Banking question

[Kira98]

okay so here is my question for anybody that works or knows the banking industry - i cant get in touch with my mom or she would answer !

Okay a check didnt get wrote in the checkbook for some reason or the other. DH writes a check for a buisness ( trucking) expense for a considerable amount. Bank returns it becasue some how me the bookkeeper forgets to balance everyday ! and didnt know there was a check out that wasnt recorded

(happens to all of us im sure at sum point ! )

well we tell the people that got the big giant returned check hey there are some things that are wrong with our truck still that are not fixed we want to schedule appt to get it done right like we paid you for - then we will bring you the money for that check that was returned

okay no prob they say - we had to cancel the apt due to work ! we had to go but were goin to resend the money

Guy takes our returned check back to his bank apparently and changes the check number !!!!!!!!!!!!! to our account number and I had other checks out ( cause they had credit that amount back and we actually had money in the accnt but not the amount for the check we wrote - make sense or am i totally confussing ya

i myself am confused) that i went ahead and paid because we were getting the next paycheck with in the week so i was goin to send the new money monday -

well now the other checks all are goin to be returned because that jerk got impatient (mind you he already had a check in hand for $16,000 that was cashed and paid ! he couldnt wait a few days due to a slight clerical error for the last 2500!) and changed the check number and his bank put it thur

my ? is CAN THEY DO THAT !!!!!!! I didnt know you could cause dang if you can i got a check for that horse i sold that was returned and I will just change the number and process it again !

Okay i hope this made sense as Im totally in shock and trying to figure out how to fix this mess cause we were okay til he did that ! and I dont think that the banker is goin to cover the checks that come thru ! OY BANANAS !!!!!!!!!!

any thoughts on as to if someone can leagally do that or not please let me know and in the mean time id really like to sell a trucking company

not really but i feel that way !

 

[kaykay]

We had something happen that was different but similiar. In my case it was a deposit and the BANK changed the check number on the person depositing to my account. I had no idea the bank could do that but they can and do. So my guess is the bank changed it. Remember if you write a check it is a promise to pay so you cant "take it back" or say when a person can deposit it unless you post date it but even then my bank said they can still put it through as they rarely even look at the dates.

Hate to sound mean but you wrote the check so you have to honor it! Its really not the mechanics fault?

Kay

 

[Kira98]

Kay,

Wow i didnt know that a bank could do that! We had every intention to pay that because we made a mistake. When we had spoke with the mechanic he was cool with waiting ( he just got paid a good check for 16,000 !) and wanted to get our truck fixed properly - some minor things that were not put back the correct way and screws that are not were they should be -missing in general - this is kinda crucial in the safe operation of a semi !!!!!

anyway but then when we had to reschedule i think he got freaked out that maybe we wouldnt pay - my DH has spoke to him told him what happened and all that and that when we brought it back 7-10 that we would make good on that.

I had no idea that a bank could just change a check number and make it a totally dif transaction that just dont sound right to me but what do i know im a truck driver not a banker

Now im affraid since the guy got all his monies that he will NOT fix our truck like he promised OY ! anyway thanks for your reply Ive gotta rack my brain on how the heck im goin to fix this and how long its goin to take to get it all straightend out Gesh

 

[ruffian]

What number got changed? The check number or your account number? The check number shouldn't make a difference, but I don't think the bank can legally draw it from another account. If they could, what's to stop them from pulling it from someone else's account?

I don't fault the mechanic - especially since you paid and then found the problems, and then changed the date. I would be nervous about getting full payment also.

Good Luck - might have to talk to an attorney to cover the other overdrafts if they occur because of what the bank did.

 

[Kira98]

The number that got changed was the check number. they changed the check number from the one that got returned lets say 1192

they changed that to a dif. number and processed it.

I would think that its a forged doc ? now cause we didnt rite that check number lol

Heck i dont know but i hope we get it ironed out and soon if its not one headache its another either the semi's and the trucking company or its the

horses or the dogs ! it never ends !

