Question on Bank Error/Issue

[Starbrite]

Appx 9 months ago, I wrote a check to a friend for several hundred dollars. She cashed it, it cleared & she had her money right away. (I know, I asked ) Problem is....my bank never took the money out of my account. I have left the amount, untouched, all this time waiting for them to take it. I even asked the teller one day & she told me not to worry about it, if they hadn't received the info from my friend's bank, they probably never would. But I'm guessing she's not in a position to know the correct answer anyways.

How long would you leave that money sit there? I am in the process of changing banks. I would prefer to completely close out my old account after all the transfers have completed, but I dont know what to do with this unclaimed money I'm perfectly happy keeping it, but I'm afraid they'll find the error in a year or so & try to collect.

Suggestions?

 

[C.Ann]

That would make me uncomfortable - especially since you want to close out that account.. I would take it to a higher up.. Go into your bank and speak to your branch manager about it..

Better safe than sorry..

Good luck!

 

[bumbershoot]

I would NOT just take it out. I would get everything in writing, signed (heck, notarized!), by *several* managers at that bank, before closing the account and taking out the money.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Under the Uniform Commercial Code any check is void six months after date of issue. And if it was deposited nine months ago and not cleared it is definitely lost in the system. I would not worry about it.

 

[SandrA9810]

Under the Uniform Commercial Code any check is void six months after date of issue. And if it was deposited nine months ago and not cleared it is definitely lost in the system. I would not worry about it.

Well that's a nice little gift for the holidays. Wonder who got to eat that mistake...

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Well that's a nice little gift for the holidays. Wonder who got to eat that mistake...

That depends on where the check was lost. Obviously, Bank A paid the money to friend. Bank A needs to submit the check to their Automated Clearing House to get their money back. Automated Clearing House sends check on to Bank B to get their money back. Bank B then processes the withdrawal from the checking account and they get their money back from the customer who wrote the check.

I worked as a bank teller for quite a long time back in the 90's. There was this older lady who, I eventually found out, had no idea how to balance her checkbook. Husband had always taken care of that and, when he died, she was left clueless. Her daughter came in and got months and months worth of statements and got her mom's account all straightened up except for a few utility checks. I can't remember the total (a few hundred dollars, at least) but there were several checks that her mom wrote out, her utilities noted receipt of payment, but the checks never cleared. Daughter asked me what they should do. I told her that Christmas came early that year - enjoy! As far as I know, they never did clear.

 

[beansmom]

i would go and talk to the bank manager and if he/she says it's your money, then get that in writing!

my friend had a bank error in her favor several months ago...through an honest misunderstanding, she spent the money and was then unable to pay it back (and, yes, she DID call the bank several times to make sure it was HER money and they kept telling her basically 'we don't MAKE mistakes')...long story short...they now have a judgement against HER for their mistake.

If you can pay it back if necessary, then spend it. If not, talk to the bank first.

 

[SoonerSarah]

We had this happen years back. What we ended up doing was opening a second account because there were a few amounts that we weren't sure about. To be safe, after being told the 6 month rule, we waited a year before spending the money. It all ended up being over $500 and oddly enough, it was all from Walmart.

 

[Mom_Rides]

15 year bank employee here. I've worked in various positions in the banking industry (area manager, teller supervisor, personal banker, etc) and here is the best thing that I can recommend to you....read your disclosures. They are the rules that govern your account. If you don't have a copy of them, obtain a copy from your bank. There should be a section on check clearing and the rules pertaining to your account regarding how checks clear. When one walks into the bank and asks questions such as yours, the first thing I grab is a copy of our disclosures.

Now for my opinion on the matter. I would say your safe. Its been 9 months since she cashed it. Checks are stale after 6 months. If you closed the account and the check happened to show up, it would be returned to your friends bank as "account closed" and her account would be debited for the amount of the check (and probably fees from her bank as well). At that point my advise would be to have your friend dispute it. Why is it now just coming back, pushing the stale date issue.

I know its a hard decision to make on what to do with it. I've been there. I wrote my local pharmacy a check (for like $9) and it never cleared. I waited forever to put the money back to myself because I was just so afraid it would clear out. Good luck to you in whatever decision you make!

 

[minnie1928]

That depends on where the check was lost. Obviously, Bank A paid the money to friend. Bank A needs to submit the check to their Automated Clearing House to get their money back. Automated Clearing House sends check on to Bank B to get their money back. Bank B then processes the withdrawal from the checking account and they get their money back from the customer who wrote the check.

Good explanation.

As far as who gets to "eat" the mistake, it could be anyone. It's possible that the check was charged to someone else's account (perhaps the machine read the account/bank information wrong) and they don't reconcile their bank statements. Or, Bank A may have been notified of the error and they didn't pursue it further because of the amount of time involved. The money could be anywhere at this point.

Or, depending on the banks involved, it might be less than their threshold for investigating. A couple hundred is on the high side, but you never know.

 

[Starbrite]

Thanks for all the words of wisdom

I think I will double-check to see if I can find this disclosure anywhere. I figured it's safe to say it's mine now, but I thought maybe I'd wait til the 1 year mark. I mean if it's going to be my "found money" - I really don't need it right away...what's 3 more months.

If it came back to bite me later, I could cover it - with a few days notice. I was just afraid they would take it right out of my account a year later, leaving me with bounced check fees for anything that might legitimately be out there at the time.