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When to stop payment on a check

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Smallpotatoes, Sep 10, 2007.

  1. Smallpotatoes

    Smallpotatoes Well-Known Member

    On Aug. 29, I mailed my car payment (due on Sept. 3). As of today, it has yet to be cashed.
    I called the bank that my car loan is with and they told me I have until the 19th before a late fee applies.
    Usually, I haven't had a problem mailing a payment five days before it was due, though I realize there's a holiday weekend in there this time and perhaps I should have mailed it a day or two earlier.
    Still, one would think almost two weeks after I sent it, it should have arrived by now (from the Boston area to Reading, Pa.).
    At some point I should put a stop on the check and send a new one, obviously before the 19th.
    At what point is it safe to assume the check is not going to get there?
     
  2. Sxysprtswrtr

    Sxysprtswrtr Active Member

    I'd say give it to Friday of this week and then put a stop payment on the check.

    And oh, um, who still uses checks? :)
     
  3. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    I was thinking the same thing.

    Why not set it up so it's an automatic withdrawal every month or you pay them via electronic wire transfer?
     
  4. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    Journalists will tell you it's damned hard to kite a bank draft.
     
  5. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    Football, I don't understand the expression "kite a bank draft"
     
  6. Chi City 81

    Chi City 81 Guest

    Such as.
     
  7. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    I believe he's referring to the practice of writing a check when the money to cover it is not in the account or not yet available.
    Please be advised that, although there is nothing wrong with the practice, some banks have started to charge fees as if it were an overdraft.
     
  8. imjustagirl2

    imjustagirl2 New Member

    There is something wrong with the practice. Most places now electronically debit your check, so if the money's not in there, they'll know immediately and you're out $35.
     
  9. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    If the money's not there when the transaction goes through, then there's something wrong with it. That's an overdraft.
    I somebody dates a check for today with no money in the account but the check doesn't clear transit until tomorrow, when there is money in the account, then there should be nothing wrong with it. However, some banks are charging in that situation.
     
  10. imjustagirl2

    imjustagirl2 New Member

    But as I said, if it's done electronically as most are now, then it goes through instantaneously. So they've just eliminated the 'kite' time.
     
  11. Mystery_Meat

    Mystery_Meat Guest

    If you pay on site, yes. You still have wiggle room if you mail the check. If I understand Buck, banks are looking at the date on the check (say, Sept. 10) and they check your balance on that date, and if you don't have enough to cover at the time you issue the check, they still treat it as an overdraft, even though the check didn't get cashed until Sept. 15, by which point the money was there. Right?
     
  12. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    Sometimes, payments can get lost in the mail. I sent a Discover Card payment in earlier this year; a month later, I get it back from a place in Wilmington, NC; seems like the post office couldn't get it sent to Wilmington, DE, even though the right zip and state were on the envelope.

    I'd explain the situation to your bank and say that you did send it in, and ask for an extension of a couple weeks. If you have a good track record with them, they should accommodate.
     
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