One of our custumers owe us some money with a balance in the account over a year. I was informed
(unfortunately until today) that we have in our possesion a Bank of America check from this client, for an ammount of aproximately 80% of the balance due.
Our only probelm is that the check is dated OCt, 19th 2004! I know usually the bank only recieve checks until 90 days..Is there anything I could do to cash this check? If the bank accept it ( maybe by omision or mistake) is there a way the bank can take back the funds If the payee complains??

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :confused:

I understand that you believe your customer would not be cooperative in an attempt to have the check replaced with something a bit more current. I think you're correct on that score.

If this is a check on your client's account at B of A, you can deposit it and hope for the best. B of A can pay it, either accidently or deliberately, and it would be a legal posting to the B of A account, all other things being equal.

What could go wrong? The account could be closed or have insufficient funds to pay the check. The customer may have placed a stop order on the check that is still in effect. The bank might actually review the date on the check, see that it's over a year old, and send it on back to your bank for chargeback to your account. But if you don't draw on the funds for a couple weeks (to allow for a normal chargeback interval), you can be assured that it can't come flying back to bite you later, since the bank's payment will have been final.

And, if BofA does bounce it back to you on a timely basis, aside from any chargeback fee that your bank might impose you won't be any worse off than you are now, right?

Dear John,

Thank you for your help!.
If I am planning to deposit the B of A check in our B of A account ( same bank ). I believe the funds will be allocated faster.
However my question is, if the customer see that the check has been cashed, can he place a complaint to BoA? Do they have to cancel the deposit?

Thank you

Can the customer lodge a complaint with B of A? Certainly. Customers have an innate right -- some consider it an obligation -- to complain when they believe they've been treated badly.

Will the customer have right to recover the money? B of A has the same rules as all the other banks. They have to decide to return a stale-dated item before the end of the next business day after the item is received for payment. If they fail to meet that deadline, they are obligated to pay the check. B of A also has a right to charge its customer's account for a stale check, unless the customer has an effective stop payment order in place.

Thank you again John.

So If I deposit the check on Monday, at the max on Wendesday I can know for sure if it went true, right?
Will I be at any risk of a legal action with my customer? for charging his stale check??

Thanks

With one caveat, you're right. B of A is a behemoth. If the check is drawn on an account in a B of A office in the same state or check processing region as the branch into which you deposit it, you should be comfortable by Wednesday. Otherwise, to the extent that B of A hasn't yet consolidated all of its offices (a fact of which I am not certain), the check might not be a true "on us" item.

Your customer could, of course, take legal action against you for looking at him cross-eyed. I am not an attorney, but I don't believe your customer would have a leg to stand on if you negotiated the check unless he had already made a replacement payment.