Who is liable for forged endorsement on rent check

[wigirl920]

Originally Posted by dick1973

Yes and i would make a police report for the stolen/forged check. And I would make a claim to the bank that accepted the check.

The money was stolen from the person that wrote the check, not the person who was to recieve it.

The bank thats on the hook is the bank that accepted the check, it may or may not be the tenants or LL banks. Tenant still owes the rent. The tenant will get their money back from the bank that accepted the forged check.

But if you make a claim to the bank that accepted the check and the tenant gets their money back from the bank that accepted the check...wouldn't that be double dipping?

[virgode]

Originally Posted by wigirl920

But if you make a claim to the bank that accepted the check and the tenant gets their money back from the bank that accepted the check...wouldn't that be double dipping?

The tenant has no part here, she paid her rent through the bank, her hands are clean of this. If the LL signed forms with the bank stating he had no knowledge nor received or cashed the check hes released from responsibility.

That still leaves rent unpaid. The LL can press the issue or if willing, wait for resolution.

The Bank would reimburse the Tenant for the rental amount, to be paid to the LL, or reimbursing herself if she paid the LL again.

Bank would investigate for resolution.

If found that the LL had a part, in other words a scam, anyone involved would be prosecuted, its fraud.

[melissajo]

What I want to know, is what bank would cash that check? I work for a pretty large bank...we don't take 3rd party checks unless the payee is a minor, and the second signiture must be the parent. Every now and then we make a rare exception (depends on the customer relationship with the bank, and other things) but generally we just don't take third party checks for this reason. We also will not cash a check for anyone who does not have an account with us UNLESS the check is drawn on us and we can verify funds (and we always record id in these transactions to ensure the identity of the check cashier) ...Im guessing most other banks are the same way. It would take no time for the bank to find out WHERE the check was cashed (pull up the image of the check, see who validated the back) and then get in contact with that facility. Its most likely stamped with an account number it was cashed against, the date and time, and teller who did the transaction. That bank is who should be held responsible. They didn't make sure they had the right person. They didn't question the check. Surely they id'd whoever cashed the check...and if they did it would be clear through their security cameras so the forgers identity would be revealed. If not, they they are at fault in more way than one. The money should be taken from the account the check was cashed against (assuming id was verified and we know that account belongs to the forger) and issued back to the original back to go in the tenants account. The tenant should then use that money to get a cashiers check and hand deliever it to the landlord. Then the bank that cashed the check needs to investigate to try and recoup their loss. It's their loss,because they didn't know their customer and ensure that the check was legit. If my bank had done that, we would be the ones to have to take the loss. We should have done our job to make sure the check was not fradulant before cashing it.

[jackmccullough]

The bank has no business paying the check to someone other than the payee. Even if the indorsement was forged, the bank is liable.

[JS1]

The tenant is not responsible for the landlord's money being stolen.