Do banks still verify funds on checks?

[FootPerfect]

A person who is interested in one of my saddles sent me a check to hold while she tries my saddle. Used to be, you could call a bank and make sure the check would clear. My potential buyer seems to be OK (we chatted on the phone for a while the other day) but I've been stiffed before with stuff I have sold on the internet. Paypal would not work in this case.

WWYD? I have the check and I have not sent the saddle out yet.

[Tamara in TN]

they will not give any info out on many of the banks we call...our local banks will give it to us and the banks will give info to one another...but not to a random caller

best

[NJRider]

Why do you have to "hold" the check? If Pay Pal is not an option, nor an escrow account, then I would ship the saddle upon clearing of funds, give them a week to try it, and if it is a no-go, give a refund of the saddle only after the saddle is returned in the same condition. You are taking an enormous risk shipping the saddle with nothing more than an uncashed check as collateral.

[Ambrey]

Why do you have to "hold" the check? If Pay Pal is not an option, nor an escrow account, then I would ship the saddle upon clearing of funds, give them a week to try it, and if it is a no-go, give a refund of the saddle only after the saddle is returned in the same condition. You are taking an enormous risk shipping the saddle with nothing more than an uncashed check as collateral.

Agreed, I would not send someone a saddle without the money in the bank. Just sell it to her with a return policy.

[Jaegermonster]

I agree. EIther go to their bank and cash the check outright or run it through your bank. Once it clears send the saddle and just hang onto the $$. If you get the saddle back, send the money back.

I did this once, and what I did was I had them send me a cashier's check. But I still didn't send the saddle until I was sure it was ok.

[Equibrit]

from http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org

"You can go to this website (http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/cfr.php?URL=http%3A%2F%2Froutingtool.com/) and verify the routing number on the check and get the bank's phone number, then call the bank to verify that the account is real and the check is real."

[FootPerfect]

*duh* slapping head. I never thought about offering a refund! *sigh* this is why I come here.

Thanks all.

[cloudyandcallie]

In Georgia, you can go to the bank and present the check and ask if there are sufficient funds and they will tell you if there are.

you can also have the bank hold the amt in the checking account.

For example if a person gives you a check for say 500, and you go to the bank and that person only has 400, you can have that $ held till the other funds are put in so you can cash the check.

This keeps you from having returned check charges on your own acct.

I once dated a guy who owned lots of rental properties, and he used the methods above all the time, to make sure he didn't have to run around taking out warrants for bad checks. In Georgia, there are misdemeanor bad checks and felony bad checks depending on the amt of the check.

Got to the bank and present the check. See if the money is there.

[cloudyandcallie]

Oh and there's a service called something like moneybroker, where $ is put in an escrow account until the product is received. I'm sure there is a fee, but then it is a way to make sure you don't lose all the money.

[Ambrey]

escrow.com also has that service, if the person on the other end isn't comfortable letting you cash the check before she has anything in her hands.

[Noctis]

As a banker, it violates the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) to give ANY account information out to anyone other than the holder of the account, and that includes ANY information regarding the balance of the account. So no, we cannot "verify" funds for you to deposit it somewhere else. We CAN go ahead and cash the check if there are sufficient funds to do so, and if not, then say "we are unable to cash the check at this time". Anyone verifying funds is going to soon not be able to, BSA is really getting tough now!

[Elisha]

A word of caution.....I received a check for a saddle and it "cleared" my bank. Then 2 weeks later I receive a note from my bank telling me that the check had insufficient funds and they charged me a NSF fee. Luckily I got the saddle back because it didn't fit her horse, but I was out shipping and the NSF fee. I spoke to my bank, and they said that they were required to release the funds within 2 weeks. It wasn't until after those 2 weeks that the other bank (a small credit union) told my bank that the account was closed. The woman at the bank told me the best thing is to get money orders.

[JohnDeere]

Oh and dont try to take the check to the bank is was drawn on (if local) and cash it. Every bank around here wants to charge $4 and up if you arent an account holder at that bank.

Sux all round.

