Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with checks

Who signs institutional checks?

ms.codex — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:34:36 -0800

[Bureaucrat-filter]: Who signs checks that are issued by institutions? Who endorses checks that are deposited by institutions? Let's say I work for Big State U. Because I don't use direct deposit, Big State U issues me a paycheck every two weeks. Whose signature is on the check? Is this a "real signature"-- that is, does the individual whose name is on the line hold any real legal liability, or is she just a stand-in for the institution? If the signature is "printed" on, is it pre-printed before the payee's name is printed?

When I, in turn, write out my check for tuition to Big State U, who deposits the check? Does that person actually have to sign on the back?

And if I want to find published information on check-writing, check-signing, and check-cashing procedures, where should I go? Do banks issue handbooks on this? Sorry, I'm clueless (and curious). Lots of questions here; thanks in advance for your answers.

Best way of avoiding fees when cashing US cheques in UK bank?

humblepigeon — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:34:15 -0800

I'm British living in the UK but I get sent lots of US cheques in US$. Best way of minimising fees/costs for cashing them?

Music teachers at school

mooza — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 11:15:52 -0800

How hard is it these days to get a job teaching kids music as a part of an after school or part time program? Are there many hurdles involving police checks etc? This is for a story I'm writing. If a guy who's good at music and needs a job but no experience teaching at schools has a friend who says "hey, my school is needs a music teacher for a few hours a week for this program", how plausible is that? Do you need more qualifications than just being musical? Are there background checks and do they take ages? Is it different in the US, Canada, UK, Australia etc?

Bank checks are compatible with Macs...aren't they?

hal_c_on — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:56:17 -0800

How do I print my own checks? Here are things I own:

1. New iMac
2. Printer
3. Copy Paper if I CAN use it.
4. A *FEW* dollars to buy TOTALLY BLANK CHECKS.
5. A little more money to buy a commercial product that would help me accomplish this herculean task (if NECESSARY).

Here is what I DON'T want to do:
1. Use a PC.
2. Use windows through bootcamp/parallels/virtual pc through my Mac.
3. Have someone print the constant parts of the checks (my info, bank info, micr, numbering, format, etc) and then use my mac/printer to print the variable elements (recipient, amounts, date, memo, etc).
4. Use Photoshop or any graphics program to customize each individual check. No thanks

Here is what I DO want to do:
1. Use my mac.
2. Use my printer.
3. Use any kind of non-customized paper.
4. Print a LOT of them to ONE recipient.
5. Printing three checks per page would be preferable...but hey I'm more than willing to negotiate on this.
6. Save TONS of money by doing this myself.

How the heck do I do this? I've been using a Mac for 7 years now, and I can tell you what one needs to come close to counterfeiting money (not that anybody should) using a Mac. But I still have no idea about how to print checks using a Mac.

Here is what I know:
1. There are TONS of commercial programs for PCs that allow one to make checks from TOTALLY blank checks or pre-printed and customized checks.
2. The commercial programs for Macs (OS X if you want to be anal about it) that I have found only allow one to print the variable information (recipient, amount, date, memo, etc) on the checks. That is NOT what I am looking for.
3. The MICR toner/ink situation is covered.
4. I'm not worried about the security of these checks. Seriously. No worries.

So how do I do this?

I really like metafilter, and LOVE askme...but if you cannot contribute anything that would bring me closer to the solution, please do not post. I would be happier having this be a TOTALLY empty post, rather than 10 people talking about "yeah man, you should switch to PC".

I'm not doing that to be mean, I just know there's a mac fiend on here who would be so bothered by this question not being answered that he would figure it out. I have researched this issue for a LONG time, and I still can't find a solution, and I do not believe that this hasn't been solved a long time ago. I just don't know where to find the answer.

Just to make it clear, ANY help would be appreciated; bs comments like "get a pc", or "dude, you're screwed" would NOT.

Thanks mefites you guys are awesome.

Do I need checks?

Riverine — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:20:06 -0800

I'm thinking of moving entirely to online bill pay. Have I thought this through? Will I regret having no way to write a paper check? I'd like to simplify my banking life by moving entirely to paperless banking, This is 80% done, but I still write checks for rent, massage, dog license and other random things. If you've moved away from checks, what expenses do you have to scramble to deal with, which I might not have thought of: deposit for a new apartment? The plumber? Help me know what might come up.

Thanks!

