Determining if Check Was Cashed, Steps to Take

[Sicilia]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Ohio
My employer pays me by check through U.S. Mail. Once my checks arrive I sign them and fill a deposit slip out and mail them to my online back, FIB.

I asked my husband to drop the envelope in a blue mailbox last week and he said he did. The checks haven't arrived at my bank yet and they usually do by now. I have a request in to my employer to investigate whether they've been cashed or not.

My question is, if my husband cashed my checks using his savings account at a credit union, is there anything I can do about it? They have allowed him to cash checks with my name on them in the past so I think they'd do it again with no question. If I called them and gave his account number and asked if my checks were deposited would they tell me? My name is not attached to the account in any way.

Is there any reason why they should repeatedly cash checks of mine even though I don't have an account there simply because we did it once before when I was present? I like having the ability to sign my check over to him if I choose to, but isn't there any protection against it happening against my will? Can I press charges against him for theft or fraud or anything since they were signed by me, it's not as though he forged them?

I have no idea what to do. The total amount was under 500 dollars if this is relevant.

[Antigone]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Ohio
My employer pays me by check through U.S. Mail. Once my checks arrive I sign them and fill a deposit slip out and mail them to my online back, FIB.

I asked my husband to drop the envelope in a blue mailbox last week and he said he did. The checks haven't arrived at my bank yet and they usually do by now. I have a request in to my employer to investigate whether they've been cashed or not.

My question is, if my husband cashed my checks using his savings account at a credit union, is there anything I can do about it? They have allowed him to cash checks with my name on them in the past so I think they'd do it again with no question. If I called them and gave his account number and asked if my checks were deposited would they tell me? My name is not attached to the account in any way.

Is there any reason why they should repeatedly cash checks of mine even though I don't have an account there simply because we did it once before when I was present? I like having the ability to sign my check over to him if I choose to, but isn't there any protection against it happening against my will? Can I press charges against him for theft or fraud or anything since they were signed by me, it's not as though he forged them?

I have no idea what to do. The total amount was under 500 dollars if this is relevant.

Have your employer see if the check was cashed. If. It was ask them to file a check fraud claim with their bank.

Your employer's bank will get reimbursed and they in turn should make you whole. The account the money went in will be debited and might be closed due to fraud.

[Scott67]

I don't quite understand the relationship that you have with your husband, but be aware that if he did cash these checks and you or your employer file a fraud claim, you can expect that he will incur legal fees and possibly jail time. It is possible that joint assets could be used (again, depending on your relationship) which could result in financial loss to you much greater than the $500 of which you speak.

You certainly should have your employer check to see if it was cashed and request a copy of the cancelled check to identify if it was your husband or someone else who cashed it. Theft of mail from post office boxes happens far more often than most people realize. So, he may not have done what you suspect. I'd think you'd want to find out first though, before taking legal action that you won't be able to stop, once started.

Since you obviously don't trust your husband to do the right thing, you should probably handle your own checks personally. Then you won't have to worry about what his bank does or doesn't do.

[jk]

I like having the ability to sign my check over to him if I choose to, but isn't there any protection against it happening against my will?

yes, you can add to your signature, a restrictive endorsement that the check is


"for deposit only"
<your bank>
<your account>


a bank cannot legally do anything with that check other than deposit into that account in that bank.

[Sicilia]

I don't quite understand the relationship that you have with your husband, but be aware that if he did cash these checks and you or your employer file a fraud claim, you can expect that he will incur legal fees and possibly jail time. It is possible that joint assets could be used (again, depending on your relationship) which could result in financial loss to you much greater than the $500 of which you speak.

You certainly should have your employer check to see if it was cashed and request a copy of the cancelled check to identify if it was your husband or someone else who cashed it. Theft of mail from post office boxes happens far more often than most people realize. So, he may not have done what you suspect. I'd think you'd want to find out first though, before taking legal action that you won't be able to stop, once started.

Since you obviously don't trust your husband to do the right thing, you should probably handle your own checks personally. Then you won't have to worry about what his bank does or doesn't do.

I am working with my employer to trace the check first and foremost. If it turns out that it wasn't cashed, then I'll just have them stop payment on it. The problem was with primarily with the credit union allowing a check to be deposited into an account that isn't mine and has nothing to do with me. The secondary problem was the person who may have done so on the false assumption that it would be ok with me. I definitely did not plan to file a police report or otherwise do anything irrational without first determining the path the check has taken. That's not something one does on a hunch.

I completely agree about letting other people handle my checks. I didn't really see it as letting someone handle my affairs by dropping an envelope into a public mailbox on their way to work, but I should have taken it more seriously. I'll undoubtedly be mailing my own checks from the post office using certified mail from now on. Sending signed checks through the mail is just too dangerous.

[Antigone]

I am working with my employer to trace the check first and foremost. If it turns out that it wasn't cashed, then I'll just have them stop payment on it. The problem was with primarily with the credit union allowing a check to be deposited into an account that isn't mine and has nothing to do with me. The secondary problem was the person who may have done so on the false assumption that it would be ok with me. I definitely did not plan to file a police report or otherwise do anything irrational without first determining the path the check has taken. That's not something one does on a hunch.

I completely agree about letting other people handle my checks. I didn't really see it as letting someone handle my affairs by dropping an envelope into a public mailbox on their way to work, but I should have taken it more seriously. I'll undoubtedly be mailing my own checks from the post office using certified mail from now on. Sending signed checks through the mail is just too dangerous.

If you have endorsed your check without a restrictive endorsement, then the credit union did nothing wrong by allowing your husband to deposit the check.

why don't you have direct deposit?