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Actually I think it would be a great idea to suggest they put in a stop payment. Thanks!
By the way, yes I am a novice landlord, but I have been working on this project since mid-January, I've been either studying or in Phoenix transacting, or dealing with Realtors, lenders, contractors, the whole plethora of people involved in buying houses and renting them the entire time.
And I really mean it, I've been doing nothing else all year long, 7 days a week with only a rare day off, and 7-12 hours a day, more often towards the 12 hour days.
I know business and I take it seriously. I have literally put my entire year to date and most of my hours focused on nothing other than building my rental business. I am proud of what I've accomplished and I am going to succeed because I know I am capable of it, and because I am determined.
Well I think my personal banker qualifies as an authoritative expert on banking practices.
It gets worse and worse. They made the check payable to my bank and not to me, and my banker says it's likely their clearing section is going to refuse the check and return it to the payer. And charge me a refused check fee.
So it wasn't about nothing after all.
Okaaay... that's really weird. Now I think it IS a scam. There's no excuse for making the check out to the BANK. I wonder what the tenants have to say for themselves.
Lastly, let's see... You are criticizing me for being a newbie landlord owning four properties, and I recall you've had only one rental property ever. Do I have that right?
No, actually you don't have that right by a very long stretch (even were it relevant) and neither have I in any way "criticized" you - merely pointed out that you have a long and winding road ahead of you.
No, actually you don't have that right by a very long stretch (even were it relevant) and neither have I in any way "criticized" you - merely pointed out that you have a long and winding road ahead of you.
Pardon me for saying, but I think you and I will get along better in the future if you could refrain from offering me your advice. The acrimony is probably bothering everybody. I think the less you and I interact the happier the other C-D members will be. Thank you.
Pardon me for saying, but I think you and I will get along better in the future if you could refrain from offering me your advice. The acrimony is probably bothering everybody. I think the less you and I interact the happier the other C-D members will be. Thank you.
It's not important for me to "get along" with you. I freely offer advice borne of experience and I have no idea to what you're referring as "acrimony". If you're not interested in my responding to your questions then there's a CD ignore feature you can utilize. However, my input may be of use to someone else so regretfully your suggestion that I refrain is most politely declined.
First, let's clear up what certified check is: it's a personal check that the bank certifies there is money in the account to back it up. That's all that is. A stop payment can be issued with relative ease. Many times a bank will freeze that amount in the account, but it isn't required to do so.
A cashier's check is different. A cashier's check is a bank check, issued by the bank with the funds paid to the bank at the time of issuance. These are difficult to get reimbursed if there is loss or a faulty payee.
I don't see how difficult it is for someone who doesn't know the meaning of certified check to look it up! or ask the bank. Fussing about the meaning of terms in a contract is ridiculous. If you sign it, know what it means or do not sign until you do. It really is a no-brainer. You sign, you agree to the terms. period.
My advice at this point is to request a cashier's check since the tenants obviously have some issue with coming up with the amount necessary or with reading and abiding by a contract they signed.
As with mutual funds, past performance is not a guarantee.
Thanks for the comments Annie. In fact I was thinking over the problem and decided I have the best solution.
1. Tenants to stop payment on improper deposit check, and to make a proper deposit via certified check or money order.
2. I'll instruct my bank to pull the check out of the system and decline to process it. I'll be charged $12.
3. I'll ask the tenants to reimburse me for my bank fee. Actually I can require them to pay me $30 because our now fully executed contract states that if funds are dishonored for any reason they are to be charged $30, but I'm a good guy. I don't take money from people just because I can. I'm satisfied to have a situation resolve in a way that is fair to everybody.
I'll let you know how it all works out. I expect I'll probably have a response from tenant's Realtor via mine before close of business today.
I've had a check bounce as much as 3 weeks after depositing it. That is really rare, though. Usually, I see the pending bounce in my online banking 1-2 days after depositing it, although I won't actually receive the paper copy of the check back for about a week.
If the check was drawn on a big bank that has local branches in your area, it should clear/bounce within 2 days. If it was drawn on some tiny credit union in a town you've never heard of, it could take a couple weeks (or still just a day or two). Your bank will give you the money to use, but that doesn't mean the check won't bounce on a later day.
Personally, I've only ever had 1 person bounce their move in check, so it is rare enough that I do allow personal checks.
Since you do have a small cushion before they move in, I would inform them (or have your agent inform their agent, or whatever is normal there) that the payment was not in the correct form. Therefore, you can't give them the keys until/unless you have notification from your bank that funds have actually cleared their bank. So if it will clear by the 11th, great. If not, they should cancel that check, and redeposit with certified funds (including the fee your bank will charge for the bounced/cancelled check.)
Also, to other folks, certified funds is a very common term in real estate/rentals/banking/probably other industries as well. Learn it, you will likely need to know it at some point in your life.
Thanks Lacerta. I already emailed my Realtor to contact their Realtor and tell them this:
1. Stop payment on the deposit check, and then make a new deposit using certified funds (cashier's check, money order).
2. I'll tell my bank to stop processing the check and accept the $12 fee. I'll ask the tenants to reimburse me.
I've lost trivial amounts due to a variety of causes, like a seller not giving me a mailbox key for my new property, and I realized that in the big scale of things a measly $12 is not going to make any difference in my business. Call it shrinkage.
I would also have assumed verified finds included personal checks. I have never known of a landlord to have a problem taking personal checks. You might want to state "no personal checks" as it is not obvious and it is not the norm.
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I wonder what the tenants have to say for themselves.
