We all make mistakes.... You could pass a sewer rat dog. Very little dog! as a check... at any check writing service...[ A little smile] Shake it off and deal with it. I do every day. Its just a little pocket change...

i had recieved a payroll check from my last employer for two weeks of work... i had put the check in my bank and then two weeks later my company had stopped payment of the check.. i am now $1200 neg in my account... the bank is holding me responsable for paying back the stopped check... how can a company stop a payroll check when i did nothing wrong but quit on them.. i am really supose to get another check from them but you can see how that goes... where do i stand legally??? is there anything i can do to make them pay me back??

If the check had already been paid at the bank the check was drawn on, the employer should not have been able to stop payment. Two weeks seems like "pushing the envelope" on the time it would take for a check to come back. But without seeing the check and knowing all of the dates involved, we can't provide an answer.

I hope you are able to get the replacement check quickly.

the check stub states.. pay period 3/16/06-3/31/06... and the pay date of 4/1/06... i put the check in my bank on the 8th of this month... my bank hit neg. this morning.. is that any help? my employer is based in california and im in kentucky... my employer is trying to say that he does not know who i am... should i get a lawyer?? or is it something i cant fight? thanks for the help...

also, how long will my bank give me to pay back the money? will the bank take legal action against me?

Contact your bank to ask them. There is no better source for that information.

I just had a situation where a terminated employee said that the severance check I mailed to her was lost in the mail. I placed a stop payment on that check and mailed a new check. The employee cashed both checks. The stop payment check was cashed at a check cashing store (non-bank) and now the check cashing store is demanding that I make good on the check. From everything I've read here, it sounds like I'm just going to have to pay the check cashing store and go after the former employee.

My question is, going forward, is there anything I can write on the checks that I issue that says "Only negotiable at banks" or "not negotiable at non-bank check cashing establishments" or something like that which would make it impossible for the person to cash the check at a check cashing store? That way, I could know that when I issue a stop payment on a check, it will not be cashed.

I believe the check cashing store has the responsibility of going after the former employee. They probobly think that they can pressure you into paying because they know where you are and can't find the former employee. You placed a stop payment on the check, reason does not matter. You reissued the check and have no obligation to the check casher. Your bank should be able to guide you in this matter.

Big-Dog's opinion notwithstanding, the check cashing store is a holder in due course unless it is aware of the fact that the first check was stopped. That would be the case if the check had already been presented for payment and had been marked "Stop Payment," or if the dishonest employee/payee had boldly claimed that he/she was scamming the boss. But those things didn't happen here. The check-cashing store was ignorant of the sordid details, and cashed the check quite innocently.

The UCC protects the holder in due course and allows it to pursue the issuer of the stopped check.

Annotating the check in an attempt to prevent its being cashed except at a bank wouldn't work, either. The payee's scam could have worked just as well if (s)he had cashed the original check at a bank (other than the bank it's drawn on).

The employer's gripe here is with the former employee. Let's put the blame there, where it belongs. The check-cashing store is entitled to recover for the check. It can pursue the check's payee on his/her endorsement warranty, or it can pursue the employer as the drawer of the check. Which pocket do you think it will pursue, given those options?

John, so what should the employer above have done? Employee says the check is lost. Employer says, "too bad, We issued one to you and you lost it...your problem?"