Is it okay to use a check torn in half?

April 3, 2016 10:22 PM

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.
posted by Blitz to Work & Money (8 answers total)

Can you go to a bank branch in the morning and have them print you an intact check?
posted by zachlipton at 10:25 PM on April 3, 2016 [1 favorite]

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]

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]

I'd tape it together and initial it.
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

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]

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

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