just need to vent.....landlord issue

[Moxie]

I doubt the OP will come back to this thread, but just in case - I believe postdating a check is just as illegal as writing a bad check.

 

If you don't have the money, don't write the check. Period.

I'm not sure about illegal but it won't work. No one at the bank looks at the date and if they did it would be sent through anyway. Don't write it if it won't cash!

[StartingOver]

No I'm sorry but I don't have $2000 in my account. She didn't cash my september check until today and she cashed my october check today. As i said, she did this once before and I asked her not to do that again anf she did. She knows I'm on a limited income who has a daughter in her first year of college...she does not need $2000 in one day...these people have money. I feel like she did this to get back at me and yes I think that's rude. Every other time sbe has cashed the current month's check at the middle or end of the month. I had learned to budget around her check cashing history. So no, I don't have $2000 sitting in my checking account.

If you wrote a check in September you shouldn't have spent that money. It really isn't up to you when the landlord decides to cash it. A check for October shouldn't have been written if you didn't have the money to cover it. Seriously this is your mistake, and there is no fault at all with what the landlords did. It isn't their job to ensure that you managed your money correctly before they cash a check written to them.

[MissKNG]

Guys, I don't think she's going to respond and we've all pretty much said the same thing.

 

I wish she would cause I would like to know why she is using the "single mom" card when her girls are grown adults aged 19 and 26.

[WishboneDawn]

I doubt the OP will come back to this thread, but just in case - I believe postdating a check is just as illegal as writing a bad check.

 

If you don't have the money, don't write the check. Period.

No. I went a-googling. I couldn't find an instance of it being illegal in the US (I know it's not here in Canada) but I did find that post-dating it might not carry any weight. In many places the can can be cashed regardless. So in the end, you're right. Don't write a cheque if you can't cover it.

[gingersmom]

We haven't had an amusing thread in awhile. 

 

Thanks for this!

[bolt.]

It sounds like the issue is simply that "she said she wouldn't" -- even though they both know she was free to do it (legally). The OP expected the LL to abide by her word, even though there was no real reason the LL would have to.

 

The OP was budgeting based on a casual agreement that the LL would graciously place an interval between cashing two checks, even if they were both current.

 

OP: it's an error to make financial decisions based on hoping people will keep their word. It's unwise generally, and even more unwise when a financial relationship is coming to an end.

 

Your landlord needed to wrap up her dealings with you as soon as she could, because transitioning tenants is "work" for a landlord. Your financial relationship shifted to not being "ongoing" any more, so she changed how she dealt with your cheques.

 

However, never "bank" (literally) in what people say they are gonna do. If someone says, "I will deposit that today." -- that's a good intention, not a promise. Wait until you see deposits, and consider expenses gone Instantly. Anything ekse is too much trust for money issues. It's called "cold hard cash" for a reason. So if you trust people less now: that's probably a good thing. Every so often good intentions just don't happen the way they were intended to: so don't make money decisions based on somebody's "word".

 

This is a skill all financially strong people learn early. It's part of being a success with money. I hope you are able to get through a couple if weeks of being broke and learn that, although your LL technically should have kept her word (or warned you that things were changing), even more so, you should absolutely not have set up your finances to be in disaster if she happened not to do what she said/intended.

 

Currently, my mortgage comes out if my account the day after our paycheque arrives BUT I am completely set up as if that was going to happen backwards every month. Has it happened that the mortgage payment went through before the paycheque arrived? Not yet. Would we be in overdraft if it did? Nope. I cover my own backside, and you should too.

[RanchGirl]

Journey, you should look at it differently.  She allowed you to keep an extra $1000 in your account for an extra month.  If your account earns interest, you made free money!  Once you write the check, the recipient has the right to take up to a year to cash it.  So you'll want to adjust the way you handle your checking account in the future to avoid this problem.

 

I really hope that you'll just chalk this one up to learning how to better handle your money and not hold it against your landlord with whom you previously had a great relationship.

[Jacqueline]

Other posters have pointed out already, but this is an error in how you handle you're money and explained how to do it properly. As a landlord, I do cash checks immediately after getting them because of this exact situation. You shouldn't make the assumption she doesn't need the money either but even if she didn't it is *HERS* and you should have mentally taken it out of your account. I also wondered about the single mother description when her daughters are adults. 

 

This is your mistake, learn from it. Move on and remember not to make it again.

[LucyStoner]

Once you write the check, the recipient has the right to take up to a year to cash it.

Many banks consider checks stale dated after 3-6 months these days and will decline to cash it. Some may take checks up to a year old but it is a bank policy, not a law. Also the check can have" void after x days on it", generally 120-180 days. I have held onto checks long enough that I couldn't deposit them and had to get them reissued or let it go.

[Jerico]

Many banks consider checks stale dated after 3-6 months these days and will decline to cash it. Some may take checks up to a year old but it is a bank policy, not a law. Also the check can have" void after x days on it", generally 120-180 days. I have held onto checks long enough that I couldn't deposit them and had to get them reissued or let it go.

With this: what is technically allowed? And shouldn't it be a common curtesy to cash a check upon receiving it? I'm curious but I refuse my write my mom a check anonymize because it takes her forever to cash it and that drives me nuts- I think it's kinda rude.

[QueenCat]

With this: what is technically allowed? And shouldn't it be a common curtesy to cash a check upon receiving it? I'm curious but I refuse my write my mom a check anonymize because it takes her forever to cash it and that drives me nuts- I think it's kinda rude.

 

Personally, I go to the bank about once a month............. so if you give me a check shortly after I've gone to the bank, it will be 3-4 weeks before I deposit it unless it is a very large check. Then I might make a return to the bank sooner.

[LucyStoner]

With this: what is technically allowed? And shouldn't it be a common curtesy to cash a check upon receiving it? I'm curious but I refuse my write my mom a check anonymize because it takes her forever to cash it and that drives me nuts- I think it's kinda rude.

I don't much care about showing my insurance company or escrow company "courtesy" when they send me a random check. Now that you can deposit a check with a smartphone, I do that. No extra trip to the bank. For an individual, I will admit I do think it is more considerate to cash it within one bank cycle.

[OK Family]

Umm, you wrote each check knowing they would clear. Sounds as if you looked or called to see what your checking balance was, assumed you had more money than you thought. Go by what your check register shows when you go to spend.

 

Yep, I'm a landlord. That does not mean I have money like all of our tenants assume. It means I have more responsibility and risk involved than the tenant. I have mortgages, taxes and insurance to pay. The landlord didn't do anything wrong by cashing both at the same time.

[Mommy22alyns]

Is it cupcake time yet?

 

[AmandaVT]

I know you're probably not reading this thread anymore, but if you are, a good way to pay rent and not have to worry about when the check will be cashed is to pay through online banking. The money is deducted from your checking account as soon as you "write" the check and the bank guarantees it delivered on time.