My husband’s gets a paycheck every week, since he’s a truckdriver, it’s very difficult to cash it, but the company won’t go to direct deposit. The best he can do is to cash his check at the bank it’s drawn on. If I bring it to my bank, I have to wait ten days because it’s an out of state check, I can’t do that.
Last week, the bank the check is drawn on told my husband that they will no longer cash the checks if he doesn’t open an account there. That’s a big problem, because it’s in a different state state and I can’t get to it and I’m the one who does the bills.
I’d suggest your husband set up a savings account in a bank that has a lot of branches in the area he travels. Then he can cash his check (though the amount in the savings account may have to be more than the check).
Even better – open a checking account in a bank that has a lot of branches in the area he travels. Make it a joint account, and use your home address as the account address. You keep the checkbook. Then, he can deposit the paycheck and you can write checks on it. Bank statement will go to you.
I’d open an account there and keep $5 in it. Hopefully, they have some sort of free savings or free checking. If not, then I’d keep enough to either avoid monthly fees, or enough to pay them each month.
You can use the internet for online banking. You don’t have to BE in the same state as your bank.
First, I really hate the situation you are in. I have been there in the past and it really seems like messing with people in the worst way.
I would not accept the first reply you got quite so quickly. If the at trucking company, someone high up in payroll/accounting is made aware of what you are going through they may be willing to help. If they contact the branch manager where your husband goes they may be able to work this out. You don’t say what State you are in but many have Labor laws that say you can “demand” to be paid in cash and just reminding them of that, and that you are helping them by accepting the check may goad them into supporting you.
Next, you are likely ellligible for some type of “Credit Union”. The laws on that have become so loose that if you have a child in a school you can join the local “Teachers” Credit Union. They are often more helpful in treating Payroll checks as “cash” without hold periods. Usually you have to sign and show them that it is indeed a payroll check, give them company info and they will credit those checks as soon as you present them. Good luck
A check is an order instrument. It is an order to a bank to pay a person some money. "Pay to the order of . . . " Legally, the bank is required to honor the check.
But what are your remedies. The bank’s obligation to honor the check is owed not to you, but to the account holder under its deposit contract.
Historically, checks were created to be cashed at the drawee bank. It is ironic that the drawee banks are now refusing to cash checks drawn on them. I have had drawee banks insist on a fee for cashing checks. It sucks.
What can you do?
Notify your employer that its check was dishonored by the bank, and insist on another form of payment.
Notify your state attorney general and banking regulator.
Create a huge ugly scene in the lobby of the bank.
NPR just had a story on this, specifically relating to California banks. A bank in CA doesn’t have to cash a check drawn on that bank unless the recipient has an account there. It’s a big problem with workers who can’t afford bank-account fees.
I don’t understand this part though. It sounds like you are saying that the problem isn’t that he has to open an account but that YOU can’t get to it - but why can’t you get to it? He can open a joint account in both your names; he can open an account under his name only and give you signing authority on checks (he can designate a “limit” too, over which you need dual signatures, if he doesn’t want you to have complete access for whatever reason); he can open an account and you might be able to do Internet banking, if the bank has that feature. There are many ways for you to “get” to the account - you don’t have to physically go into the bank itself.
Are you sure of the 10-days? I could be mistaken, but I thought the Federal Reserve or other agency had set a maximum funds availability for out of state checks and the maximum was less than 10.
In any case, I take it your husband has been going to the issuing bank, so he should be able to open an account there–he can take or they will send you a form to put you on the account. So you can write checks.
You can setup an automatic bank to bank draft, where funds from the original bank can be deposited into your existing local account. You’ll need to check out the details, but that would allow you to obtain cash locally sooner, possibly within a day of the draft transfer.
I take it that if your husband deposited the check into your local bank, $100 would be available the next day and the balance no later than five business days.
It could be sooner, and there could be some exceptions–your mileage may vary.
