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What to me is weird is how they could even make that error since they should have checked the balance on the rental and that should have brought up the amount on the check and if they were not sure than check the fully written amount.
Honestly we hardly check if both are for the same amount and only once did I catch it myself that there was an error.
But we do check if the amount on the check is the same as the balance which in the OP case the ball was already dropped.
Pardon me if this sounds like a lecture. I was taught how to write a valid check in high school. Maybe the new math excludes this.
Let's begin with the date. It cannot be post-dated to be a valid check. Legal values are only today or any later date. Sometimes I send out a check dated tomorrow understanding that the post office will not deliver the check until the valid date, because that's impossible. Checks are valid for some time after the stated date of issuance, check with your own bank to see what this is. Myself, I think 90 days is a good number. YMMV
Next there is the "pay to the order of" line. You have free reign here. You may add the words "AND" and "OR" including multiple parties. My advice is never include the words AND and OR in the same payee line. This is particularly when a landlord refunds a deposit to multiple tenants. The word "AND" requires every party on the payee line must endorse the check. The word "OR" indicates any single payee may cash the check.
Let's move on to the $__________ line. As referenced above, this can be called the "courtesy line." You should understand that it has NO legal validity. It is a courtesy because it is easier to read, and easier to scan. Most banks just scan this line and take care of it later if there is a complaint. THIS LINE IS NOT A LEGALLY BINDING LINE!!!!!!
Next we arrive at the line __________________ ending in "dollars." THIS IS THE LINE!!! if there is any discrepancy in the check this is the line that governs!
Let's say the courtesy line reads $1,084.34" but the ______ dollars line says "one-thousand-eight-hundred-eighty-four-and-no/100 dollars." That is the amount of the check! Does not matter what the "courtesy line" reads.
Note that "one-thousand-and-eight-hundred-and-eighty-four-and-34/100 dollars" has no validity. The word "and" signifies the decimal between dollars and cents! There can be only one "and" in this line, and the "and" as I said is the decimal point.
Almost finally you have the memo line. This is your note to yourself as to what the check is for. It may sometimes bear if you get into an argument with the recipient what you wrote the check to pay, but don't count on it. It is your note to yourself and is not legally binding.
Ah yes, and finally we arrive at the signature! If you say it is your signature then it is your signature. Sometimes I add a beautiful flourish to my signature, sometimes I just squiggle a jagged line. If you say it's your signature, it's your signature. If you deny it's your signature then it is open for litigation.
There. I hope I have cleared this matter up. If the landlord's bank screwed up the courtesy amount then it is his bank's problem and ultimately his problem. If the tenant made the check out valid and stated the correct amount in the wholly written out line, then it is NOT the tenant's problem. If the amounts disagree between courtesy line or is open to opinion, then the written out line governs.
If the landlord's bank made the mistake in scanning the check then it is all on the landlord and upon his bank making the original mistake.
personal note: I wonder what the mentality of a landlord who would make an issue of so little an amount.
If I have learned anything through this is that there is a real discrepancy now between the technology used to process checks and the legal way we are supposed to write checks.
I admit I was in a huge hurry the day I wrote that check, I was late getting back to work and debated stopping to write the check (Which I wrote in my car) I really needed to get back to work but I knew if I Didn't stop to write the check and pay the rent I would perhaps forget and be late with it. I have never had this problem before and have good hand writing.
That said -- I knew they were processing checks quickly and probably had some type of deposit agreement with the bank -- I just knew there was a middle man and they had made the mistake, I didn't know they were scanning checks or how it worked exactly.
what gets me is the discrepancy (total discrepancy) between what we are taught (well, most of us are still taught, lol) and what is legal, vs. what banks and companies use to process checks now -- which is the opposite of the legal amount! I Wish this was something my rental company had disclosed up front as I might have been more careful that day but I also still thought it looked like a 0 and had no reason to believe a computer would be making the decision for me.
Yes, I was low on funds for less than 24 hours, that's totally besides the point. Ive already mentioned I have 3 checking accounts and manage them carefully, this was the 4th of July weekend and I brought my cash reserves in that account down to XXX2, which was still enough for my check which I knew would be the only thing hitting until I was paid again the day later via direct deposit (Crazy I have to explain myself as its really completley besides the point and no ones business most of all my landlord)
I've handled myself far more professionally than the company here and I'm sure my income is higher than most of them as well and I am professionally more successful than the people I deal with in that office. They resort to bullying (like some here) I think due to some insecurity that is the only way they will get paid or something. Some renters are far more successful than you and have no interest in skipping out on the rent... (generic you)
This company is known for aggressive tactics when it comes to this kind of thing and I think they don't realize how reacting to every situation the same way (especially since they have robots reading checks -- and failed upgrades that have kicked people out of their online pay system months ago) is very bad for their business. I know this is the first and last time I rent with them despite the fact they have mostly nice properties.
The way they treated me was not personal. That's part of the problem, it should have been and they would have reacted more rationally and not made an enemy of me.
a 3 day or quit notice for an error on their part should not have made me upset? Let's see it was a Saturday and I knew I had a busy week coming...just bought a car a few days before...they are known to be aggressive and I have 3 days to fix THEIR problem that they are not smart enough to figure out and I'm not supposed to be upset about such aggressive tactics that threaten my peace to live in my own home?
That's the least (and last) of what they have done to me. Most of the terse communications I have had with them have more to do with undisclosed construction both on and outside the property after I signed my lease when I told them I was specifically looking for a quiet place as I work from home and was moving out of a small apt. which shared a wall with an auto mechanic.
I pay a large price for my apt. and its value dropped immediatley when major construction started and they did not disclose any of it to me before I agreed to pay a certain price to live here.
I have always paid my rent. Why would I be mad about having to pay rent on time? (besides the fact it would have been decent of them to lower my rent after construction started...but that's besides the point) I still pay them.
I just wrote them a very negative and deserved review. I wrote another after this situation and took it down once they credited me.
But I'm not sure what they are thinking with these practices when they are already getting so many bad reviews.
Yeah, the check system is broken, has been for a long time and still will be until checks are no more. 20 years ago, I had a check that had been lost and I had stopped payment on get found and cashed 18 months later (the bank person had the balls to tell me that stop payments were only good for 6 months. Of course I countered that checks were only supposed to be good that long too). Since then, I have had checks processed for wrong amounts multiple times.
The check system isn't broken. It works fine 99.9999999% of the time. The simple engineering fact is that it's easier to read the courtesy amount and very difficult to translate peoples' scratchings in the amount line. They figure, fix it in the end if there is a problem. That's why my bank fixed my minor problem.
That's my experience but evident others have had worse luck. At least the OP's case was fixed in the end.
Remember, anything that ends well ends well, and the end is the end.
Yeah, the check system is broken, has been for a long time and still will be until checks are no more. 20 years ago, I had a check that had been lost and I had stopped payment on get found and cashed 18 months later (the bank person had the balls to tell me that stop payments were only good for 6 months. Of course I countered that checks were only supposed to be good that long too). Since then, I have had checks processed for wrong amounts multiple times.
its not broken. its the banks accepting and processing the checks that are broken
It is not broken. No system works perfectly 100% of the time. Airlines are generally safe, much safer than auto travel, yet airliners crash.
In the last dozen years since they adopted the "a photo of the check is the check" as per Congressional act I have had the system fail me exactly once.
Maybe not broken, but too vulnerable to human/machine error with not enough oversight.
And maybe it is better now, my issues were prior to the electronic processing. Of course, I only write 1 check a month consistently, to the woman that cuts my hair and add in a few per year to the occasional person that comes to the house to do some work.
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writing valid checks 101