Can a Swede open a US bank account?

dabitch — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:58:09 -0800

Getting paid by US checks is pricey and time-consuming when I have to cash them over here (Sweden) - solutions? Opening a us checking account? Can I? When I was a student in the US I had a citibank account, but I think my student status allowed for that one. I'm not sure a US account is the answer but it seems likely, I want to avoid the high check-cashing fees on those very small checks - it takes three days for any bank here to confirm that it is a real check, and the cheapest fee to do this is 150 SEK. Sometimes the wee checks aren't even worth that. Open to other solutions, but it seems having a US bank account, where I could cash the checks, and then transfering the money to my own bank here in sweden would be the solution. If so, can I open a US account? Google brings me lots of shady pages on the topic, I don't trust them. Swedish citizen in Sweden.

Cash a check day before pay day?

Clay201 — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:06:50 -0800

If I write a check today and it's cashed immediately, but the money to cover it won't be in my account until tomorrow, what happens? I stopped dealing with analog checks some years back. Most of my transactions these days are digital. I get the impression that, thanks to computers and what-not, things have changed in the banking industry quite a bit in the intervening years. So I feel I'm mostly clueless about current check-related procedures.

The situation:

I get a check at the beginning of the month, always by the third at the absolute latest. But I need the money today, it's only the second, and it hasn't shown up yet.

The questions:

If I write a check today and the recipient cashes it immediately (or if I just write it to cash), what happens? Does the bank look at my account and say "sorry, you don't have this much money" and refuse to cash it? Do they cash it, process it right away, discover that I have insufficient funds, and then hit me for the fees? (And if this happens, do they wait a day or so and then put the check through again?) Or do they cash it, take a day or more to process it - by which time the money has been deposited - and then everything is fine?

Yeah, I know this is not the way to conduct one's finances. Believe me, I don't normally do it this way. It's a pretty special set of circumstances. If you want to post to call me an idiot or tell me this is a bad idea, please also include in your post some information I don't already have or an account of your personal experience with this sort of thing. I figure that's a fair trade-off.

I've explored the possibility of getting a short-term loan (either personal or commercial). It doesn't look do-able and I'd rather not waste my time or yours discussing all the ins and outs of that avenue.

Help with complicated problem

CollectiveMind — Sun, 11 May 2008 18:37:17 -0800

I have a curbside mailbox and mail theft is common in Utah (http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600129714,00.html). Big Credit Card Company (BCCC) sends me convenience checks that can be stolen and cashed by anybody. The post office won’t let me move my mailbox to my house. Local politicians sided with the Postmaster. A rental box or a new security mailbox are impractical. From early 2005 through late 2007, I consistently received unwanted convenience checks from a BCCC address in Virginia. Requests to that address to stop to the convenience checks were replied to from a post office box in Utah. The USPS identified that box as belonging to the company acting as BCCC's agent in Utah (The Agent), but The Agent did not identify itself as the sender. Rather, the replies were sent on behalf on BCCC, using letterhead and envelopes bearing the BCCC logotype.

But the Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code, says neither BCCC Finance or any of its forms are explicitly listed as able to conduct commercial transactions in the state.

After more than a dozen certified letters to the BCCC address in Virginia and the The Agent address in Utah, and promises by respondents at the Utah address to stop the delivery of the checks (they did not stop), I sued The Agent and BCCC in 2007. In Utah, an entity being sued must be served through its state registered agent. Because I could find no explicit listing for BCCC Finance or any of its sub-entities in the UCC database (and therefore, not find its registered agent), and because the USPS showed both BCCC and The Agent as sharing a mailing address and correspondence, I served the entity whose registered agent was listed with the UCC, The Agent . Neither The Agent or BCCC appeared at a September 2007 hearing, and after fifteen plus thirty days, a judgment was awarded my favor.

Neither The Agent or BCCC have contested the facts of the judgment. A BCCC representative called me in January 2008 offering a settlement with no promise that the checks would not continue. I declined. In a hearing requested by BCCC on April 24, 2008, its attorney asked the court to set aside the judgment saying it had not been properly served and that it and The Agent are separate entities. The Agent did not appear at the hearing.

The court did not set aside the judgment, but instead granted a continuance to allow me the chance to show a more than circumstantial connection between BCCC and The Agent. Its central question; is The Agent an agent of BCCC in Utah, and/or, is BCCC operating through The Agent in Utah? If so, the judgment stands. If not, the judgment does not stand.

If BCCC and The Agent are separate entities, The Agent should have no effect on credit granting policies of BCCC; monthly payments to my BCCC account were made to BCCC addresses not in Utah. Yet, The Agent promised in writing on four separate occasions to stop sending me credit card account based convenience checks. Later, The Agent required personal and identical account information regarding my BCCC account four separate times before it said it could “grant” my request to stop receiving the checks. It did not.

I am looking for ways, tools and methods available to a non-attorney to establish a more than circumstantial connection between Affiliated Computer Services and BCCC as the court requests, be they websites, research techniques or reference material.

