Can what you write in the memo field deface a check?

[BarnOwl]

@t-bonham@scc.net

Note the “already owes you money” part of this.

You can certainly write into a contract specified methods of payment. But that must be done when the contract is prepared, and the other party agrees to it by signing the contract. But if that wasn’t done, you can’t after-the-fact make a requirement for certain methods of payment.

So, I go to register my car at a Massachusetts DMV, and the charge is $200 or more.

Is this a public debt? Or did I have to use a bank check as the guy there demanded?

[Q.E.D]

@BarnOwl

Is this a public debt? Or did I have to use a bank check as the guy there demanded?

No. You don’t owe them that money. You are purchasing a one-year registration of your vehicle. True, you have to renew the registration in order to drive, but no service has been performed until payment is accepted. It’s only upon acceptance of payment that the DMV grants you the renewal. You are paying for a service; it’s not a debt.

[justrob]

@WhyNot

You know you’ve got to tell us what it said, right?

FASCIST POLICE STATE (all in caps like that.)

I realize that the police do a valuable service in society and respect them for that. Heck my father was a police officer and my response to tickets of any sort is usually to angry at myself for being a dummy and not following the laws as I know them. For those interested the ticket was for being parked too close to a driveway. FYI you need to be more than 4’ from one. I was there a total of 5 minutes.

My issue is with the zeal this community shows in enforcing parking rules and other money making offenses.

@t-bonham@scc.net

But he’s right in that they don’t have to accept a check. They can refuse for any reason they want, or for no reason at all. (Though refusing to accept checks from one race, creed, color, gender, etc. would get them in trouble.)

Sure, a private business can but can a government agency refuse to accept it because it pissed them off?

@Really Not All That Bright

Since this is GQ and I’m on my best behavior, I’ll just point out that you mean epithets.

Sadly I did mean epithets, I was even trying to make sure I spelled it correctly. Unfortunately spell check doesn’t tell you the correctly spelled word is not the one you want. :smack:

[justrob]

@WhyNot

I don’t know if a parking ticket is considered a debt or not…

I’m pretty sure that a ticket has to be considered a debt. I can’t get out of paying it by just choosing not to park any more. If I don’t pay it my license would be suspended and I think if I get enough a warrant could be put out for my arrest.

[astro]

@BarnOwl

I suspect you’re kidding, but…

Long, long ago a guy at DMV wouldnt take cash (in the hundreds of $). He insisted
on a certified (I think) check because he didn’t have a proper safe.

So like a fucking dummy, I went to a bank and got one.

I should have told him he either accept the cash or I’ll call a Treasury office and report him. Like it says on our folding money:
**
This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private.

**

Has a DMV ever been held up? Anywhere? Ever?

[Q.E.D]

@astro

Has a DMV ever been held up? Anywhere? Ever?

Yes. Any more silly questions?

[Jiminator]

You certainly did not “deface” the check, and his language was incorrect. Semantics aside, however, they do have the right to refuse the check. The only way to “deface” the check, and that is stretching the definition of deface to its very limit, is to have the word “void” written on it somewhere. Your check was valid, he just wanted to “out-jerk” you, which he had every right to do. His signature comment was just following up on that.

I used to do item processing for a bank that was the city I live in (Huntington, WV) general fund bank, and we received all the items from their department that processed things like parking tickets. I saw lots of interesting memo line comments, many of which described what the city should do with the money, sometimes rather colorfully. It wouldn’t have hurt them to take your check, but in turn it wouldn’t hurt to just pay your fine and go on with life. As it will always be in a situation like that, they have the upper hand.

[Magiver]

I usually write something like “tax donation” or “revenue enhancement” in the memo for tickets. haven’t been rejected yet. And my signature is deliberately hard to read/duplicate.

[Wile_E]

Perhaps they did not accept the check because you were supposed to write “FASCIST POLICE STATE” in the “pay to the order of” section?

