Transaction Clearing and NSF

[LadyTFL]

My question involves a banking matter in the State of: Florida

Are there laws governing in what order checks are cleared?

I made a mistake in my checking account. I had 3 transactions "pending", which I did on Monday. On Wednesday, I completed another transaction, which overdrew my account. (Yes, bad, bad me). The bank chose to clear the LAST (and incidentally, largest) transaction first, which caused the previous 3 transactions to bounce. All transactions were paid by the bank, but they are charging me $35 per transactions.

Shouldn't debit transactions be cleared in the order in which they were received?

TIA!

Incidentally, I understand all banks clear the largest transactions first, but why does chronological order not factor in?

[Mr. Knowitall]

Should they be? In my opinion, yes. Are they? No. Banks routinely do what you describe. Their way makes them more money.