Pre-dated checks for a sublet. Sketchy?

thebabelfish — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:08:10 -0800

I'm subletting an apartment for the summer (June-August). Is it sketchy to be asked to give the original lessee three checks—two pre-dated for July 1st and August 1st respectively—at the signing? It seems slightly odd, but not necessarily sketchy. The lessee says that she'll cash the checks (after the date they are pre-dated for) in order to pay the renting agency.

Of course, the bank shouldn't cash the checks before the date on each, but do most banks actually check that date?

I'm pretty trusting of the lessee and it seems like a reasonable way to pay her, but I do want to make sure that I'm not falling for a common scam. Thoughts?

Sending a check internationally.

comiddle — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:37:46 -0800

Does the country in which a cheque is cashed have any basis on which currency is used? I'm sending a cheque from Canada to France. When it's cashed, is it Euros or dollars? Can I specify on the cheque that I want it to be cashed in Euros?

It's too small an amount for me to bother with a money order (and it's nippy out), but a book that I feel I must acquire.

Regards,
- Doesn't write a lot of cheques.

why did the check i deposited come back to me?

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:54:17 -0800

i deposited my roommate's rent check into my account via atm at a branch of my bank, but not my branch, although it's one in the same city. why did they mail the check and my deposit slip back to me? i've deposited checks there before without problem, some made out to my full name and others made out to my nickname (a diminutive, like tina from christina), but this one came back to me in an envelope labelled from that branch and with my full name and address handwritten on the front. nothing else inside, so i don't know why it came back—i endorsed the back of the check, so that's not it. so why was it mailed back to me?

p.s. posting anonymously in case i did do something wrong, and because i don't want friends or employers finding out i am kind of dumb about bank stuff and money matters in general.

Check it out: Windjammer bank checks

GaelFC — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:37:06 -0800

Random question about some 1980s bank checks, probably called the Windjammer series. My husband and his best friend worked at a bank in the 1980s, and they were discussing the most popular check pattern they saw...big ships. They believe the check series was called the Windjammer series. The checks came in a series of four with different ships on each one. They remember three: The Moshulu, Red Jacket, and Old Ironsides. Can anyone soothe their minds by naming the fourth? They are wondering if the fourth was ALSO Old Ironsides but if it went by Old Ironsides on one check, and USS Constitution on the other. I've checked Deluxe Check and other main check-pattern sales sites, but the Windjammer series seems to have disappeared.

This is completely unimportant in the great scheme of things, but it's biting at the inside of their memories like a pesky gnat. Thanks!

Background Checks

username68 — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 22:20:25 -0800

I need to know websites/companies that do legit background/information checks. I am willing to pay a fee as long as it is not unreasonable. I need to run a background check and location information for some people. My 16 year old niece has left the state with a 23 year old guy. I have tried Zaba Search, but of course you don't get much there. I have reason to believe he is an unsavory character (mentioning again that he is 23 and she is 16!!!!!) So I need to locate info on him as well as some folks they may be running to. Does anyone have any suggestions? Google didn't turn up anything either. As I said, I am willing to pay a reasonable fee.

Executive Branch Power

jimmyjimjim — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 10:25:25 -0800

Why is the presidential administration working so persistently to bequeath extra powers to their likely Democrat successors? Though this question delves into sensitive political waters, the question itself is fairly neutral - it's about strategy rather than idealogy, and I hope people will respond as such (rather than launch diatribes):

The current administration has been doing everything it can to expand the power and autonomy of the executive branch. But why would they want this, when the executive branch is just as likely to be inhabited by Democrats? I can't imagine Bush/Cheney and Co. would be pleased to see a liberal president acting unchecked....so why this push, with its long-lasting implications?

I do understand that at the beginning of this administration, Republicans were confident they'd hold the executive branch for decades...so the play for executive power made sense at that time. However, the future is now considerably less assured. So why is this power play not just continuing but accelerating (e.g. Cheney's latest)?

I'd like to discourage replies ala "they're simply insane" and other such useless ranting.

I wish that they accepted credit cards

toddst — Thu, 17 May 2007 07:44:22 -0800

I am going to hire a landscaper to do some major renovations to my backyard. Since I don’t have all the cash on hand right now, I was planning on paying with a 0% interest credit card (and I would easily be able to pay it off in less than a year). The problem is that the landscaper (who we like much more than the others) does not accept credit cards. Does anyone have any ideas how I can manage this? I was thinking of calling one of my credit card companies and asking them to send me one of their checks that have a high interest rate and then transferring that amount to a no interest credit card. Does this make sense? Is there a better option?