[Derleth]

@t-bonham@scc.net

Are (were) they a race or a separate species?

The word ‘race’ is used in both contexts, although using ‘race’ to mean ‘species’ seems limited to fictional contexts. (And Burns called the haggis the ‘chieftan of the pudding race’. I don’t know what to make of that.)

[Acsenray]

This discussion regarding whether something is a “debt” or not is not going to help you. It’s not a legal standard.

[Terminus_Est]

@Q.E.D.

Yes. Any more silly questions?

As long as we’re being legally pedantic and all, the video shows the aftermath of a break-in, not a hold-up.

[justrob]

@Jiminator

You certainly did not “deface” the check, and his language was incorrect. Semantics aside, however, they do have the right to refuse the check. The only way to “deface” the check, and that is stretching the definition of deface to its very limit, is to have the word “void” written on it somewhere. Your check was valid, he just wanted to “out-jerk” you, which he had every right to do. His signature comment was just following up on that.

I used to do item processing for a bank that was the city I live in (Huntington, WV) general fund bank, and we received all the items from their department that processed things like parking tickets. I saw lots of interesting memo line comments, many of which described what the city should do with the money, sometimes rather colorfully. It wouldn’t have hurt them to take your check, but in turn it wouldn’t hurt to just pay your fine and go on with life. As it will always be in a situation like that, they have the upper hand.

You are 100% right. I was being a jerk. That doesn’t make my assesment of that particular community any less valid.

Thanks for the info everyone.

[justrob]

@Wile E

Perhaps they did not accept the check because you were supposed to write “FASCIST POLICE STATE” in the “pay to the order of” section?

I think the reason the person at the window even noticed the Memo field is because I asked her if that was who I was supposed to make the check out to.

[muldoonthief]

@BarnOwl

So, I go to register my car at a Massachusetts DMV, and the charge is $200 or more.

Is this a public debt? Or did I have to use a bank check as the guy there demanded?

Huh - I paid $1300+ in cash in MA to register a car a few months back - the clerk didn’t blink at the cash. I can’t believe they wouldn’t take $200 in cash.

And clearly you made this up anyway, since in Massachusetts, you go to the Registry, not the DMV

[muldoonthief]

Too late to edit - that $1300 in the post above was mostly sales tax on a car I bought, with only $100 or so being registration & new plates.

[neutron_star]

@muldoonthief

I paid $1300+ in cash in MA to register a car a few months back

:eek:

[del]Seriously? Wow. It’s $36 here. Does it cost that much even if it’s a $500 beater?

(Sorry for the hijack.)[/del]

ETA: Well, that’ll teach me to post in a thread I opened two hours ago and never refreshed. :smack:

[mbh]

“This note is legal tender for all depts, public and private.”

Back in the 19th Century, most paper money was issued by private banks. People could accept or reject them as they chose, based on how confident they were that the bank actually existed, and would redeem the notes for gold or silver. A New York business would accept notes issued by a famous New York bank, but would probably not accept a note issued by a Los Angeles bank that they had never heard of before.

When the federal government started issuing paper currency, they put that language on the note to try to persuade people that the new notes were just as good as bank notes, and almost as good as coins (back in the days when coins actually contained bullion). But nobody is required to accept them. That is an individual negotiation between the buyer and the seller, or the debtor and the creditor.

[Madd_Maxx]

@Q.E.D.

Yes. Any more silly questions?

Did he have to take a number and wait for over three hours too?

[Duckster]

Question I thought that United States currency was legal tender for all debts. Some businesses or governmental agencies say that they will only accept checks, money orders or credit cards as payment, and others will only accept currency notes in denominations of $20 or smaller. Isn’t this illegal?

Answer The pertinent portion of law that applies to your question is the Coinage Act of 1965, specifically Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled “Legal tender,” which states: “United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.”

This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.

Source: Front page | U.S. Department of the Treasury