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Home >> Checks/Money Orders >> Checks You Received
Amount Discrepancy has Government Involved
A tenant wrote a rent check to me for $700.00. The written line was written "Seven dollars and 0 cents". The memo clearly stated that it was for the month's rent. It was credited as $700.00 to my account, also paid by their bank for $700.00. Seven weeks later it came back to my bank from the federal reserve with the paid amount changed to $7.00. What can I do? Can they wait that long?
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 Yes, they can. In this case, it is your tenant that is the problem. If the amount in words on the check was written in error, and the check was paid for the correct rent amount, your tenant ought to have let the matter slide, since the correct amount had been paid. However, it appears that your tenant discovered a loophole, because the legal amount of a check when there is a discrepancy between the amount in words and the amount in numerals is the amount in words.
Perhaps your tenant had some financial challenges and needed a way out. It seems clear that you have the unpaid portion of a month's rent to collect. Make sure you keep the paperwork with which you were advised of the adjustment and a copy of the check in question, just in case you have to take your tenant to small claims court. If the bank didn't supply a copy of the check, ask for one.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 6/29/09
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