I wrote a check in November, 2005, and was told by the payee that it was lost. I did not stop payment on it. I was very surprised to have that check clear my banking account 1/2009 - 3 1/2 years later! Isn't there some statute of limitations on checks?
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Checks are "stale" after six months based on the Uniform Commercial Code. Those stale items need not be paid, but if a bank pays an item in good faith after that, they generally have a clause in your deposit agreement with them, that they can't be held liable. This is because checks so often go through an automated process for payment, that dates are not always reviewed.
To ensure it wasn't paid, you would have been required to place a stop payment request. Stop requests usually have a limited life of six months. This means it would require renewals and that costs you money each time, but that is how it works.
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Checks are "stale" after six months based on the 