Is it okay to use a check torn in half?
April 3, 2016 10:22 PM Subscribe
I have one last check and tore it in half down the middle. The line for the signature is in tact and so are the account numbers. Can I tape it back together and still fill it out to pay my rent? The check is from Chase bank if that matters.
You could, and it'd be legal (you could write a valid check on the side of a rock if it had all the right info), but the landlord doesn't have to take it. You're best off trying to get an intact, blank check from a bank branch.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:30 PM on April 3, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:30 PM on April 3, 2016 [6 favorites]
Go to a Chase branch, and tell them you want a counter check (.pdf). It's an emergency check (actually, a sheet of 3 checks) when you don't have any checks left in your checkbook. I think the $2 fee is worth it to avoid the hassle of your landlord's bank refusing the check, and your landlord charging you a late rent payment fee.
posted by invisible ink at 10:33 PM on April 3, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by invisible ink at 10:33 PM on April 3, 2016 [6 favorites]
I'd tape it together and initial it.
posted by rhizome at 11:26 PM on April 3, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 11:26 PM on April 3, 2016 [5 favorites]
If you do try to tape it, I'd initial and date on the tape itself so that there's no ambiguity about whether you intended that to happen.
posted by R a c h e l at 4:13 AM on April 4, 2016
posted by R a c h e l at 4:13 AM on April 4, 2016
I'd use Chase online banking and let them print and mail a check every month. It won't cost you anything extra and you can phase check writing out of your life.
posted by COD at 5:41 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by COD at 5:41 AM on April 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
I wouldn't risk it.
Like COD, I also have used Chase online banking to send a check. It's part of Bill Pay (when you log in, there's a text link on the right). Basically, you set up your landlord as a vendor who doesn't have an electronic account, and Chase will mail them a check.
If you're really stuck and need it today, you could do the "counter check" option that invisible ink recommended, or you could get a cashier's check.
posted by radioamy at 11:33 AM on April 4, 2016
Like COD, I also have used Chase online banking to send a check. It's part of Bill Pay (when you log in, there's a text link on the right). Basically, you set up your landlord as a vendor who doesn't have an electronic account, and Chase will mail them a check.
If you're really stuck and need it today, you could do the "counter check" option that invisible ink recommended, or you could get a cashier's check.
posted by radioamy at 11:33 AM on April 4, 2016
One other option is to get a money order from usps. Much cheaper than cashiers checks at the bank.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 6:32 PM on April 4, 2016
posted by misanthropicsarah at 6:32 PM on April 4, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by zachlipton at 10:25 PM on April 3, 2016 [1 favorite]