If a check that has been placed on hold clears before the hold ends, is the bank required to release the funds to my account?
No. There are regulatory limits on the durations of the bank's hold, but the bank is not obliged to lift a hold sooner once the hold is placed.
For one thing, it's often very difficult to determine for certain that a check has been paid by the bank it's drawn on, and there is no standard way for a bank to make that verification. The clearing of checks has always been an exception report enterprise, with the absence of a negative report being interpreted as good news. The problem is in knowing how long to wait before one can assume that "no news is good news." If you learn that a check you've deposited has cleared and been paid, you can certainly ask your bank to consider lifting its hold early, but the bank isn't obligated to accommodate your request.
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No. There are regulatory limits on the durations of the bank's hold, but the bank is not obliged to lift a hold sooner once the hold is placed.