personal check question

[redrhodie]

Sent my rent check to my landlords last week, and they still haven't gotten it. It hasn't been cashed yet. The landlords are willing to wait a little longer. When should I put a stop payment on it? I mailed it on the 30th. Seems like it could still get there. What would you do?

[channlluv]

This happened to me a few months ago, too. I mailed the landlady a second check for the rent with the understanding that if the first check showed up, that she'd use it for the next month's rent.

I also notified my bank in case someone showed up trying to cash it, but didn't put a stop payment on it because it costs over $20 to do that these days and I just didn't want to pay it, although that may come back to bite me if it was taken for some nefarious purpose.

Roxy

[bmccasland]

Ask how many days they're willing to wait. Most banks charge a stop payment fee, which can be pretty stiff.

[indysteel]

If you trust your landlord, I would write a second check and ask them to tear up the first one if it should ever arrive or hold it for next month's rent. But if you're really worried about them or somebody else cashing it, put a stop order on it. Yes, the fee might be stiff, but I assume it's less than the amount of the check.

How far away was the mail traveling? I would think something mailed on the 30th would have already gotten there by now, but I suppose it's possible that it simply got hung up. Any chance that you addressed it incorrectly?

[redrhodie]

Thanks, guys. I offered to send my landlords a new check for this month, and then save the other check for next month if/when it arrives, but they said to wait until Monday, so I have until then for it to turn up. I'm hoping it will get there. In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on my account. Not sure if it can get cashed without ID. The stop payment fee is $25, which I'd hate to pay, and then have it turn up.

Maybe mail is slow because it's April.

[NbyNW]

Something to consider for the future would be to set up a monthly EFT for your rent payment. That way you wouldn't have to worry about your check getting lost in the mail.

[channlluv]

I was just thinking about doing something similar through one of my credit cards that offers cash back and let's you put all your monthly bills on the card. It sure would make tracking the bill paying easier.

Roxy

[Crankin]

We pay everything electronically. I write maybe 3 checks a year and hardly buy stamps...

[bmccasland]

We pay everything electronically. I write maybe 3 checks a year and hardly buy stamps...

That theory worked, right up to the computer failure point. Nothing quite like having your 5 mo old computer go back in the shop for 3 weeks. Then I was glad I had a checkbook and could pay my bills the old fashioned way!

[Crankin]

It all gets done automatically. Once the information is entered our bank sends the checks whenever they are due. The only time we have to enter stuff on the computer is when it's a new bill or a one time thing.

[malkin]

In 1978, when I spent the summer in England, my dad mailed me a hundred dollar bill in an envelope. He never even mentioned it. About a year later, in Berkeley, I received it, sent from the US to my address in London-marked no longer at this address, forwarded back to my dad's in LA and then forwarded to me.

It was a nice surprise.

I still have hope that your check will show up.

[Mr. Bloom]

We pay everything electronically. I write maybe 3 checks a year and hardly buy stamps...

I'm with you, but I bet I don't even write three/yr. But, that still doesn't protect against red's problem. Most of the bills I pay "electronically" are still mailed as paper checks by my "electronic vendor". Most recipients, including small time landlords and property management companies, are just not set up to accept EFT payments.

[MomOnBike]

The way my bank works, the fee for a stop order for a check is only applied if someone tries to cash the check. If it really is lost, you don't get charged, in other words. Or at least that's the way it has worked for me when I've needed to stop checks.

I like the idea of just writing another check, and having the original going toward next month's rent when and if it shows up.

[Catrin]

I'm with you, but I bet I don't even write three/yr. But, that still doesn't protect against red's problem. Most of the bills I pay "electronically" are still mailed as paper checks by my "electronic vendor". Most recipients, including small time landlords and property management companies, are just not set up to accept EFT payments.

Yep, this is typically how it works. I've yet to have a landlord who took payment in any other form than a personal check. I've also had payments mailed by my bank go "missing" in the mail for a month or more - so I only go through my bank for payments that are really being made electronically. At least if "I" mail it I know it was actually sent.

[redrhodie]

They got it today, along with a letter from USPS saying it had been damaged in the mail. Glad I didn't stop payment.