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#42938 - 11/14/02 06:09 PM Treasury Checks - Sent for collection?
rhurlbert Offline
Junior Member
rhurlbert
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 29
Spokane, WA
We have a customer that wants to cash a $25,000 US Treasury Check. They only have a low average-balance savings account so recourse in not a factor. The concern is the possiblity of having the check reported lost/stolen and the bank eating the loss.
I am wondering if a Treasury Check can be sent for collection - with proceeds wired into the account? If so, where would we mail the check?
Thanks for your thoughts on the subject.
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Washington State Banker

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General Discussion
#42939 - 11/14/02 06:17 PM Re: Treasury Checks - Sent for collection?
Anonymous
Unregistered

i take it then, that your customer is not the actual payee of the item? if not then you shouldn't send it for collection -- how can you guarantee an endorsement on a 3rd party item?

our bank would not accept the item at all unless we could personally verify the PAYEES endorsement on the item with notations of ID and all the rest of that stuff.

for an item that large, i would be more inclined to simply return the item to your customer and tell them to give it back to the payee for negotiation.

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#42940 - 11/14/02 06:23 PM Re: Treasury Checks - Sent for collection?
rhurlbert Offline
Junior Member
rhurlbert
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 29
Spokane, WA
The check is payable to our customer. We have suffered loses (or spent way too much time proving otherwise) when the payee claims they didn't receive the funds.
I was hoping there was a way to send the check for collection to avoid that possiblity.
Asking several long-time bankers here resulted in shrugs and "that's a good question".
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Washington State Banker

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#42941 - 11/14/02 06:30 PM Re: Treasury Checks - Sent for collection?
Tina A Sweet Offline
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Tina A Sweet
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,033
Marysville, Ca.
I really can not remember there being anything against sending the item for collection. If you question the transaction then I would send it.
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Tina A Sweet-Williams
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mailto:tsweet@goldcountrynb.com

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#42942 - 11/14/02 06:32 PM Re: Treasury Checks - Sent for collection?
Anonymous
Unregistered

if the payee is your own customer and you can easily verify his endorsement why not simply deposit the item and be done with it? or is there more to this than meets the eye?

i had a situation exactly like this about a year ago and all i did was deny the claim and send supporting documents proving that not only was the endorsement genuine, but the funds were also deposited into an account that bore the payees name.....it took me about 3 minutes.

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#42943 - 11/14/02 06:34 PM Re: Treasury Checks - Sent for collection?
rlcarey Online
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rlcarey
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 83,227
Galveston, TX
How does sending the item for collection preclude the payee from claiming he never received the funds anymore than having him deposit it into his account. I think you have a better case to prove that he did if it runs through his account instead of cutting him a cashier's check when the collection is paid????
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The opinions expressed here should not be construed to be those of my employer: PPDocs.com

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#42944 - 11/14/02 06:49 PM Re: Treasury Checks - Sent for collection?
rhurlbert Offline
Junior Member
rhurlbert
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 29
Spokane, WA
If the item is sent for collection and the issuing party (in this case US Treasury) wires the funds directly to the account of the payee, I don't believe there is much chance of the bank having to send back any funds even if the payee later claims to not have received the funds.
Hopefully there won't be a problem with this particular check, but I was wondering if anyone else has sent a Treasury Check for collection and if so where was the item mailed to?
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Washington State Banker

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#42945 - 11/15/02 06:43 AM Re: Treasury Checks - Sent for collection?
Princess Romeo Offline

Power Poster
Princess Romeo
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 8,272
Where the heart is
If the check is for $25,000, you are able to place a 7 day hold on $20,000 and only make $5,000 available next day.
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Regulations are a poor substitute for ethics.
Just sayin'

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#42946 - 11/15/02 02:02 PM Re: Treasury Checks - Sent for collection?
AnonRegulator Offline
Gold Star
AnonRegulator
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 451
Everywhere, USA
At the risk of diverting this discussion away from the original question, I have to ask about the validitiy of the check itself. The US Government has generally gone to electronic methods of payment for payroll, expense checks, Social Security, etc. How did this person come to possess an actual check?

Beyond that, I think we are all wondering what's missing from your description of the transaction as it seems most banks would simply accept a check, particularly one payable by the US Treasury to the customer, with the customer's endorsement for deposit to their account. AR.

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