Author Topic: Need a genius or three here. (Read 3490 times)

MaterDominici · « **Reply #5 on:** August 23, 2006, 07:27:18 PM »

Quote from: Trinity

What is the one day law and why does it not apply to the deposited check ( loan check from Bank of America )? The situation being that my husband left his employment at the end of July and started in the middle of August his new employment. Which does not give him a paycheck until the Sept. 1st. We went and got a personal loan of 500 dollars to pay our bills this month.We deposited it on the 19th and got the notice 22nd that it was to be held until the 6th of sept. Upon asking why they replied we had multiple overdrawn ( OK I'll admit my math sucks) in the last 6 months at the time we always had our checks deposited electronically and we never skipped out on over draft fees or anything and we have always been honorable about the account for over a year and have banked there an estimated 6 years together. Anyway the final explanation was if the check was not honored by the bank of America we would have no other income to cover the checks we wrote. basically they did not trust us. The problem lies in the fact I sent out 7 checks to cover bills on the 19th and the my bank flat out said it won't charge me fees but it won;t cover the checks I wrote either so the check fees are coming from the people i sent checks to . I called them up and talked to them about the situation but all I got is what will happen ( Think return fee plus check amount charged at the check account again.) so there is the run down Let me know any info you got.

I can see your bank not allowing you to use the funds until the check clears, but why would that take until Sept 6 when it generally only takes at most a week. That check should be cleared w/o problem in a few days. It's not like it's a $10,000 check from Joe Smith, this is $500 from BOA--do they think you forged it or something? As an accountant, I can be pretty harsh on those who've proven to bounce checks in the past, but that's seriously beyond reasonable.

Here's the best I can come up with: Was there someone at BOA that you worked with to get the loan? See if they will call your bank and verify that they will honor the check. If that works, do whatever you can to get the people who got your bounced checks their money ASAP and then ask them to waive the fees. Most large businesses do not have to pay the bank for bounced checks--they generally just keep enough money in their account so as not to pay various monthly charges. Given an honest effort by you to get them their money and a good history of on-time payment, they'd possibly be willing to waive any assessed fees. Smaller businesses would be less likely because they're just passing on to you the fee that they were charged by their bank.

The last time I managed collections for a business (large enough to not have to pay the fees themself), my rule of thumb was to waive any fees if the customer asks and has not had any fees waived by us in the past 12 months. Presuming, of course, that their account is otherwise paid.

MaterDominici · « **Reply #6 on:** August 23, 2006, 07:32:38 PM »

Oh, and to my understanding the law change allowed checks to be cleared electronically without having to ship the actual check from bank to bank, therefore eliminating mail time delay. However, I think the key is that it's now ALLOWED, not REQUIRED, so the bank can still do the paper thing if they wish.

If I had to guess, I'd say many probably clear the checks electronically and then make you wait as if they had not used this option. There's also the possibility of smaller banks still mailing the checks simply because they don't have the technology in place for electronic clearing.

Vincentius · « **Reply #7 on:** August 23, 2006, 07:33:03 PM »

Quote

What is the one day law and why does it not apply to the deposited check ( loan check from Bank of America )? The situation being that my husband left his employment at the end of July and started in the middle of August his new employment. Which does not give him a paycheck until the Sept. 1st. We went and got a personal loan of 500 dollars to pay our bills this month.We deposited it on the 19th and got the notice 22nd that it was to be held until the 6th of sept.

I'll try to find the wording of this new check processing procedure. What it is -- in the past when you deposited a check or a check made out to you and you deposited it, the bank actually sent a copy of the check to the bank along with the routing number, acct number, etc. This would take at least two or three days (sometimes more), considering the millions of checks transacted daily. In the meantime, you can deposit a check made out to you and in turn you can "use" that deposit and write out checks and feel safe that the checks you wrote won't clear until your deposit actually made it to your account. In the new system, there is no more transmission of actual checks but everything is done via the routing number of the bank, which gets to your bank almost immediately (the "one day" duration was a hyperbole). It's just like email -- it is delivered at the speed of light or close to it.

I don't think it was fair for your bank to hold a loan check from BofA (a major institution) for close to three weeks! And considering you're an old customer. I'd move banks but that won;t be any help for now.

Dawn · « **Reply #8 on:** August 24, 2006, 08:20:26 PM »

Trinity, I have been noticing some strange bank charges when I call to see what few (very few) dollars are in my account. I will have to see the band statement. My bank charges $30.00 per overdrawn check. My husband gets paid via direct deposit every Friday and even this has to wait for a clearing period. I read somewhere that people are too poor to declare bankruptcy, Well that would be us. And for the first time in 9 years our name will be in the local paper as shame shame people sho have not paid their real estate tax.

gladius_veritatis · « **Reply #9 on:** August 24, 2006, 09:55:25 PM »

Bank managers have the ability to release the hold, although they will not do so for just any reason. What many people do is cash the check, then deposit the cash (as cash deposits are reflected in your available balance immediately). Of course, if your account is new, they may not cash it for you. Also, once you have a bouncing episode, they will likely not cash checks for you until you have demonstrated 'better behavior' - unless they are drawn on that bank.

I pray your situation will improve.

Edit: BoA cashes checks for non-account holders, but there can be a $5 fee (depends) and you must have two primary IDs. I imagine other banks act similarly.