A friend of mine wrote me a check a while back for $300. It was my share of our security deposit from our apartment. They had sent her the full amount instead of dispersing it.
Anyway, she asked that I wait to cash it for a few days. I waited a couple of weeks. She then emailed to say that she was closing her account, and asked if I had cashed it yet. I replied that I had not, and asked her what she wanted me to do (i.e. cash the check, or wait for a new one). She never replied...and I basically forgot about it. I recently remembered that I had never heard back from her, so I emailed her to ask for my money. She replied that it was too late and that she didn't owe me anything after all this time.
My question is, how can I get my money? It's been 6 months since the check was originally written, and around 5 since the account was closed. Can I cash it, or do I have to try and convince her to write me another one?
*sorry for the length, it's sort of a drawn out story
2007-04-26 19:49:20 · 13 answers · asked by LindsayBluthFunke 3 in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
I'm interested that some people have responded that it would be illegal for me to cash the check.
Wouldn't the worst thing that could happen be the bank turning it down? Just curious.
2007-04-26 20:10:30 · update #1
In short...No. There are no funds in the account to draw from, so the bank will not honor it. If they do, they will charge the amount to your account!
2007-04-26 19:52:06 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
In a lighter vein your effort to draw cash from a closed account is like taking blood from a dead person's body. Coming to the point, in normal circumstances, a check becomes stale(legally invalid) after a certain period(which in our country is 6 months from date of check). You say 6 months are over from date of the check. Since yr friend has already closed her account, the only thing you can do now is to approach the bank and find out how they closed the account without asking the account holder to surrender the unutilised check. If that had been done, the bank would have asked her about yr check and would have asked u to cash it. But the more gentlemanly settlement would be to admit yr mistake in not cashing the check before the expiry of its validity period and ask her to pay cash instead.
2007-04-26 20:26:25 · answer #2 · answered by Bulty 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can take this to small claims court. You could also find out what the state law is on writing "bad checks". She only gave you a one month window to cash the check. That is very short. Probably there is a law that says there must be money to cover outstanding checks for some reasonable period of time. If there is a strong state law about this, then you might let your friend know. DO NOT tell her to pay you or else you will go to the law. That is illegal. However if she knows that you know, then she might "volunteer" to come up with your money.
2007-04-26 20:01:22 · answer #3 · answered by ignoramus 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would find out what the law is concerning someone closing their account because they wrote bad checks. Even though it has been six months since she wrote the check, the real issue would seem to be her writing it when she did not have the funds in there to cover the check in the first place.
Here in California it is against the law to write a bad check. perhaps you can give the police a call and maybe light a fire under her bottom.
2007-04-26 19:55:32 · answer #4 · answered by Apollo C 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A cheque is only cashable within 6 months of the date that's written on the cheque so you're probably SOL there. If the account is closed then you're really out of luck. With no active account to associate the cheque to, the cheque is useless.
Sorry~ you'll have to resort to other means to collect what you're owed.
2007-04-26 20:02:47 · answer #5 · answered by STEVE 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
what u have is a prommisary note. it's made out to u. a bank is a third party. if u try to cash it, the bank will reject it. U go to the original party and demand it be good. Ultimately a check is a promise to pay, legal in law and in court, just not a bank. it's "sighned" right?
2007-04-26 20:36:17 · answer #6 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can't cash a cheque when the account is closed. You may file a claim against her using the cheque you have as evidence that she owed you money.
2007-04-26 20:13:44 · answer #7 · answered by SGElite 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. You cant encash it. Try to talk to her rathr than email. And if she denies and u have any legal document for the same you can go ahead for a small legal notice to her...Probably she gets soft when the notice is served.
2007-04-26 20:02:05 · answer #8 · answered by pritpalsachdev 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well yes you can cash the check if you want to go to jail. So I would suggest that you try to talk to the person and get your money from her. because you can't get it from the check that she gave you.
2007-04-26 20:06:51 · answer #9 · answered by littleone60014 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
no that would be theft by check because there is no fund available in the account if you cashed
2007-04-26 19:54:35 · answer #10 · answered by Promise 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