[SEFBH87]

It won't do you any good to verify funds anyway. Most checks if they are not local to you can take about 5 days to actually clear. A lot can happen in 5 days!! Most banks make that money available to you immediately however because it is good customer service, but even though it shows in your account does not necessarily mean that it has cleared. It may take up to 2 weeks because banks generally attempt to send the item through twice. My advice? Use pay pal when dealing with someone you don't know. Because more than likely she doesn't have the funds right now since she asked you to hold it. If there is a branch of the bank its drawn on local take it there to cash it. I personally would rather have to pay 4-6 dollars than pay 10 for the returned check fee and any non sufficient funds for anything you use that money for.

[FootPerfect]

Thanks all. She wouldn't (or couldn't) figure out Paypal. Which gives me a hinky feeling all around.

[equest]

Why do you have to "hold" the check? If Pay Pal is not an option, nor an escrow account, then I would ship the saddle upon clearing of funds, give them a week to try it, and if it is a no-go, give a refund of the saddle only after the saddle is returned in the same condition. You are taking an enormous risk shipping the saddle with nothing more than an uncashed check as collateral.

Agreed. Something's fishy!

[JanM]

What's to stop the purchaser from waiting a few days until you verify the check and then stopping payment? And I've heard that even if a check is verified and cashed it can take longer than the hold period for it to clear.

[katie16]

To the OP: Cash the check - NOW. Make sure you ask the bank how long it will take to clear. Send the saddle after the check clears. Contact the buyer and tell them what you are doing so they are not worrying that they didn't receive the saddle yet.

This is why I always buy & sell used saddles either through tack shops or through trainers I know. So much better for my piece of mind.

It is risky regardless of what end of the transaction you are on if the other person is not honest. If your the seller, you obviously want to make sure that the check clears before you send the saddle. If your the buyer you're stuck sending a check in hopes that they send you a saddle in return!

Tack shops and those I know are the only way to go for me!

[LessonLearned]

Thanks all. She wouldn't (or couldn't) figure out Paypal. Which gives me a hinky feeling all around.

How in this day and age is this even an issue? If you want to buy something via an internet transaction you are going to need one of these things!

I just sold my saddle through an internet ad and frankly, Paypal was the only thing I would take for an item that valuable. And just a note, if someone uses an echeck for Paypal you really need to wait for that to clear as well!

[theoldgreymare]

I just sold something through eBay and was paid via cashier's check because the buyer was not comfortable with Paypal. I wouldn't take a personal check from a stranger. And you can easily verify a cashier's check (to verify that it is not fraudulant) that is drawn off a major bank. I would cash the check and offer a refund if need be.

[philosoraptor]

Some people can't or won't use PayPal. Older people seem to really dislike it.

I'd be cautious about checks. You can cash it against your account or deposit it...and it seems like the money is there. But up to about 10 buisness days may go by before they finalize the transfer, and the check can still come back "insufficent funds" even know it looked like it cleared on the 2nd day. So you may have to wait up to 2 weeks before you can safely ship the item

Checking with the bank isn't useful. The money can be there today but by the time the check goes into their processing, the account could be overdrawn tomorrow.

Do be cautious even with certified checks. Scammers are getting good at making really authentic looking fake certified checks. Just because a big bank's name is on it doesn't mean it originated at that bank.

Personally, I'd deposit the money and wait about 10 days and then call my bank to be sure there is no way the check can be returned. Then I'd mail the saddle. If it doesn't work out, she'd get a refund as soon as the saddle comes back.

[katie16]

I just sold something through eBay and was paid via cashier's check because the buyer was not comfortable with Paypal. I wouldn't take a personal check from a stranger. And you can easily verify a cashier's check (to verify that it is not fraudulant) that is drawn off a major bank. I would cash the check and offer a refund if need be.

I would CHECK WITH YOUR BANK on this! THIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH MY BANK. My bank will hold a bank issued cashier's check just the same as it does John Doe's personal check. They no longer treat them as automatically clearing. They said it is too easy nowadays for people to imitate/forge cashier's checks so they are now treated like any other check. My bank is not the largest in the nation, but certainly a "name" bank that is rather large and well-known.

For all horse sale/purchases I have the money wired, regardless of which end of the transaction I am on. It makes for a much safer and faster transaction.