It’s essentially a risk assessment. The risk that someone will seek to cash the check is probably quite low if it’s a “I don’t know where I put it scenario” vs “I think someone took them”. You need to parse out what the current scenario is.
Ask the lanldord if they are misplaced, probably stolen, or what, as you need to decide whether a stop payment is necessary. Inform the lanldord that the cost for the stop payment is coming directly out of the rent and the check(s) will be for the remainder. If the LL ihas not really put thier back into locating the checks this will be a mighty incentive.
Dark and lonely on a summer’s night
Kill yo’ landlord
Kill yo’ landlord
Watchdog barking
Do he bite?
Kill yo’ landlord
Kill yo’ landlord
Slip in his window
Break his neck
Then his house
You start to wreck
Got a reason
Lost yo’ check
Kill yo’ Landlord
Kill yo’ landlord
C-I-L-L
Yo’ l a n d l o r d
I’ve used cashed checks as reciepts. I’d call your bank to see if your checks have been presented yet. If they have not, put a stop payment on them and write a new check, minus the stop payment fee. Refusing to replace the check, regardless of fault, is being an ass, and liable to get you tossed out on yours. You still owe him the rent. If they already have been presented and cashed, your landlord is a liar and a crook, and should be reported to the fair housing department in your area, and possibly the police.
The problem with that logic is, just even if they’re presented and cashed, that certainly isn’t proof that the landlord is a thief - he already says he lost them. The whole problem is that someone else may have found them, and cashed them.
Check to see if the signature on the back matches his. If it’s made out to a company (Forgetful Landlord, Inc., for example) the check will *probably[/] have been deposited into that account without being cashed, and attempts by the landlord to procure a replacement check is surely illegal.
If they’ve been found and cashed by someone other than the landlord, he eats the lost income. If they have not been presented and cashed, stop payment on them and issue him a new check.
Good and bad advice. MO’s can also be lost, and until the landlrod has cashed them, you haven’t “paid” him. It is also harder, more expensive and takes longer to get a refund on a lost MO. MO are bad idea’s all around.
Good- yes, as i said- any Stop-payment fees shoudl be deductable from rent. Even tho I am not a big beleiver in Stop-payments, since you won’t be paying the fees; it isn’t so bad.
And folks- please get over the idea that just because our OP handed the landlord a chec- and even got a reciept for that check- that they have somehow “paid the rent”. The rent isn’t “paid” until the check clears.
What if you’ve paid cash and it was lost? A money order or cashiers check is the equivalent of cash, isn’t it? Why should a tenant be held responsible for the landlord’s carelessness?
If you paid cash and failed to get a receipt immediately, I’m sorry, you’re stupid. Call it a $500 lesson learned. Get a receipt for cash transactions. With a money order or cashiers check, there is a tracking number that can be traced to see if it has cleared, and if not, can have a stop pay issued on it.
I honestly didn’t believe that anyone would be stupid enough not to know that. So I’ll spell it out in small words for you: if you have paid the rent in cash and have a receipt, why should you be responsible if the landlord loses it?
First, I’ve been burned by “lost” checks. Badly. For this reason, there are certain bills I pay by money order or by cashier’s check. These are also traceable instruments; you can check to see if they’ve been cashed fairly easily. Yeah, they’re a pain to get, but the peace of mind is worth it.
Second, I specifically said to mail the MO in return receipt, which serves as legal proof that the payment was received. This, again, is a little more expensive, but worth it when you consider that checks can’t be “lost” except through landlord stupidity.
When it comes to things like food and shelter, I don’t like to fuck around. Yeah, it may be a stupid mistake on the part of the landlord, but I wouldn’t give him the opportunity to make it again. A missed rent payment may be grounds for eviction since it’s lee’s and KellyM’s word against the landlord’s. By forcing the landlord to sign for his rent money each month, it makes him think twice about where he sets the envelope down.
That said, no money should be deducted from the rent without a clear understanding on the part of both parties, preferably something in writing. If the guy is idiotic enough to lose rent checks, he’s probably going to forget why the rent is x dollars short that month.
The name of the game ain’t being nice, it’s covering your own ass. No one else is going to do that for you.
If you haven’t noticed, the conversation here has drifted slightly from the precise circumstances of the OP.
So far, it seems to be agreed that the tenant is responsible to replace a lost check, and is not responsible to replace lost cash. Now, the tenant has used perfectly good money to purchase a money order or cashiers check. The tenant has given that to the landlord and has a receipt. The tenant no longer has that money. Why should the tenant be responsible for what the landlord does with it?
The tenant should also have a carbon copy and/or stub from the money order or cashiers check. The information on those items can be used to track the money order or cashiers check. If he has signed it to cash or deposited it into his account, it can be determined where and when. If he genuinely lost them, a stop payment can be put on them, just like a check.
Cashiers checks and money orders may be easier than personal checks in some ways, but they are not the same as cash. You still have to present ID in order to cash them, and they are traceable.
If the lost CC or MO is voided or cancelled, a replacement will be issued, provided you have the necessary stubs and carbon copies (proof of purchase, if you will)and any fees incurred can be knocked off next months rent.
Well, obviously this doesn’t help you now, but in the future, you may want to consider on the back of all your rent checks in the signature space, right ‘for deposit only.’ Yes, it means you’re landlord can’t cash them for quick money, but it also means that if anyone else finds them, they can’t either. The only way for the money to be had is to be deposited into an account with your landlord’s name on it, and in these days of the Patriot Act, it’s much harder to make a phoney baloney bank account.