Apparently nobody cares about this part of a check

February 8, 2023 • Issue #178

Hi y’all —

My landlord is a retired bus driver in his 60s who goes by “Mr. B” and picks up my rent check from a box in the building’s lobby on the first of the month. I can guarantee he has never heard of One Direction, which is why I didn’t even attempt to explain to him recently that my roommate and I were spontaneously flying to California to see Harry Styles in concert and therefore needed to pay our rent early.

So I took a gamble. Before we left on Jan. 27, I wrote our February rent check. I dated it 2/1/23, put it in the box and sent up a prayer that Mr. B wouldn’t cash it until the 1st, when there would be enough money in my account to cover it.

This practice is called “postdating,” and I had no idea whether it would be effective. I Googled a bunch of questions — do depositors have to abide by the date on a check? Does the bank care? Is it against the law? — but had trouble finding definitive answers.

In between shows, I decided to find out. Does postdating a check work?

Writing a future date on a check with the hope that the recipient won’t deposit it until later is common, but it’s nowhere near surefire, says Kari Mitchum, vice president of payments policy at the Independent Community Bankers of America.

“As soon as you sign a check, it is legal,” she adds. “You are allowed to postdate a check, but that does not prevent the payee from depositing it — or the bank from accepting it.”

My signature, not the date, is what makes a check become legal tender. It’s good to go the second the recipient gets it, so postdating a check is not a foolproof way to delay its deposit.

Jim Locke, the chief operating officer at The People's Bank in Mississippi, says banks vary in the way they handle postdated checks. While some may honor the date and reject the deposit, others may not have a problem accepting it right away.

“Each bank, in their terms and conditions, will more than likely address how they handle postdated checks and stale-dated checks, which are checks that are older than six months,” Locke says.

Often, these disclosures are vague on purpose, giving the bank leeway in how it handles each check. For instance, Wells Fargo’s terms say it “may, without inquiry or liability, pay a check even if” it's postdated or stale-dated. Same situation if it “has special written instructions indicating we should refuse payment (e.g., ‘void after 30 days’ or ‘void over $100’)” or there's no date on the check at all.

Chase’s terms actually prohibit customers from writing postdated checks that try “to limit the time or method of payment with a condition,” adding that it has “no duty to discover, observe or comply with these conditions and may pay such checks.” Feisty.

Locke says it all comes down to the preference of each bank — and, in some cases, how the payee is making the deposit.

If Mr. B is physically going to the bank to cash my check (as opposed to mobile-depositing it into his account digitally), the institution is more likely to scrutinize the date. Bank reps tend to “inspect that item a little closer because cashing a check is a little higher risk than making a deposit,” Locke adds.

Mitchum says it’s important to know the fine print of my bank’s policies. It’s also crucial to stay on top any checks I have sitting around. If my grandma writes me a check for my birthday and I forget to cash it for several months, I could disrupt her finances when I finally do.

“That is a variable with writing checks: You don't know when the other person’s going to deposit it,” Mitchum says.

When it comes to paying my rent, she suggests asking Mr. B not to deposit my check before the 1st or seeing if he’ll accept an ACH transfer, a payment that’s made through the Automated Clearing House network. With electronic bill pay, I can schedule the date I’d like the funds to be sent to a vendor.

“That’s the only way to 100% know that payment is going to come out on the day you would like,” Locke says.

THE BOTTOM LINE

(but please don't tell me you scrolled past all of my hard work)

Nobody — not my landlord, not the bank — has an obligation to abide by the date I scribble in the corner of a check.

“The best way to delay a deposit is to work with the person you're trying to give the money to,” Mitchum says.

VIA GIPHY

RECEIPT OF THE WEEK

check out this wild celebrity purchase

VIA INSTAGRAM

The Jonas Brothers got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last week — and announced a new album to boot (!!!). It’s exciting, but it’s not cheap: To get a star, entertainers must pony up $55,000, which goes toward creating, installing and maintaining the star on the sidewalk. That’s L.A., baby.

INTERNET GOLD

five things I'm loving online right now

1	I loved this Rest of World piece about Mexico City’s piñata makers, who are using modern methods for their traditional creations. (Think Demogorgon, Sonic the Hedgehog and TikTok piñatas.) “These artisans are finding new ways of reaching customers by keeping up with the memes and internet culture,” said one source. “There are entire towns of craftsmen dedicated to making piñatas, so [piñata makers] often find themselves innovating to differentiate themselves.”
2	Congrats to this fish, who managed to set up a PayPal account and purchase a $4 Switch game without his owner’s knowledge… all while being live-streamed.
3	Forget the chicken-or-egg question. What I want to know is how it’s possible a bagel appears in this 1819 painting.
4	I can’t stop listening to Paul Mescal’s little sister Nell’s song “Homesick.” Rooting for him (and the whole adorable Mescal family) at the Oscars!
5	Hungry? I highly recommend scrolling through the list of food being sold at the Florida State Fair this year. Highlights include the Flamin’ Hot Cheeto burger, street corn pizza and Cuban funnel cake sandwich. Not sure if I’m drooling or cringing.

401(K)9 CONTRIBUTION

send me cute pictures of your pets, please

VIA Scholar Lauran

Meet Pompeii, a money-smart pup who always waits for the date on a check to arrive before depawsiting it.

FYI: Harry was great. Grammy-winning king.

See you next week.
 
P.S. Do you ever postdate checks? If you could have ANY piñata at your next party, what would it be? Would you eat a cheeseburger with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos on it? Send feedback to julia@money.com.

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