A check cleared my account 181 days after payment was stopped. The bank claims the stop payment order expired after 180 days. What recourse do I have?
In most states, stop payment orders are valid for only six months. Many banks have that fact printed boldly on their stop payment forms. In this case, check out the date on which your stop order was signed. It should be in force for six months (not 180 days) from that date. Six months can be as few as 181 days or as many as 184. If the check was cashed on the 181st day, it's possible that the bank has some liability.
Don't assume, however, that you will be entitled to a full refund of the check that was paid over your stop order, if that is indeed what happened. You will be entitled only to damages caused by the payment of the check if the payment occurred before the stop order should have expired, and you will have to demonstrate what those damages are.
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In most states, stop payment orders are valid for only six months. Many banks have that fact printed boldly on their stop payment forms. In this case, check out the date on which your stop order was signed. It should be in force for six months (not 180 days) from that date. Six months can be as few as 181 days or as many as 184. If the check was cashed on the 181st day, it's possible that the bank has some liability.