We have a customer who has printed right on their checks VOID AFTER 180 days....well, guess what? A check they wrote back in April 2012, just cleared in July 2013. They want to know how did that happen since it clearly states on their check that it is VOID AFTER 180 days. Also, they put a stop on this check back in May of 2012, so why didn't we stop the check. Their loan officer also can't understand how this could happen, so after giving the loan officer a lesson in the world of Electronic Cash Letters, and Stop Payments (way too many checks to 'look' at, and the stops are only good for 6 mos.) She now wants to know how can we prompt the system to look at the checks, since the customer assumes we are 'honoring' the VOID AFTER 180 days....by the way, I've told the loan officer about positve pay, but that seems like too much work for the customer (manually looking at inclearings each day for my dept, not so much)....I guess, I'm looking for a more eloquent way to tell her how to tell her customer, just because they put that on their checks, does not mean we are looking for that. We can't help it if another Bank took that check, or if someone with RDC would scan it a year later....any help in kindly phrasing my response would be appreciated....been dealing with this issue ALL day....thanks!

I will try one more time to let her know that the only reason businesses put that on their checks is to prompt their customers to ‘cash’ them faster so they won’t have reconciling items. Banks in general, don’t take ‘stale’ dated items, but I can’t stop what another Bank is doing.

I would begin by directing your loan officer and customer to the terms and conditions section of your checking accounts. See if there is a clause in there titled "Restrictive Ledgends" and the fact that your bank is not obligated to honor them. Another good place to direct them is your states Uniform Commercial Code 4-404 which may say something like this:

§ 4-404. BANK NOT OBLIGED TO PAY CHECK MORE THAN SIX MONTHS OLD.

A bank is under no obligation to a customer having a checking account to pay a check, other than a certified check, which is presented more than six months after its date, but it may charge its customer's account for a payment made thereafter in good faith.


The tactful was to say it is "We disclosed in our terms and conditions that we do not honor legends written on checks. State law permits us to honor items older than six months. Since neither we (nor any other bank in the coutnry) does not review every single check that is presented against an account, we exercised our right to pay this item in good faith since it is a check that you wrote."

The untactful thing to say to the loan officer is that you don't try to tell them what loans to make so maybe they should refrain from telling you which checks to pay.

Thanks! I needed that! I was afraid I was going to go the untactful route....you made me laugh....My day just got a little better.

haha we've been experiencing an increase in these also. Checks a year or two old (under $100) clearing the accounts and stops had been on them in the past.

Brian did the heavy lifting, but make certain that customers who buy their checks through you are not allowed to add "legends" with similar language. If your bank ordered the checks it's a tad more difficult for you to say, "That language doesn't mean anything."

THANKS Ken!