 

[kaykay]

See thats exactly what my bank did. Apparently once a check bounces they cannot put it through again with the same check number so they change it and try to put it through again. In my case it wasnt a check I wrote it was a check someone wrote to me

Sorry for your troubles!

 

[Charley]

I used to do collections for a company, and a check that bounced the first time was allowed to be deposited only one more time. I don't know that the bank changed the number but we did confirm with the bank that funds were available in the account to cover the check and then redeposited the check.

Next time you can, for a fee, stop payment on the check and they will be looking for it and your bank will not honor it. They know who it is written to and the amount of the check. Then you can issue a new check to them once your account has the funds in it.

 

[StellaLenoir]

I have worked at banks for years and we have never changed a check number. A check can be run only 2 times. If a check is presented for payment and it is returned for non sufficient funds, the holder of the check has the right to re run the check or wait. If a check is returned twice for non sufficient funds it can no longer be run through the bank but is legal for pursuing the writer of the check for non payment. I have never heard of a bank changing a check number. They are there mainly for the customer to keep track of the checks, not for the bank. Sometimes if a check is presented and is markedly out of sequence with the other checks it will raise a red flag that maybe a check was stolen. Other than that it is a non important part of the check. The written portion of the amount and the signature are most important, (and the routing number and account number).

I would question the bank on changing the check number. Was the check presented for payment just 2 times? Or did they change the check number and present it a 3rd time? Like it was now a new check?

weird

 

[Kira98]

Well I finally got a chance to talk to the DH that went to the bank to find out what was goin on etc....

The check was put thru back to back 2x like immediatly before we could get the money deposited ( some of the people that we invoice pay at 60 or 90 days ! that makes it tuff to know exactly when you are goin to be getting paid ! OY ! im glad that my check is weekly ! - yet another reason i would rather not have this trucking company its a hassle some times ! )

Okay so here is what happened. the guy actually came up here to our bank with the check after its gone thru 2x and OUR bank changed the check number and cashed it ! I didnt get all the details from the DH he was kinda in a mood and so Im letting him cool off and try to figure this out LOL if i bug him it wont help the matter much LOL

Anyway i didnt know that the bank had a legal right to do that - we will just have to ride this out til the 10th when we get paid again for invoices that are out and pray and hope that we can get it straightend out with everybody that we wrote a check to now.

I totally forgot that we could put stop payment - wait didnt have to correct casue it was presented 2x back to back within a day of each other and they processed it like a new one.

well anyway thanks for all your imput i really dont know much about how a bank opperates and sometimes i wish i could just keep my money under the mattress like my grandpa did ! Oy

And seeing how this guy did this and out bank went ahead with it etc... Back in Oct you might remember that i had a check returned to me for a horse i sold so i called a branch of that bank and the lady said it was active but dont waste my time or gas to try to come cash it ! - and i cant afford to take them to court. I only presente there check once maybe i should keep calling back til maybe i can get my money for my horse like this mechanice guy did !

Nah im not that way - I pray that them people will just up and pay me someday cause they knwo they are in the wrong

We were goin to pay the man for working on our truck and now i bet we cant get him to fix the things that are wrong with it that shoulda been done properly - my hubby is very meticulus (sp) about his semi and its a show truck/work truck and he takes pride in it and that guy didnt put it back like it was and he also damaged some of the interior that was pretty expensive to put in

okay im done ranting but im thankful that some of yall that work at the bank put in your two cents

 

[HGFarm]

Um, I dont think the bank CAN do that! If the check is good, so be it, but if not, it's not! I have never heard of this and would be asking someone at the bank to show you the law or rules that allows them to do this! If the check ran twice through his bank, they wont run it again, but if he tried to cash it at your bank, why would they need to change the check number? I dont understand. They will cash it if the funds are there, not knowing if you have any checks outstanding.

Obviously the guy was paranoid about getting paid, and didnt wait like he told you he would.

