He lost our rent checks. He waited until after business hours to tell us. He said that he doesn’t know what happened to them they are just lost. Tomorrow we will get stop payment orders on them and write new checks.
Stop payment orders are good for only so long. I hate something like this hanging out there. That is too much money to not be accounted for.
You can usually renew stop orders, so that might be a good option. Depending on how much of a hassle it would be, you might consider opening a new account. I had a checkbook stolen, and I was able to give the bank a list of checks that I had written, and authorized them to be drafted out of my new account; any checks not specifically indicated would not have been honored. It was kind of a pain in the ass, but it was nice not to stress about whether someone was going to pass off a check of mine.
And a rent check, unless you’re lucky, is no small amount of money. It may be worth the peace of mind.
Let me get this straight: He lost your check, and he not only thinks this is something you would be interested in knowing, but expects another one?
Explain to me why his incompetence is your problem. I’m all ears.
Well, with all of the identity theft around it is something that I would want to be told. Not sure how much a crook can do with a signature routing and account number (to say nothing of the address that is probably printed on the check) but it ain’t great. Also, while incompetent, I don’t think that it is unreasonable for him to want a replacement. That said, he definitely needs to eat any fees that are associated with canceling the checks! That is only fair.
Did you keep all your receipts? I hope so. First thing to do is call the bank and see if any of the checks were cashed. Then, if there are any which were not cashed, stop payment on those. If he asks for your receipts, do NOT give them up. Give him Xerox copies if he insistent, but do NOT give him the originals. An apartment manager once tried this in my old appartment complex. She was stealing the money, and then evicting tenants for nonpayment to cover her own ass (They had trusted her and not asked for or kept receipts). I kept my receipts and told her to bite me. She (and the owner) got Xerox copies only. The owner was very interested.
Well, obviously you should stop payment on the check (or whatever you must legally do to prevent it from ever being honored), but I don’t see how you can prevent identity theft at this stage of the game. You must assume the check is currently in the possession of your worst enemy and proceed accordingly.
As for the identity theft angle, I would make it a point to tell him that if my identity is stolen, he will be looking at a civil suit. His incompetence facilitated the crime, and he must share responsibility.
My last sentence was, on review, rather unconsidered. Of course it’s your problem, for all the reasons you mentioned (in addition to the fact that your landlord is a buffoon who cannot be trusted with simple tasks), but you should not be on the hook for any of the problems that may arise from this fiasco. The ill effects of the lost check are his responsibility.
As for my incredulity that he had the temerity to ask for another check, well, call me old-fashioned but I think that stupidity should be punished. Losing one month’s rent is a light penalty for a foul-up of this magnitude.
Usually, a 'stop payment" is rather expensive and unneeded. If the person to whom you wrote the checks doesn’t cash the checks, you are protected. If the landlord does, then you have proof, and you’re living there, so you’re also protected.
And- certainly he deserves another check for the rent- in fact if you don’t, he could evict you for non-payment of rent. OTOH, you could certainly get away with deducting the cost of the 'stop payment order" off the replacement check. Just notate it on the check, and let him know. In fact, that’s my advice- do get stop payment orders, then deduct the cost of them from the replacement check. Be sure to notate “replacement check less stop payment fee” on the check.
If someone represents himself as my landlord and cashes the check, exactly how am I protected from the immediate consequences of not having enough money in my account?
Warning: I am not a lawyer.
Having said that, here is what I think, and something you might want to talk over with any attorney friends or relatives you might have.
You have the receipts (an assumption). You acted in good faith and were “honoring the contract”. You are not legally liable for his stupidity. Talk to a lawyer.
One thing you said may be an indicator. If you no longer have that money in your account, then that means somebody cashed those checks.
Bolding mine.
Last time i needed to stop paymeny on a check, the fee (Bank of America) was $30. At the very least, you should make your landlord swallow whatever extra charges you incur to stop the check/s.
At best, this is simplistic and risky. Although a check not endorsed by the payee is not properly payable under UCC 4-401, forcing a bank to recredit your account if someone gets ahold of these checks and improperly negotiates them will, at a minimum, be an annoying hassle. Further, there are circumstances where the bank need not recredit the account.
A stop payment order is better than nothing, but such orders expire. To be completely safe, close the account and open a new one.
You said checks. If this were me, and the amount at issue was something more than trivial, I would close the account. I’d reissue the checks to the landlord, but only after he gave you a written indemnification against any loss you suffer because of his screwup, and paid any out of pocket expenses you incur.
Yeah, IAAL, and I’m even one in your state, but this is general information and not meant to be reliable legal advice. See a lawyer who can examine the specific facts of your case for that. I’m not your lawyer, and you are not my client.
Good luck.
My former landlady would routinely leave my rent check in her pants pocket and launder the pants. But at least she had the disintegrating check to give me in exchange for a new one.
Thank you, one check was mine, one was KellyM’s. I am afraid that changing accounts will mess up the automatic stuff, including VA payments and student loan payments, but I know it is the prudent thing.
One thing I’ve had to do to CMA is pay certain bills via money order or cashier’s check and getting receipts. That way, I didn’t have to worry about missing checks or checks taking forever to clear.
I would do this. I’d start paying the landlord with money orders or cashier’s checks. (The fees for these will vary.) This gives you the receipt for the actual instrument. I would also start mailing the checks to the landlord certified, with return receipt. This, in turn, forces the landlord to sign for the rent and gives you a legally recognized receipt that the check was received, and who signed for it.
Talk to a tenants’ rights organization about recourse you may have WRT the fees you’ve incurred so far. You may be able to be reimbursed or deduct these from future months’ rents.
Robin
I still suggest talking to your bank; they will very likely have ways of helping everything transition over for the first month while you fix all the arrangements in the meantime.
And last time I wanted a stop-pay, not only was there a $60 dollar fee, but the funds written out by that check were frozen for the duration of the stop-pay. This may not be the case these days and depending on your bank, but 5 years ago with Wells Fargo, this indeed was the case. I couldn’t live with having the $1200 or so tied up for 6 months, so I passed on the stop-pay.
For the most part, having a check out there really means nothing when you consider how hard it is becoming to cash fraudulent checks or forge a check. I personally wouldn’t sweat it, but then I’m not terribly paranoid a person.
Sam
Robin, getting a money order for each rent check would be a major league pain in the ass. If it’s just a one-off carelessness issue and the landlord isn’t out to screw you, doing that seems like overkill.
That doesn’t make any sense. That’s the whole point of getting a stop-pay, so that you don’t have to let the money sit there. What a weird bank. (Oh, Wells Fargo, ah, well…)
Not really. My feeling is that, if this happened once, I’m not about to let it happen a second time. In any event, money orders or cashier’s checks aren’t that hard to get.
Robin
Disagree. I’ve got three forged check cases pending right now. The last time I checked the figure (for an article I wrote 2 years ago), annual check fraud losses exceeded $10 billion.
That said, the odds of these particular checks being negotiated is probably well under 50% (depending on how and where they were lost), but the chance is there.