Don't beat up on Veronica. She simply told the truth and some don't want to hear.
The hard cold reality is that a cashier's check is nothing more than a piece of paper. It has no special cachet of worth.
Granted, it is common wisdom in the public that a cashier's check is "good funds". Not true. This is another case of where the public is sadly mistaken.
There is a principle in law called "holder in due course". It essentially says that a holder in due course of an instrument (a check is an instrument) is an innocent bystander of any dispute between the maker of the instrument and the payee of the instrument.
The banker who accepts the check for deposit does not know if the check is any good or not. After all, they are not mindreaders. Federal law requires they make the funds available to the depositor within a limited amount of time.
Ultimately the check is presented to the paying bank. That is the first time someone says, "whoa -- this ain't legit!" and identifies the instrument as counterfeit. The check then begins to wind its way back through the system to the depositing bank.
Since the depositing bank is a holder in due course and thus an innocent bystander, they are not responsible to eat the loss. So, the bank charges the depositor's account or sues to collect, etc.
The risk of accepting the instrument in the first place lies with the payee.
Payees need to realize that a cashier's check or a money order or a $100 bill can and are counterfeited everyday. Any payee who accepts such an instrument does so at their own risk. They should not expect to be able to transfer that risk to any one else.
Unfortunately, there are clever folks who can create very impressive cashier's checks and they prey on the mistaken impression of the general public that cashier's checks are like gold. Counterfeiting cashier's checks is easier, faster and more lucrative than counterfeiting $100 bills.
Would you take a personal check from a stranger and let that stranger drive away in your auto? No, of course not. Well, a cashier's check is exactly like a personal check.
If you took a personal check and it was returned for insufficient funds --would you expect the bank to eat the loss? No. The same principle applies in this case. It is not the job of the bank to absorb the loss of your misfortune.
If you accept a cashier's check, about the only thing you can do is call the issuing bank and determine that the check was validly issued. Even then, you still have no guarantee that the check is good since most counterfeits were "copied" from the real thing. Is yours real or is it a fake?
Personally, I no longer accept cashier's checks in any fashion differently than I would a personal check. If you want "guaranteed funds" require the payor to wire transfer the funds to your bank account. Now that is good funds.
california