My girlfriend and I are sharing an apartment. We split the rent and each pay half. On the 1st, she went to go pay rent and took both of our checks to the office. They take the checks, give receipts, everything should be just peachy, right?
Well…
Today (the 3rd) I noticed we forgot to pay the trash portion of our rent. So I write a check for a few dollars and go to the office to put it in the drop box (they are closed b/c today is Sunday). Hanging above the drop box is a sign saying to start putting the company’s name on the payee line instead of the apartment community’s name like we used to. There is also some threatening language about how if your checks are wrong and don’t process then they will charge a bunch of late fees, etc.
Well shit. I guess there are two of our checks out there with the wrong payee.
So I wrote out a check for the full rent to the new payee and put it in the box because today is the last day rent is due on time.
GF swears she didn’t see a sign about the change when she was in the office and they did take the checks without saying anything. Plus we have receipts.
I’m a broke college student who makes like $200 a week so I really can’t deal with a bunch of late fees, return fees and other BS. Will the bank simply not process the checks we wrote? Will they return the checks (to who?) and charge a bunch of fees? I really don’t know what to do at this point.
I know I can put a stop payment on the check for like $30 but I’d like to avoid that if I could. grrr…
There is a distinct possiblity that the bank will process both the first set of cheques you wrote, and the second. Make sure you have funds to cover this, or you will incur your own bunch of late fees, dishonour fees, and the like. If both cheques are processed, you will have to chase the landlord/agent for recovery of one month’s rent, possibly by setting it off against next month’s rent.
If the agent lodges both sets of cheques and the bank returns one, whether because of the wrong payee, insufficient funds or whatever reason, then again a bunch of fees will be incurred.
Your best bet it to contact the agents as early as possible on Monday morning, explaining what has happened and asking them not to lodge one set of cheques.
Yes, I thought about that and I can cover it. It is not an ideal situation, but I would be OK with this happening. I know they will apply the surplus to next month’s rent.
Yes, my plan is to go to the office as soon as they are open. I’m just not very optimistic because this company is notoriously difficult to deal with.
Thanks for reading through all my blather and for the solid advice. It is frustrating when the banks and offices are closed and I have no one to talk to. Thanks again.
I would never have written the second check. They took the first check in the office, right? And you have a receipt?
My wife was once at an establishment where she wrote a check. When she got home, the place called her and said “you wrote the check to the old name, we need you to write the check to the new name, we have new owners.” (This was a gas station / car wash / mechanic). I told her not to bother, they needed to deal with it, not her. But she went back the next day with a new check. She asked for the old check back, and they told her they didn’t have it any more, but no one would cash it. So she paid $10 to put a stop payment on the old check.
A couple of months later, a collection agency calls her about the first check that she put a stop payment on! It took a while to straighten that out.
Yes on both counts. Maybe you’re right; I just got spooked because of the sign they had saying they would impose late fees if the checks weren’t processed. I was just trying to cut my (potential) losses - I wouldn’t want to have late fees from the apartment people AND return fees from the bank, too. I knew I could cover the checks I wrote and would rather be ahead on the rent than behind.
I want to avoid a situation like this. Honestly, if it wouldn’t affect my credit I’d tell the apartment company to take a hike if something happened.
I’ve never had a late or missed payment and I watch my finances like a hawk. I’m trying to give these people my money! It is so frustrating when I am trying hard to keep everything straight and I’m losing money every month because stupid stuff like this keeps happening.
Just a quick update in case anyone cares. I got the second check I wrote back from the office this morning and they promise the first set of checks will clear.
Wow. I might have come by with a replacement check, if it was a company I liked doing business with & wanted to keep a good relationship. But no way do they get the new check until the original one is back in my hands (or shredded in front of me, as one business did when we had an issue with some details on a check I’d given them). That’s a ridiculous request … and the consequences do not in any way surprise me.
I hope that trying to do the right thing will work out for you. You got the second check back, so good for you!
My wife has learned her lesson about doing whatever a business asks her to do for them, just because they ask. And now she boycotts that place and I’m not allowed to get my car washed there either, which is too bad because it was close to my house.