 

[StellaLenoir]

Yes for sure this is wrong of the bank to do. The check was presented 2 times for payment, and returned 2 times for insufficient funds. The bank is now out of it. The payee would have to file charges with the 2 times returned check. they cannot make a new debit from your account as a cash check. What if you had written a new check to the man and he was able to just alter the old check and cash both!? I don't think so!!!! It may have only been an inexperienced bank teller, but I would freak at the bank!!!

And as far as the problem with the people owing you for a horse. Until you run that check 2 times you have no recourse. Some people will quickly run a check 2 times even if they know the funds are not there to get the stamp and proceed to legal action. If you were told don't bother trying to cash it, the teller may have just meant this is a frequently negative account, and the bank did not expect the account holder to make the account back into the positive any time soon. Of course a bank cannot say anything in regards to the account except the 'funds are not available' but sometimes tellers will try to get the hint across.

 

[Fullmoon]

First off go to your bank and find out from them just what happened with this check. I don't know all the circumstances surrounding this check but it sounds like you need to find out what the laws are in your state. You can not put a Stop Payment on a check after you've written it just because you don't have the funds to cover it. You can still be prosecuted for writing a bad check.

I don't know about Oklahoma laws but here in Arkansas a check only has to be ran through the bank once and then it can be turned over for prosecution. Contact your county clerks office, they can tell you where to turn in the bad check you got for the horse. Don't delay, for a misdemeanor amount ($500.00 and under) you have up to a year to prosecute and a felony is three years. Oh, and anytime you take a check from someone, write down they're DL# and DOB (make sure you verify it if they've written it down on the check theirselves). Hope it all turns out OK. Robin

 

[Charley]

If I'm reading this right, she could have done a stop payment on the check due to the work on the truck was not completed correctly and they were to bring the truck back in to have the work done right.

 

[Minimor]

I didn't know you could run a check through a second time if it came back NSF the first time! Someone just recently showed me the NSF check they'd gotten back and it was stamped something to the effect of "cannot be processed again unless certified"--and I know she hadn't presented that check for a 2nd try--this was the first time it had been returned to her.

Now I'm not sure if that NSF check could be certified if she took it to the bank it was written on & asked them if there were funds available now & if so told them to certify it--I suspect she can do that, but I didn't ask her at the time she showed me the check. I do know that if you're given a check you can take it to the bank that it's written on & ask to have it certified. They will check the account & if the funds are there they will certify it, and then you can take it back to you bank & deposit it, knowing it's a good check and that it won't come back NSF & cost you $25 or whatever returned check fee is for your bank....I've done this, so know it can be done. Getting the check certified cost me $15 but it was worth it to know that this particular check wasn't going to bounce! I'm inclined to think that I could do the same with an NSF check if I were to get one.

I don't get what changing the check number has to do with anything--can't see why it would be necessary, even if the fellow's own bank had tried twice to cash the check before he brought it to your bank & cashed it.

 

[Wee Mite Miniatures]

A bank does not have to change a check number for the check to come back to you under a different check number. When the checks go through processing the numbers on the bottom of the check are read by machines. Machines, just like people, make mistakes. It is very common when doing bank reconciliations to find checks listed on your bank statement with the wrong check number.

If a check is return to you as NSF you can redeposit it once as long as it is not stamped May not be redeposited. After you have tried to redeposit it twice and it has not cleared you can press charges for fraud. I use to do this for a company I worked for but it has been over 10 years since I have done that. What I used to do was to file the fraud charges with the persons local police station. I need a the check showing it had tried to be deposited twice, the person's name, address and social security number. I do not know what I would need now since social security numbers are no longer on a license or usually given out. This was in Massachusetts.

After that the police would serve the person. In all cases we did end up collecting on the checks. On some of the larger checks payments were set up by the court. If we did not receive the payment on time I would call the police department, they gave the people a few days to pay or a warrant was issued for their arrest. It was easier to collect on a bounced check that it was going to small claims for unpaid contracts.

 

[HGFarm]

It depends on the bank policy. Some will only run a check once, some will run it twice. I agree, I would march down to the bank and see just what happened and perhaps even get a copy of the front and back of that check as well, and take a look to see if it was altered, if it's being read by a machine?!