I would bet dollars to donuts, that the OP’s bank would process the deposit without any such an issue. Now the endorsements might not be proper, but as I said, most of these types of transactions are all automated in the bank now. Who’s going to raise a ruckus? Not the bank, their automated systems are not checking for endorsements. Not the utility company, they are still waiting for payment another way. Not the insurance company, they don’t care as long as the funds only get removed from their account once.
Then I would endorse it under the schools deposit mark, and deposit it into your account. BOA is still showing that MO as outstanding liability on their books. They will eventually escheet the funds to the State after about 7 years, if the MO is never presented for payment.
Well, not entirely … CHECK YOU UCC §§ 3-110(a) (by way of 3-205(a)) and 3-204(d).
Now, in this case, at the time of “indorsement,” (a/k/a endorsement) F-P did intend to make the instruments payable to his CC issuer. But, I would hazard a guess that if F-P went to his bank and told them the situation, they’d be happy to indulge a little fiction regarding just to whom he wanted to make the check payable at the moment he endorsed it.
These provisions deal with situations where the stated name of the payee is not exactly the same as that of the intended payee; e.g., if the check is payable to Jimmy Olson, but his real name is James Olsen. This would also work if the check is payable to Superman; if Clark Kent is willing to reveal his secret identity, he can cash the check. I think it’s unlikely that Fotheringay-Phipps could convince anybody that he really meant to endorse the check to himself when he endorsed it over to the credit card company.
Well, renaming yourself after a credit card issuer could be kind of useful.
@ jbaker:
What’s the downside if the OP’s bank rejects the deposit, if he just further endorses below the endorsement to the CC company?
I’m pretty sure they just return the checks to him, and say that they are not properly endorsed, and then he goes about seeking replacement checks from the insurance company.
What’s the downside if the OP’s bank accepts the checks and the deposit is processed, as I suggested?
I’m pretty sure nothing.
I understand that the instruments are not properly endorsed, but were talking about a few hundred dollars or more, that belongs to the OP, and facilitating him getting it deposited into his account. Practical advice is more appropriate. What next? Advise him to consult an attorney over this issue?
The rule means that the indorser’s intent determines the identity of the party to whom the instrument is payable. If I want (and intend) to sign a check over to my friend Afton and end up writing “Pay to the Order of Barack Obama,” the check is payable to Afton. Notice also that the UCC doesn’t require anything about convincingness in this rule.
Now, I quite agree, and think I adverted to this above, that (1) such slips of the pen never happen in real life, and (2) more importantly, at the time of indorsement, F-P really did intend to make it payable to his credit card company. Which is why you may have caught my remark about the bank “indulg[ing] a little fiction.” The story is plauisble, and if F-P is well-known to the bank (by being a long-time accountholder, say), they will likely do this, because he is a good customer and in particular, UCC § 3-110 provides a colorable cover story.
Additionally, I’d look at UCC § 3-204 (cited above) regarding indorsement by a holder, which at one point in time, F-P was. I’d need to research whether he loses holder status upon indorsement-without-negotiation (which I am not going to undertake). Possibly, as a named party within the instrument, he could still present it.
Omar Little - The downside of endorsing the check as you suggest is that, if the bank refuses to accept the deposit, the check is worthless. It’s true that the OP still could go back to the insurance company for a reissued check, but he would no longer have the option of using it to pay his credit card bill.
I don’t think the OP needs to consult a lawyer over this. Several options have already been suggested.
nevermind/misread
Did I miss something? I thought that was the reason the OP was in the situation he was in. The credit card company returned the checks to him and wouldn’t accept them as payment. So that option no longer exists.
If you’ll look at post #7, you’ll see that the OP is considering trying again.
I missed that. Then I would suggest him trying it again, or trying to deposit them into his own account. If neither of those works, then contact the insurance company to have them re-issued. Having checks re-issued from a corporate entity like an insurance company will be a 30-60 day time frame.
Yes, I would say that those are the OP’s best options. But if he deposits the checks into his own account, he should not write “For deposit only” on them. He should just endorse them.
As I mentioned above, you can just deposit the check into your own account if it does not have a restrictive endorsement. If it does have a restrictive endorsement, you’ll need to take the check back to your bank, with whatever you have from your school explaining why they didn’t use it, and have them cancel the check. They may charge you a fee for this.
Sent them back again with the next month’s payment, and they were accepted this time.
[Going forward I’m still messed up, because I don’t think I can keep sending them in - the next time they get rejected I imagine I won’t get off paying the interest charge.]
What do you mean “going forward”? You mean, you were still hoping to be able to do this again? What’s wrong with doing it the regular way – deposit checks written to you and then pay your bills separately. Don’t you have a checking account?
I have direct deposit. I don’t know if I’ve been in that bank since the day I opened the account.
If I have to go there every time someone gives me a check, that will change in a rather annoying way. Actually my wife is likely going to be the one making the deposits, to tell the truth, but she rarely if ever goes to the bank either to this point, and I’m not happy about her having the extra hassle either.
That’s different. If the band had endorsed it to you, you could have cashed it. The problem comes from “the band” being an unknown business entity to the bank. Who has the authority to endorse it?
In contrast, if a check is made out to me, I can endorse it over to someone else. There’s no question that I am me; I don’t have to file DBA papers to use my own name. A business entity does.
Have you bothered to go to the bank and explain the situation? Maybe ask them what they think you should do? Take I.D. & CC bill & Bank book with you, be very polite, ask nicely.
A friend’s main bank account was with an out-of-state credit union. He said that he would mail any checks he received for deposit to his account. I think (but am not certain) that the credit union provided postage-paid mailers to use in sending the checks to them. Nowadays, a few banks like Bank of America let you scan checks via a smartphone app and get them deposited that way.