# Extra Comments on Checks **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 15, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862 "2020-04-15T16:03:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/1 "2020-04-15T16:03:50Z")
Apparently stimulus checks are going to be sent out with Donald Trump on the memo line. I will probably get a direct deposit, but I was thinking about what I would do if I got the check. And based on comments on another thread others were thinking along the same lines. The question is what are the rules about putting comments in the memo line (or other places). For example, if it came with Donald Trump on it, adding negative comments about him. Or, an alimony check with a comment like “Mary is a cheating bitch” on the memo line - making Mary take that to the bank. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/2 "2020-04-15T16:05:19Z")
Oops, I posted in wrong thread. I meant General Questions. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/3 "2020-04-15T18:07:38Z")
IANAB (I am not a banker), but I think you might jeopardize your check’s chances of being cashed (even if only slightly,) while not getting any political benefit in return (it’s not likely it would sway the bank teller or someone else’s mind.) ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/4 "2020-04-15T18:36:19Z")
A check can say whatever the sender wants on it - it doesn’t affect the money I’m getting. It could praise Satan and I’d give negative shits about it. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/5 "2020-04-15T18:44:46Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > The question is what are the rules about putting comments in the memo line (or other places). > For example, if it came with Donald Trump on it, adding negative comments about him. > Or, an alimony check with a comment like “Mary is a cheating bitch” on the memo line - making Mary take that to the bank. What “rules” do you think the above would be violating??? ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/6 "2020-04-15T18:49:00Z")
The check might be seen by a human teller once. After that it will only be seen by robots. The robots will only look at the amount, routing number, and account number. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/7 "2020-04-15T19:23:37Z")
We’ve put Comcast Sucks on the memo line for years.\* I doubt anyone even looks at them. - no way is Comcast ever getting a direct withdrawal ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/8 "2020-04-15T19:47:04Z")
Banks may have policies that they won’t accept checks with profanity on them, but that’s entirely up to the individual banks. But in general, the memo line has no legal status so no one cares what’s on it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/9 "2020-04-15T20:16:23Z")
In Ontario we have a benefit payment called the Ontario Trillium Benefit. The attachment to the check carries the premier’s signature. It’s paid monthly, so if you’re not getting direct deposit or a lump sum you can be reminded who paid your bribe twelve times per year. (Many other provinces have a similar program, but they just add their money to a similar federal payment, and the notification says something along the lines of “extra money paid by the province of X”.) ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/10 "2020-04-15T21:55:58Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > In Ontario we have a benefit payment called the Ontario Trillium Benefit. Trump was fighting big time to have his signature on the stimulus checks to the public. I think they compromised with something in the memo line. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/11 "2020-04-15T23:27:59Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Trump was fighting big time to have his signature on the stimulus checks to the public. I think they compromised with something in the memo line. This is Trump’s narcissism on display, of course, but it’s a really minor issue to get worked up over. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/12 "2020-04-15T23:49:21Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Trump was fighting big time to have his signature on the stimulus checks to the public. I think they compromised with something in the memo line. This is Trump’s narcissism on display, of course, but it’s a really minor issue to get worked up over. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/13 "2020-04-16T00:33:39Z")
Checking law is oddly specific in some ways and not specific at all in others. As long as it has identifying information about the account, bank, amount and a valid signature, it is a valid financial instrument. It can literally be spray painted on a floor tile and it is still valid. Memos don’t affect its validity at all as noted. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/14 "2020-04-16T02:29:26Z")
A couple of things I was thinking about before I started this… Putting “Comcast sucks” on a check is one thing. But, to me adding something like “Mary is a cheating bitch” is going toward painting a swastika on someone’s door. And once a person starts “defacing” a check it might compromise the integrity of the check. Adding a word or two on the memo line would be okay, but I was wondering if there was a limit to what could be added. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/15 "2020-04-16T02:39:34Z")
Cheques don’t have to have comment fields and, outside the US and a few other countries, they mostly don’t. It’s purely by custom that US banks mostly include then in the preprinted forms that they provide to their customers. SFAIK they were originally included as a convenience to the drawer of the cheque; when the check was negotiated it was returned to the drawer by his bank, and he could include a comment which would remind him why he wrote it, which might help him with the bookkeeping exercise of reconciling his returned cheques with his own accounts. The payee of a cheque generally isn’t affected by what’s in the comment field, and doesn’t care about it. He shouldn’t add to it or obliterate it, though; a bank might reasonably refuse to negotiate a cheque that appears to have been altered after the drawer wrote it. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/16 "2020-04-16T02:53:22Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > A couple of things I was thinking about before I started this… > Putting “Comcast sucks” on a check is one thing. But, to me adding something like “Mary is a cheating bitch” is going toward painting a swastika on someone’s door. > And once a person starts “defacing” a check it might compromise the integrity of the check. Adding a word or two on the memo line would be okay, but I was wondering if there was a limit to what could be added. If your pungent comment is tangentially related to the payment you can put it on the payment line (or run it on after the payment lin0e - “Pay XYZ inc the sum of $40 for a dreadful service, poorly delivered”. Perfectly valid cheque, and the comment is more likely to be read by at least one person - probably an employee of XYZ inc - than if it’s in the comments field. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/17 "2020-04-16T02:54:28Z")
There is some significance to a comment on a check, not in regard to the OP though. There’s no reason for a bank to care what is in the comment line unless it says something like “This is a stick-up”. However, the payee may be constrained by a comment like “Payment in full”, depending on the circumstances. The check may serve as a receipt. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/18 "2020-04-16T11:31:21Z")
I checked on the internet and found an old discussion on a similar topic. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-473427.html](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-473427.html) And from someone who said they were an attorney. “It is not illegal to alter te [sic] memo portion of the check as long as it does not threaten or defme [sic] anyone”. > **[Defacing a check prior to cashing | Legal Advice](https://www.lawguru.com/legal-questions/ohio-criminal-law/defacing-check-prior-cashing-legal-112913734/)** > > Legal Question & Answers in Criminal Law in Ohio : Defacing a check prior to cashing Is it legal to alter the face of a check My original comment about the cheating bitch was along the lines of defamation. So, maybe that would be illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/19 "2020-04-16T19:55:21Z")
When I still wrote checks, a number of companies I sent checks to requested information like account number or invoice number on the comment line. That probably comes from times before it was easy to look the payer up on the computer. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862/20 "2020-04-16T19:57:00Z")
It’s still easier to look up a payer with an account number instead of a name. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-comments-on-checks/851862.md?page=2)