How can I be sure the check will be good?

[meackerman]

Last time I sold a house, the Title Company said that they where getting so many fake Certified Checks that they hold them just like a personal check. If you are getting cash from the house you just sold, it will take a week or two for them to issue that check.

last two houses we bought the title company only accepted funds that were wired to them. no checks of any kind. They might have also accepted cash, but no way I'm carrying that kind of money around.

 

[MurphDaSurf1956]

I'm probably going to sell a piece of equipment for around $10,000. If the buyer wants to pay with a check, how can I be sure the check is good?

Of course I would prefer cash, but I know that when I buy something, I prefer to pay with a check.

Can I go with the buyer to my bank and find out? Is there another way?

As a retired Detective Lieutenant who investigated white collar crimes, I suggest you hold the check till it clears. Even guaranteed instruments came be forged but if your bank is sharp, they should be able to tell you.

 

[MurphDaSurf1956]

If I had the person's phone number, I wouldn't be "out" the money. The buyer is guilty of passing counterfeit money and the feds should be called. Also, it is up to the buyer to make good on the purchase with real money.

Always check them one by one and look for the number on the strip. They can wash lower denomination bills and print $50 and $100 over them. Paper will be good and they'll have a stripe BUT it won't match the printed denomination.

 

[Stewart17810]

I'm probably going to sell a piece of equipment for around $10,000. If the buyer wants to pay with a check, how can I be sure the check is good?

Of course I would prefer cash, but I know that when I buy something, I prefer to pay with a check.

Can I go with the buyer to my bank and find out? Is there another way?

Something else to consider is the check can clear your bank and you can get cash in hand but the your bank will tell you that they have at least a month to clear the persons bank that is making the purchase and if it doesn't make it, your bank will debit your account for the bad check.

 

[MurphDaSurf1956]

Something else to consider is the check can clear your bank and you can get cash in hand but the your bank will tell you that they have at least a month to clear the persons bank that is making the purchase and if it doesn't make it, your bank will debit your account for the bad check.

True dat! They'll cash forgeries and eventually when the receiving bank rejects it, they'll come looking to you for the cash!

 

[fried1765]

That might sound like a good idea but not always possible. The last machine I sold went to Michigan and I’m in TN. Was the buyer going to mail me a check and let me cash it before he even sees the machine and hope it exists when he gets here? Probably not. Is he going to drive down with a check and come back to get it later? Probably not. Am I going to drive to Michigan to meet at his bank? Definitely not. He brought me about half the amount in cash and a cashiers check for the rest. I had insurance on the machine so I wasn’t that worried. The chance of someone bringing me $40,000 cash was about zero so the options I had were to take the check or to trade it at the dealer for $6,000 less then I ended up selling for.

Why not a "wire" after he sees the machine?
Should only require a couple of hours for the wire to process while the buyer hangs out.

 

[fried1765]

True dat! They'll cash forgeries and eventually when the receiving bank rejects it, they'll come looking to you for the

Something else to consider is the check can clear your bank and you can get cash in hand but the your bank will tell you that they have at least a month to clear the persons bank that is making the purchase and if it doesn't make it, your bank will debit your account for the bad check.

Something else to consider is the check can clear your bank and you can get cash in hand but the your bank will tell you that they have at least a month to clear the persons bank that is making the purchase and if it doesn't make it, your bank will debit your account for the bad check.

Something else to consider is the check can clear your bank and you can get cash in hand but the your bank will tell you that they have at least a month to clear the persons bank that is making the purchase and if it doesn't make it, your bank will debit your account for the bad check.

TRUE,.......But most folks do not realize this!

 

[meackerman]

Always check them one by one and look for the number on the strip. They can wash lower denomination bills and print $50 and $100 over them. Paper will be good and they'll have a stripe BUT it won't match the printed denomination.

always look at both sides. When I worked at BofA, we took a trip to their cash vault if SF. They let us look at some counterfeit bills...a few of them were perfect on the front side, but looking at the back side it was obvious they were fake. At the time (early 1990's), the people at the cash vault were more effective at finding fake bills (usually by the feel of the paper), the fancy machines they had to detect fakes weren't as effective.

 

[Rob REECE]

I'm probably going to sell a piece of equipment for around $10,000. If the buyer wants to pay with a check, how can I be sure the check is good?

Of course I would prefer cash, but I know that when I buy something, I prefer to pay with a check.

Can I go with the buyer to my bank and find out? Is there another way?

Only take cash. Checks take time to clear and are a headache.

 

[TractorGuy]

Good luck calling a bank for verification. I accepted a check for a motorcycle a while back. I called the bank it was drawn on (Wells Fargo) and discovered they had no way to reach a person. I walked in our bank to deposit it and asked if they could get it verified and the answer was no. I just had to put it in and see if it cleared. Thank goodness it cleared with no problem.