Veronica.. this may seem like a dumb question but....

[klhofbauer]

What is the name of your state? Arizona

I've been reading the threads from the "online scams" section, about the OP's with the 50K and the other with the 3,800 fake cashier's checks.

What I don't understand, is why banks don't hold these types of checks - particularly with all of the scams out there? Is there some sort of "unwritten" or even written rule, regulation, or legal standard that banks have to follow regarding cashing checks? Is it across the board?

I just know, that when we sold our truck back last December for 4K, the guy who bought it drove over from California, he presented us with a draft loan check from NFCU. We took it to our bank - BofA - the next day, and they would not, under ANY circumstances release ANY of the funds to us until it went through this huge process.

1. First they sent the draft loan check to the BofA collection departement. (1 week wait)

2. The collection dept. then send a "bill" (for lack of better term) to the NFCU in Virginia. (2nd week wating)

3. The NFCU in Virginia cleared the loan draft check, but then wrote out a payment to BofA for 4K. (3rd week waiting)

4. Collection dept. of BofA receives check and finally deposits it in our account. (finally after 30 days)

When this happened to us, I was getting rather ticked off (we needed the funds to finish paying off the loan of the truck, send the title to the guy before he shipped out to Iraq). In retrospect, I am extremely glad that our branch manager was so diligent and wouldn't release the funds. But, I also just "assumed" (yeah, I know) that from the way she talked, it is almost standard practice now-a-days throughout the banking industry that something like this is done.

Thanks!

KimberlyH

 

[Veronica1228]

What is the name of your state? Arizona

I've been reading the threads from the "online scams" section, about the OP's with the 50K and the other with the 3,800 fake cashier's checks.

What I don't understand, is why banks don't hold these types of checks - particularly with all of the scams out there? Is there some sort of "unwritten" or even written rule, regulation, or legal standard that banks have to follow regarding cashing checks? Is it across the board?

I just know, that when we sold our truck back last December for 4K, the guy who bought it drove over from California, he presented us with a draft loan check from NFCU. We took it to our bank - BofA - the next day, and they would not, under ANY circumstances release ANY of the funds to us until it went through this huge process.

1. First they sent the draft loan check to the BofA collection departement. (1 week wait)

2. The collection dept. then send a "bill" (for lack of better term) to the NFCU in Virginia. (2nd week wating)

3. The NFCU in Virginia cleared the loan draft check, but then wrote out a payment to BofA for 4K. (3rd week waiting)

4. Collection dept. of BofA receives check and finally deposits it in our account. (finally after 30 days)

When this happened to us, I was getting rather ticked off (we needed the funds to finish paying off the loan of the truck, send the title to the guy before he shipped out to Iraq). In retrospect, I am extremely glad that our branch manager was so diligent and wouldn't release the funds. But, I also just "assumed" (yeah, I know) that from the way she talked, it is almost standard practice now-a-days throughout the banking industry that something like this is done.

Thanks!

KimberlyH

There is a written rule pertaining to the availability of funds from deposits. It's Fed Reg CC and it is very specific on how all deposits should be handled. For the most part all check deposits should be made available to the depositor no later than 2 business days for a local check or 5 business days for a nonlocal check. There are circumstances when that time can be stretched out, but I believe the law dictates that with all of the exceptions and so forth the longest a deposit would be held would be 11 business days.

However, this Reg is dictating the limits of how long funds can be held. If a bank or FI has policies where they make the funds available quicker then I stated, they are allowed to do so. If your bank held it for 30 days, I'd like to see how they justified that because it sounds like it is a violation of Reg CC.

Be that as it may, the bottom line is any time you (or anyone else) accepts a check, you also accept a certain amount of risk. Particularly if it is from someone you don't know. It is considered to be the risk of doing business.

I hope this answers your question.