating an alteration took place and now the burden of proving otherwise falls on the BOFD.

I can't speak to what is legally required on the affidavit, but at my previous employer we used an affidavit form that included the information that the BOFD is asking for. We never had a problem getting the funds returned. If it was me, I would provide an affidavit that includes what the BOFD is asking for and get the customer their money back.

I agree with Tom. And I have an affidavit of alteration that does this- if you need a template to work from, PM me your email address and I will send it to you.

To explain what I think is happening, it doesn't sound like the BOFD has denied your claim, just that they need the right documents to process your claim. Their behavior makes sense when you consider that banks routinely confuse "altered" and "counterfeit" checks (our return codes even inexplicably lump Altered and Fictitious together in one code). The distinction is important because different parties bear liability depending on the nature of the claim. Your documentation may very well establish that this situation is indeed an altered check case. But...

The affidavit spelling out the alteration and signed by the customer/maker is necessary for evidentiary purposes. The only party that can aver that a check is altered is the person who wrote it. In order to be able to either hold their depositor liable (either contractually or through prosecution), the BOFD needs a document that they can legally enforce against their depositor. The customer's complete affidavit does that. Your records, while useful in substantiating the claim made in the customer's affidavit, would not hold up as evidence against the BOFD's depositor by the BOFD.