who's responsible for cashing a post-dated check early?

Question

I wrote a check to my landlord and said if he could hold it till the 22nd and also included a letter with the check and they cashed it early no I have tons of insufficent fund fees whos responsible for all the fees me or him or the bank

Answer 1

It IS all your responsibility........tho people often do it for convenience, it's against the law to write a post dated check.

Answer 2

If you dated the cheque for the 22nd then the bank should not have cashed it before then. If, on the other hand, you dated the cheque for when you gave it to the landlord, then he is entitled to cash it immediately, even if you asked him wait. There is a further complication in that if you knew there would be insufficient funds to cover the cheque when you issued it then you could be accused of fraud. Unless you have access to a very good lawyer, you should accept the NSF fees and take the lesson learned.

Sorry for a crappy answer, but that's the way I see it.

Answer 3

You are responsible for all the fees.

Never give someone a postdated check without an agreement signed by both parties in place because otherwise there is nothing to stop them from depositing it early.

FYI, postdating a check is NOT "illegal". Section 4-401 of the Uniform Commercial Code goes into great detail about the notification procedure for writing a postdated check. If you had followed the procedure, your bank would have been liable for the overdraft charges.

Answer 4

Dear Reader,
Ordinarily, a check is to be good on the date it is written. "Kiting a check" refers to writing a check on an account on insufficient funds and dating it for the day it was written, knowing that when it hits the funds will be there. We all do it, but your case is different. A check is a promise to pay, not payment. In this case you made a promise to pay a certain sum of money on a future date-stated on the check. The bank should not have honored the check. The landlord is in violation of the law for depositing it. You are in the drivers seat on this one, so give them both hell. Your post dated check was a promise he accepted. You said "I will pay you with this check on this date" and he took it. The bank accepted it today for a check that was dated in the future. Dumb teller and evil Landlord.

Answer 5

It has been my experience that the bank is responsible for cashing a check too early. They owe you any overage charges that they tacked on. Your landlord is at fault too. He knew the check was post dated. Next time, seriously, use a highlighter at the date line. It will draw the cashier's eye to the date and prevent all of the drama you are going through now. So sorry this happened to you. Good luck and Merry Christmas. Nana

Answer 6

Unfortunately, you are. You MAY be able to recover some of the fees, etc. by going to small claims court. Banks are never required to hold a post dated check UNLESS you tell them beforehand. Im sorry for your problems. It's also worth a try to talk to the bank.

Answer 7

The person who wrote the check. The bank will tell you they don't have to wait to cash a post-dated check. The date is used as a reference and it is only courteous for them not to cash it early.

Answer 8

Unfortunately, you are responsible. It is not the landlord's responsibility to hold the check, nor the bank's responsibility to wait until you have funds in your account.

You wouldn't expect the landlord to wait to deposit cash into his/her account once you've given it to them, would you? When you write a check, you need to remember that it's as if you gave them cash.

Answer 9

shoulda ... woulda ... coulda

sorry - I know it's not what you want to hear - but it's TOTALLY your responsibility.

It's illegal to postdate a check. Nobody is going to compensate you for doing something against the law. It's like asking somebody to compensate you for twisting your ankle while you were vandalizing their property.

I see a lot of answers above saying that it should be the bank's responsibility - or the landlord's. And, if the laws were fair, they might be. But, they, like life, isn't always fair.

You've learned an expensive lesson. I have had people give me postdated checks - and I've always accepted them and not deposited them until the posted date. But I've always been aware that I'm doing it as a favor, not as a requirement.

Sorry.

Answer 10

Your letter of request means nothing. If your check was post dated and the bank cashed it, the bank is responsible.

Answer 11

Technically you are responsible. It was made illegal to post date or "float" a check about two years ago. If you fight this and the bank wants to fight back you can get in trouble. You cannot post date checks anymore.