Oh no, another cash or check only thread

I have a lifetime supply of checks because I don't write them very often. The checks have not only the wrong address on them they have the wrong bank name. Routing & account number are correct.

Same. Not just the wrong address, but wrong address from 4 addresses ago. They were actually correct for a short time after separation since I was back at my mother's at the same address as when I got the checks 25 years ago.

I was at a notary getting a title transfer and they wouldn't accept my check because it was too low of a number. What? My checks started at 400 for this reason, 25 years ago. I'm now up to 458 I think with the last 3 years paying rent and writing a single check once a month now. The account is 25 years old and they wouldn't accept a check from me.
 
Same. Not just the wrong address, but wrong address from 4 addresses ago. They were actually correct for a short time after separation since I was back at my mother's at the same address as when I got the checks 25 years ago.

I was at a notary getting a title transfer and they wouldn't accept my check because it was too low of a number. What? My checks started at 400 for this reason, 25 years ago. I'm now up to 458 I think with the last 3 years paying rent and writing a single check once a month now. The account is 25 years old and they wouldn't accept a check from me.
My bank defaulted my check numbers to start at 1000 this was back in 2006.
 


Same. Not just the wrong address, but wrong address from 4 addresses ago. They were actually correct for a short time after separation since I was back at my mother's at the same address as when I got the checks 25 years ago.

I was at a notary getting a title transfer and they wouldn't accept my check because it was too low of a number. What? My checks started at 400 for this reason, 25 years ago. I'm now up to 458 I think with the last 3 years paying rent and writing a single check once a month now. The account is 25 years old and they wouldn't accept a check from me.

I've used checks with a printed prior address many times without a problem. Even when banks still returned cancelled checks, they'd send them to my address of record, not what was printed on them.

I remember years ago some supermarkets or mail-order businesses stating "no starter checks." I requested mine start with 1001 and the bank obliged.
 
The technology (if they are using it) for verifying signatures is dynamic. Signatures change over time, so they look at a portion of cleared checks over a period of time and recalibrate the signature to which they are comparing information. If your DH hasn't signed a check in a while, his might be removed for exception handling... especially if your name/signature isn't on the account.

If the deposit ticket says $100 and the check is read as $100, no one will care if the courtesy or legal amount isn't written on the check. If the check reads as $109, for instance, someone in item processing will view it and, if they are doing their job right, will kick this out as an issue since the legal amount isn't there. If just the courtesy amount isn't there, it isn't a big deal. The big deal is the legal amount. If I give you a check for $1500 with no legal amount, when I look at the check either online or on my statement, I can suggest to the bank that it was only supposed to be for $15, whether or not that is the case, since there is no legal amount on it. The bank would charge your account for the difference and it's up to you and I to resolve the matter between ourselves. Meanwhile, you've been hit with a deposited, return item charge along with the hassle.

I setup those systems when I was in banking, so I know how they work.

Interesting. Didn’t know any of this either!

I have been amazed over the years at checks that cleared the bank. I remember a long time ago when everyone was worried about the color ink that was used (couldn’t use red) or that the signature matched the name on the check and that everything was written and spelled correctly. I would guess all that was back when actual human eyes determined what was a legal check.

With the different family businesses that my family has run, we have gotten some doozies. One store my dad ran had a lot of elderly customers that couldn’t read or write. Bless them, they would hand my dad a blank check to fill out to pay for their groceries and then they would sign it. Couldn’t tell you how many times he forgot to get their signature. Good thing he was such a trustworthy person, more likely to write it for less than they owed than to take a dime from them over what they owed. But those unsigned checks would clear the bank. A little scary if you think about it.
 
My 22 year old son had to write a check for the security deposit of his apartment rental.
Has to write a check for monthly rent as well. Property owners choice of payment -


Ooo now you mention this I realised that despite previously saying I’ve never written a cheque I did write a few for rent over 10 years ago when I lived briefly in Canada. All the plumbers etc these days just take bank transfers or maybe a credit card through an online system. Hey, now I realise I have written a cheque, it was just in another country.
 


Interesting. Didn’t know any of this either!

I have been amazed over the years at checks that cleared the bank. I remember a long time ago when everyone was worried about the color ink that was used (couldn’t use red) or that the signature matched the name on the check and that everything was written and spelled correctly. I would guess all that was back when actual human eyes determined what was a legal check.

With the different family businesses that my family has run, we have gotten some doozies. One store my dad ran had a lot of elderly customers that couldn’t read or write. Bless them, they would hand my dad a blank check to fill out to pay for their groceries and then they would sign it. Couldn’t tell you how many times he forgot to get their signature. Good thing he was such a trustworthy person, more likely to write it for less than they owed than to take a dime from them over what they owed. But those unsigned checks would clear the bank. A little scary if you think about it.
When check imaging became a thing in the early 90s, the cameras wouldn't pick up on colored ink. Only blue or black. When the proof operators would be coding them, they'd have to stop and find the physical check to see what was on it. That's why you weren't supposed to use red ink on a check. It took a lot of time to stop to find a check, even with the trace number.

It's funny how many checks cleared with no signatures, etc., back in the day. There were SO many sets of eyes that would be on each check because everything was handled manually. None of them should have cleared, but people are imperfect and one check looks like another when you're processing thousands of them.

As for names on a check vs. the signature... there are plenty of business and personal accounts that don't list the signers on the check. I have checks for an account that I opened that my DH's name isn't on, but he is a co-owner and authorized to sign them. I remember a sole proprietor who didn't want his wife on his accounts because he didn't want her held liable for the business, should it fail. She signed his checks, but wasn't authorized to do so. He set her up as an authorized signer so that she could legally sign the checks, but didn't legally own the account.
 

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