My roommate gave me a $20 check for our cable bill. I cashed the check within 2 weeks of her giving it to me. Now she is telling me that by me cashing her check it caused her to overdraft, and all her other transcations overdrafted because of it. Now she is saying that it is my responsibility to cover the $210 worth of overdraft fees because "its my fault" for not cashing her check right away.
2007-09-07 03:43:19 · 33 answers · asked by super33star2k3 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
No she still owes you the $20 and any fees you incurred. Once she handed you the check, it was the same as handing you a $20 bill. You are not required to spend it within a specific time frame and certainly 2 weeks, even a month is not excessive by any means (I had a check I wrote in April clear my bank in August, sure I was not happy about it, but I still owed the guy the money). She seems like a bad person, trying to stick you with paying for her mistake. I would watch my back around her if I were you.
2007-09-07 03:57:19 · answer #1 · answered by Yo it's Me 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is HER responsibility as a checkwriter/account holder to have the funds available for the merchant to draw from, regardless of when the check was actually submitted for payment. You should not be held responsible for this. Also, there is no way that she incurred $210 worth of overdraft fees over one bounced check, unless she had written several checks for small amounts in the same timeframe. She's basically full of sh**, and if I were you, I'd either let her know that she can only pay her portion of the bills with cash or money order, or she will have to find a new place to live (with adequate notice, of course). Do you really want to have to deal with this again? Honestly, I think she knew that there wouldn't be funds in the account to cover the payment. Is the cable in your name alone, in her name alone, or both? Seriously, if the cable is in your name, why should she care if your payment record is tarnished by this incident? Think about it. This is obviously someone who does not have your best interests at heart. And the fact that she is trying to hold you responsible for this reinforces my opinion of her. Find a new roommate.
2007-09-07 19:55:06 · answer #2 · answered by The Voice of Reason Is Silenced 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are not obligated to pay the fees. Unless a check payment is stopped, or it is not cashed for a period long enough to void the check (depends on the state and staute, but usually at least a year) the writer should expect that the check will still be cashed - regardless of unexpected delay.
This is especially true after 2003's passage of the so-called "21st Century Checking" rules, which now permit banks to conduct check cashing and clearing transactions with each other through the air. In other words, this closed the loophole whereby people were writing bad checks knowing that it would take a few days in the mail to get to the recipient, a few more days to be processed and deposited, still more to make it back to the writer's bank before it was cashed (if the writer used that lag time to put $$ in to cover it) or it would take a couple more days to get back to the recipient's bank as unfunded and back to the recipient and eventually back to the writer.
2007-09-07 03:54:42 · answer #3 · answered by jwalshy_307 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
even if you didn't cash that check, she'd still have close to $210 of overdraft fees because the only way that can happen is she didn't have money in the bank for her OTHER checks didn't clear. has nothing to do with you. if it was only the $20 check you cashed that didn't clear and caused an overdraft, she'd be responsible for maximum $40 (typical maximum overdraft for certain banks) which can usually be waived AND you are not responsible for. id find a new roommate FAST. in the meantime, get everything in advance in cash. or else you'll be forking out money for your roommate's inability to pay for anything.
2007-09-07 04:07:15 · answer #4 · answered by Micks578 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
NO !! You are NOT responsible ........ in any way . It`s the issuer`s responsibility to ensure the funds are available in the account to cover all checks issued by him/her .
You have no way of knowing at what point in time there MAY not be enough in the account to cover the check other than checking with the bank . But .......... you are under NO legal obligation to check!
Your room mate is simply attempting to make YOU pay for her stupidity , incompetence and lack of responsibility . Don`t fall for it !!
It also looks like she`s trying to con a few bucks out of you for this "210.00 overdraft" ! That`s outright bullllschitt ! Ask to see the paperwork regarding that , and I`m sure you`ll find it`s a charge to cover SEVERAL bad cheques she`s issued ..........
If you were charged anything because of the overdraft , she is legally responsible to pay you the amount of the loss . YOU are NOT responsible , legally or otherwise , to pay her ANYTHING !
LOSE this room mate !! She`s playing you for a fool !
2007-09-07 03:56:31 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
absolutely not!! It's her bank account, it's her money that she wasnt keeping track of properly, it's her fault for writing checks without knowing the actual amount of money available and it's her fault that they over drafted. The fees are on her bank account, they're not being sent out to the people who cashed the checks. And a $20 check doesn't incur a $210 overdraft fee. She's been writing bad checks for other people too. It is absolutely not your responsibility. She needs to keep better track of her finances.
2007-09-07 03:51:24 · answer #6 · answered by Ta'Nish 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's not your fault that she wrote a check, then spent the money from the account that was to cover it. She should have waited to spend the money until she was sure that you wouldn't cash it. Most checks are not considered invalid until 6 months after they are dated. She should have waited at least that long before spending the money. She is responsible for any consequences. If it were your responsibility, I think that her bank would be coming after you for the money, not her.
By the way, how can one $20 check cause multiple checks to bounce, unless the rest of the checks totalled less than $20, which is unlikely? Her story doesn't make sense to me.
2007-09-07 03:56:57 · answer #7 · answered by kati9 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately you got hit with a double whammy, your own fees and a pain in the butt roomie who isn't taking responsibility for her not being better with money. It is not your fault and you owe her nothing. If she wants let her take you to court and lose and owe more money. Otherwise let her know you are sure it was an oversight on her part that she didn't know how much was or wasn't in her checking, but that you are in no way responsible for her problems and that you will need cash in the future from her as she cost you money, not the other way around. Sorry that happened but good luck with the situation. This is one that can make or break the roomie situation. Just be careful.
2007-09-07 03:49:51 · answer #8 · answered by jayydoggs 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Your room mate has NO clue how to be responsible. HELL no it's not your fault! She likes to write bad checks. She is the type that says, ok I will write this check NOW since I am going to be paid on Friday anyways. From the sounds of it, she had SEVERAL checks she wrote without having the funds to cover it. Ask that your room mate in the future pay you via money order or cashiers check, or, better yet, get a new room mate. Do you really want to go through this every month?
2007-09-07 03:59:49 · answer #9 · answered by getagrip 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, It is not your fault. You friend should have deducted it from her account and then made sure everything had cleared before she though she had "extra" money. Same as if you wrote a check to a grocery store and that check bounced.....The store would not be responsible to pay your overdraft charges, If that were the case then everyone would be bouncing checks and businesses would go broke.
2007-09-07 03:59:13 · answer #10 · answered by Robin L 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