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I think this would be a great thing to not do.

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Quick-expiring cheques

Personal cheques with a space for a stale-date
  (+6, -1)
(+6, -1)
  [vote for,
against]

I just bounced a cheque because my damn cat-sitter waited A MONTH to cash my payment. I want cheques where you can ask, 'How long do you need to deposit this...2 or 3 days? A week?' Then you write down your own stale-date. If they don't cash it in time, too bad. I'd also like to see a premium model where the cheque bursts into flames at midnight of the final day.
pocapena, Jan 10 2003

(??) What pocapena means http://translate.go...%3DG%26as_qdr%3Dall
Sort of. [DrCurry, Oct 04 2004]

[link]






       The bursting into flames model may cause problems if you subsequently query the debit.   

       I'm with [waugs] (again!!!) - this is simply poor account management.
PeterSilly, Jan 10 2003
  

       This is the first time that I've ever heard someone whingeing because somebody else didn't take their money off of them immediately. <sigh> You can please some of the people...
DrBob, Jan 10 2003
  

       One major downside that I see to this idea: if one isn't disciplined enough in their account to keep from overdrawing the account when there are outstanding checks, how likely would it be that the balance would be adjusted to reflect the now expired check? Of course this presumes that one is actually performing any sort of accounting.
half, Jan 10 2003
  

       Now hold on one cotton-pickin moment there.   

       When you write a cheque it is an authorisation for someone to transfer that amount of funds from your bank account at some indeterminate point in the future, not necessarily right now. It becomes your responsibility to ensure that the bank will honour any drawings that you have authorised by ensuring that you have sufficient funds in the account to meet all cheques you have written. Despite standard banking practice (in the UK at least) cheques do not have an expiry date (I'm somewhat of an expert!)   

       So complaining that the funds weren't withdrawn quickly enough is a non-argument. You wrote the cheque, you should effectively place those funds on standby to ensure the cheque is honoured.   

       I rest my case for poor account management, m'lud.
PeterSilly, Jan 10 2003
  

       I find the best way to deal with this problem it is to never write checks. I don't write a check unless there is absolutly no other way to pay.
jonman, Jan 10 2003
  

       Don't blame others for not keeping enough money in your account to cover the checks that you write. What sort of check do youthink the cat sitter would invent to combat dead beat check writers? Also, as I understand it there is already a limit to how old a check can be and have the bank still cash it. Six months I think?
Hecubus, Jan 10 2003
  

       It is in fact legal (apparently) to have an expiry date on a check in the US. I misplaced a rebate check from some consumer product I had bought, and it said "invalid if not deposited in 180 days". Sure enough, when I belatedly deposited it, it bounced.   

       The last tax refund checks I got from the U.S Government and my state government also had such endorsements on them.   

       So, their poor record keeping abilities notwithstanding, why not allow a person to do the same thing?
krelnik, Jan 10 2003
  

       My current bank refuses to accept checks older than some limit (I forget exactly, but the checks in question were more than six months old; fortunately they were for small amounts, which is why I hadn't gotten around to depositing them in the first place).
DrCurry, Jan 10 2003
  

       Pocapena means 'little pity,' which is apparently what I get for screwing up my banking. It's also the name of bull who beat the odds and finished off a matador in 1922. I've decided to write an expiry date on my next cheque and see what happens... I'll be sure to send a report.
pocapena, Jan 14 2003
  

       Actually, 'little bull', I'm one of the minority who agrees with you. I wrote a check two years ago which was never cashed. And while it still showed that amount as paid out (I use Quicken to balance my accounts), it would have been so much nicer if I had know when those funds would have been otherwise available.
dalziel, Jan 14 2003
  

       I agree too. After the proposed expiry time, it should be the responsibility of the payee to come back and get another cheque. This way, they are encouraged to pay it in within a reasonable time, but it's not the end of the world for them if they don't, and you are aware that they have gone past the date and need another. +
sild, Jan 15 2003
  

       Cheques issued by the UK govt expire after 6 months but HM Paymaster General doesn't operate like a normal bank anyway so not sure if this would transfer to the real world. With them you write the cheque and send it to the payee, you also list all the cheques issued and pass this list to HMPG who debit your account as is the cheque had cleared. When a cheque expires, they credit the amount back to your account. They issue a list of all cheques cashed in the month with your statement to enable you to follow a cheque's fate.
oneoffdave, Jan 15 2003
  

       Second that bliss. I don’t have to balance, it’s done for me. I simply look it up. And the longer it takes for someone to cash a check I’ve ‘written’, the more interest I accrue.
Shz, Jan 15 2003
  

       i dunno about in the uk--- but here in the us most checks have a "memo" section--- a good way 2 make sure your check is cashed quick is to write "cash by" and a date--- this way they have 2 cash it fast
wakeNbake, Mar 21 2006
  

       Perhaps time-delayed ink that appears and says "VOID" after a certain number of days have passed?   

       (I've seen visitors tags in companies that do that, but the "VOID" appears after just a few hours. perhaps it could be prolonged and used on checkques.)
phundug, Mar 21 2006
  

       I want the ability to manage my account poorly. Keeping track of outstanding cheques is a tedious waste of my time. [+]
wagster, Mar 21 2006
  

       I say what wagster say. [+] My landlord, MY LANDLORD!! Often holds my checks and then deposits two at the same time. It has never been an issue, as I just transfer the funds from checking to savings, and the bank is SUPPOSED to cover it, but the bank probably makes a note that I overdrew my account.   

       I'd use money orders, but once he lost a check and was obviously too embarassed to mention it. Maybe he will do it again.
r_kreher, Aug 30 2008
  
      
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