Answer:
Check out your bank's deposit contract or agreement. Chances are it has verbiage that says the bank has the right to approve all documents used in connection with the account. Or it might specifically disavow any responsibility for legends put on checks unless the bank has separately approved them in writing.
The point is that in the real world banks don't examine every check they process for legends or date. And the UCC doesn't make the bank responsible for doing so if banks in your area generally don't check for such things. So, if the check was cashed elsewhere and presented to your bank through in-clearing (your question says that the check "cleared"), I don't think your customer has a leg to stand on.
If the check was cashed by one of your tellers, though, a strong argument can be made that the teller ought to have seen the stamp and not cashed the check. In that case, your customer should file his claim within the time frames for catching an unauthorized item in UCC 4-406. If your deposit contract calls for notice to the bank within 30 days for such a claim, that's the time limit for this item.
First published on BankersOnline.com 3/7/11
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