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Hi all, New Yorker here. Last year, the company that manages the building my roommates and I live instopped sending rent invoices due to the fact that they were moving offices. Fast forward to April 1st this year, and we get an invoice stating that we owe back rent. Obviously we were confused since we had always sent in our checks on time, so we called them and they stated that they hadn't cashed our checks back in October of 2016. Obviously this is a strain now since we hadn't budgeted for essentially paying double rent this month - is this something that we would be able to fight them on?
Why is it a strain financially now?
Why didn't you follow up and check your account to ensure the rent check cleared and find out why from the landlord if/when it did not clear in a reasonable amount of time.
Why did you spend the money from the account knowing you had written a check for that amount?
Why is it a strain financially now?
Why didn't you follow up and check your account to ensure the rent check cleared and find out why from the landlord if/when it did not clear in a reasonable amount of time.
Why did you spend the money from the account knowing you had written a check for that amount?
This.
It can't be a strain if the money is still in the account and I find it hard to believe that you can't make two rent payment in one month...don't you have a saving account? An emergency fund? A balance that rolls over month after month??
In this day and age...everyone should know, to the penny, how much is in there bank account because we all have instant, 24/7/365, access to it. My bank gave ma a small account register to use with my debit card...works great to keep track of transactions.
Pay up OP...and learn to balance your checking account.
The payee of a check IS the recipient. If the check was received by the payee and not cashed timely, I'm not sure money is still owed.
Payor, payee, names don't matter. The point is the same and correct. Canceled checks are the gold standard for proof of payment. The money is owed.
The tenant, if receiving monthly statements, issued by landlord, can show not being behind in prior months. But chances are if the OP isn't reconciling bank accounts, they aren't keeping monthly rent statements, either. And depending on the number of roommates and each person's rental amount, the extra 1/4 of the rent may not have been obvious to someone not balancing their books.
Work it out, not worth the ding on credit, which will cost more than your share of the rent.
The payee of a check IS the recipient. If the check was received by the payee and not cashed timely, I'm not sure money is still owed.
Of course it is still owed. There is a statute of limitations in every state and this would fall under that; a LL has years to collect and given this is a current tenant they could be evicted.
The same as if the situation were reversed and the tenant had double paid.
The only question in this case is the when and how of making it right.
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...and given this is a current tenant they could be evicted.
That would be very tough to achieve even in the most LL friendly Court.
The tenant DID provide the means to be paid and on time. The LL dropped the ball.
they stated that they hadn't cashed our checks back in October of 2016. Obviously this is a strain now since we hadn't budgeted for essentially paying double rent this month
If they didn't cash your checks, that money should still be in the bank. Unless you didn't pay attention and spent it.
This is why you should always ask for receipts even though you are paying by check. This way if the landlord loses the check and tries to put the blame on you, you can show them the receipt where they acknowledge that they got the check, therefore it's their fault they didn't get the money.
I too always requested a receipt even when paying by check (I had an on-site rental office), because if the landlord lost the check I was covered. I started this because one time the check hadn't cleared in about 3 weeks, and I had a really nasty manager. I wanted to cover my axx in case manager decided to mess with me.
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Originally Posted by Campfires
The OP has a contract. Just because the recipient lost the check doesn't alleviate the payee from responsibility. The OP still owes the money. What legal basis are you using to come to your conclusion?
I completely agree. There is no excuse for not paying and no proof you paid without a cancelled check.
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Originally Posted by freemkt
YOU would have subtracted it from your "availabke balance" and I would have done likewise, but millions of people never keep a running balance in their check register or even balance their bank statements.
Exactly as I said above. There is NO EXCUSE for not reconciling your register and bank statement each month. OP would have known in every reconciliation after the missing check that there was a problem. OP brought this on himself/herself for sloppy personal finance habits.
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Originally Posted by freemkt
The payee of a check IS the recipient. If the check was received by the payee and not cashed timely, I'm not sure money is still owed.
IF the check was received by the payee... Just exactly how do you prove the payee accepted it? -- And if you are going to mail it then you should send it Certified Mail.
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Originally Posted by convextech
If they didn't cash your checks, that money should still be in the bank. Unless you didn't pay attention and spent it.
The answer is obvious. The OP doesn't reconcile his bank statements to his check register each month. Otherwise it would be impossible to have not noticed the missing check. I don't know what voodoo reconciliation system OP uses, probably none, but OP already spent the money.
I'm surprised the LL took 6 months to discover the rent hadn't been paid, but that's another issue. Unless OP can prove LL received the check then OP will have to write a new check. OP is lucky if LL is not asking for late fees.
The OP is totally in the wrong unless he/she has some new facts not yet posted. Pay the missing rent or at some point you will probably be evicted for non-payment of rent, and you have NO proof that you paid it. You are going to lose.
Last edited by Lovehound; 04-14-2017 at 08:17 AM..
YOU would have subtracted it from your "availabke balance" and I would have done likewise, but millions of people never keep a running balance in their check register or even balance their bank statements.
And then mistakes and lost checks happen. OP needs to chalk it up as a life lesson: Reconcile your bank statements on a regular basis.
OP, is this a roommate situation? If so, I assume that one person collects the rent from the other roommates, and writes one check for the lump sum from their account? If this is the case, then that one roommate is responsible for paying the full amount. Those roommates paid their October rent to the "collector" and if the landlord never cashed the check, the money designated for rent should technically still be in that person's account.
The payee of a check IS the recipient. If the check was received by the payee and not cashed timely, I'm not sure money is still owed.
Rent is still owed because the check never cleared the bank. However, with a receipt to prove the check was given on time no late fee would be owed.
Those people who never balance their checkbook and never notice that a $600 rent check never got cashed always have a bad credit rating which will cause problems renting. How can you not know how much money you have or whether or not you are writing bad checks? You just write a check and hope it clears?
OP would have to prove that the check actually hit the landlord's hand, so a receipt would come in handy.
MrRational had the best suggestion. If you can't prove by looking at your bank account that the money was taken out of your account last October, then you still owe the money. They are telling you that they lost the check. If someone owed you money, and gave you a check, and you lost it -- wouldn't you ask them to please write another check? Or would you think of it as cash -- lost, and it's gone for good?
There's a bunch of people "piling on" and scolding you for not balancing your bank account -- which, IMO, isn't terribly helpful in solving the current problem. I daresay there are more people that don't balance their accounts than there are that do, especially in this age of on-line banking when your bank account transactions are available in 10 seconds on your phone. It doesn't mean that it's not a good idea every once in a while, though. :-) I used to balance my checkbook religiously, to the penny, each month -- but that was when I got a paper statement in the mail, along with copies of the checks I had written that month. But now, I write maybe six checks a year -- and two of them are birthday checks to nieces/nephews. :-) Everything else is done electronically, and I check my bank account every couple of days, to monitor debits and deposits and make sure everything is as expected.
And, I think that posters need to realize that people -- especially younger people, with roommates -- are often living on the edge with regards to savings and may not have an extra month of rent just hanging around. This might be a good wake-up call for the OP, though, to start putting a little money aside each month in an emergency fund to cover at least a month's worth of expenses. Meanwhile, again, I think MrRational has offered the best suggestion. It was careless of the management company to lose the check -- but it was also careless of the OP not to notice (or not to care) that the check was not cashed. I, for one, would notice immediately if I suddenly had a month's rent/mortgage still hanging out in my bank account and ask the question -- "Did you get my check?" Apparently, though, the management company didn't charge a late fee, which would have been another clue that the check wasn't cashed/received. So there's plenty of slip-ups on both sides.
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