What needs to be on a check to make it stick?

foxy_hedgehog — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 12:46:45 -0800

Is it legal and/or kosher for me to have my bank's name on my checks, but not its contact info or address? I just received new checks that, for the first time, I'd ordered online from a non-bank affiliated company. All the info is correct- account number, routing number, and my name and address. They also have the name of my bank above the routing number, but, unlike my old checks they don't include its contact info (i.e. address or phone number). Is this ok, as long as the routing and account number are correct? And by ok, is it both legal and/or will it cause me problems? Possibly relevant: at this point I rarely write checks for anything but rent.

This subject has been raised before with regard to the account holder's contact info, but not re: the bank's. Thanks to all for any advice.

The ACH system

calhound — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 11:22:49 -0800

Why is the United States ACH (automated clearing house) system so slow and inefficient? Funds can never be assured until several days pass, and that creates a ripe atmosphere for check bouncing. When I do a Paypal transfer to my bank or move money from bank to bank it always takes 2-3 days. Why is the banking system stuck in the 1950s? Is there any talk of overhauling the ACH system?

Landlord won't take my money!

Sprocket — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 13:37:01 -0800

My landlord won't take my money. How long can a landlord sit on rent checks? Our landlord hasn't deposited our checks from the last 2 months, it's almost time to pay again. We're in Washington, 4 people are on the lease and we each pay $450 a month on seperate checks. So that'll be $1350 each floating around/waiting in our bank accounts. Is there a time restraint on how long he can sit on our money?

How long can anyone hold a check for that matter? Does a check ever expire or become invalid?

IRS: Does cashing personal checks at checkwriter's bank show up in an audit?

anonymoose — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 21:18:12 -0800

IRSAuditFilter: If one were to, sayy, cash personal checks at the checkwriter's bank, would the IRS know?

Personal checks and paper currency: sizes

elisabeth r — Sun, 22 May 2005 21:36:17 -0800

In the U.S., personal checks and paper currency are the same size. So I've been wondering- is there an international standard size for personal checks? Or, do checks issued in one particular country match up with that country's currency? (And what about places like China, where the bills are all different sizes?) Thanks in advance for helping me sleep at night.

can the force lower my car insurance?

Kellydamnit — Fri, 20 May 2005 13:19:28 -0800

Anyone know where I can get Star Wars personal checks? All my Google-Fu can turn up is http://www.anthonygrandio.com/agindex.html, and while those are nice, they're not what I'm looking for. And they're even more than the insanely expensive checks my bank offers.

Cool check design?

scazza — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 15:57:27 -0800

I have sifted through everything and can't find any way to decide which cheesy design to pick. Anyone know any cool check design sites? There must be something out there. I have to buy some new checks but every design I can find is pretty lame. It would be so great if I could use Computer Modern fonts. Otherwise I'm going to have to choose between hummingbirds and this mystic maiden design. That's how I've narrowed it down so far. So obviously I need some help. Please, help me.

Addressless Checks

NotMyselfRightNow — Fri, 25 Feb 2005 09:12:41 -0800

Printing checks without your address on them? Are you required to have your address printed on your checks? If not, can anyone recommend an online site (or even a physical store in the Boston area) where I can get them printed up? Most online sites don't seem to give me the option to remove the info. I'm a Fleet/BOA customer, if it matters.

How can I get a check cashed for free?

IshmaelGraves — Sun, 02 Jan 2005 18:38:19 -0800

How is it that a bank is allowed to charge a fee to non-account-holders to cash checks drawn on that same bank? My layman's reading of the Uniform Commercial Code seems to indicate that checks are "unconditional obligations" and to me "unconditional" means "without requiring the payment of a fee." My Lexis-Nexis searches haven't turned up any case law — I don't know whether there isn't any or whether I'm not finding it. My original assumption was that the charge was a service charge for the convenience of cashing it through a teller at a local branch and that, in theory, I could redeem the check at some central office or by mail without paying the fee, but the people at one bank which does this tell me that's not the case.

It seems especially dodgy since, when I've seen these fees instituted or raised, they go into effect for checks cashed after a certain date rather than checks issued after a certain date, which seems like unilaterally modifying the terms of the contract after the fact. It seems even more dodgy since banks will not issue receipts for these fees.

Can a payee charge bounced check fee on top of my bank's fee?

Civil_Disobedient — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 08:30:03 -0800

Additional bounced check fees? I deposited a check that ended up bouncing. Before I figured this out, I wrote a check on the account that subsequently bounced. So, I get a $25.00 fee for the deposited check, another $25.00 fee for the check I wrote, but now the institution I wrote the check to wants to tack on an additional $25.00 fee. Can they do this? If that was confusing, I can be more specific.