I had an overdraft charged off account at my bank. Someone wrote me a check drawn on that same bank, and I went there to cash it. The bank kept my check to offset the overdrawn charged off account. Can they do this?
Obviously yes, because they did. The bank is likely to attempt to justify its taking of the check as an exercise of a "right of offset". However, the right of offset varies widely from state to state, and whether it's being correctly applied in the case you've described is questionable. As a practical matter, you are out the money, and it could cost more to get it back than it's worth.
You have not denied owing the bank money for the overdraft. Do what you can to get that matter taken care of before taking another check there to be cashed. If you want to investigate whether the bank's action was legal, talk to a legal aid office.
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Obviously yes, because they did. The bank is likely to attempt to justify its taking of the check as an exercise of a "right of offset". However, the right of offset varies widely from state to state, and whether it's being correctly applied in the case you've described is questionable. As a practical matter, you are out the money, and it could cost more to get it back than it's worth.