How can my bank keep honoring checks before the date of payment?

Question

I sent some payments via us postal service earlier this month. I wrote the date that the bills were due on the check. One was for my mortgage, due August 1st. They cashed it almost a full week early (thankfully I had the money to cover it and all the other bills). I have never had this problem with my other bank account. My question is this, why will some banks allow a businuss to draft money from my account before the due date or date posted on the check but refuse to allow me to cash a pay check before the date on that check? I couldn't get a straight answer from the bank that did this. I will be closing that account soon.

Answer 1

that's serious, if you bounce a check because you have less money than you thought you would, that could ruin your credit....i would up and leave right away...i don't think they have a reason, just lazy/careless tellers.

Answer 2

Can't speak for the bank, but you should never mail post-dated checks!  Maybe they didn't notice.  The default assumption is that if you put a check in the mail you have the funds to cover it ON THAT DAY, not a week later.

Answer 3

I agree that you are not to postdate a check.  I realize they won't honor paychecks early, but if they don't notice the date they will.  Probably what happened on this one.  I think if you do a postdate it's the responsbility of the person the check is written to to not present it until that date.

Answer 4

It is illegal to post date a check. As soon as you write it, they can cash it.  I'm not sure why they won't let you cash a paycheck early, because again your company can not post date them.

Answer 5

Yes, post-dating checks is illegal. And when you send checks to  pay your bills, they aren't being ran by tellers to check dates. They are being compiled in huge stacks and then ran through encoders and then imaged and sent around through the banking system to transfer money. Details like what date you wrote on the front of the check get missed fairly often. I have seen checks  that weren't even signed but were written for thousands of dollars ran by banks.