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Hmm...I don't know if there is anything "legal" you can do about it, but I think opening a second checking account is a good idea. That way you won't have to worry about when he cashes your checks, and it won't interfere with the rest of your finances. Probably not the most helpful response, since the 2nd checking account was your idea in the first place!
Ugh, we used to have a landlord just like this! It's so annoying. I'm not sure there's a legal recourse, but I think opening a separate checking account is a good idea. Especially when you get two or three months behind, it's hard to remember how many checks haven't been cashed and how much money you need to keep in the bank.
He needs to cash them. i would suggest asking him if there is any other way to pay rent that will be easier for him to cash them on time. If you are paying your rent on time there is no reason why he shouldn't be cashing them ina timely manner.
what about paying online instead... just EFT your rent each week/month and keep the records because he doesnt sound very organized (or he has too much money as he doesnt deposit the cheques quickly)
We actually had this same thing happen to us at the last apartment we lived in. It was one of the MANY problems with had with that landlord, and I will probably never rent from an individual ever again because of it.
First we asked her if she would start cashing them sooner, which you already did. Then, we started doing money orders or bank checks. Yes, its a hassle, but it's out of your account and they have the money. But, ALWAYS have some kind of proof you gave it to them. With us, it was to the point where we went to her house and made her give us a receipt, in person.
why aren't you comfortable having that much money in your account? do you account for the check in your register when you write it or do you wait until it clears? i'm not exactly understanding your problem.
you can always open a separate checking account but that won't make your landlord cash your check any faster which seems to be your biggest issue. my mom is notorious for waiting to cash checks but i don't mind now that i actively update my register as i make transactions so i always have an accurate count on my balance even if it takes people a while to finally cash a check. not sure if you can force someone to be more timely with their check cashing habits though
Give him a cashier's check or money order. That way its out of your account and if he doesn't cash it within 90 days (I think)... it's gone, and he's SOL if you make him sign a receipt for it!
Thanks for the input; I'm glad it's not just my fiance and me who think this is kinda odd. I guess it's probably time that we open a joint checking account for our shared expenses anyway.
@Puggy - hmm, I hope we don't have to resort to that, but you bring up a good point about having proof.
@tea - you're right, the bigger issue is that the LL just needs to cash the checks, especially when the lease says there's a fine if we're X days late in paying. I guess I'm just paranoid having that much money in my checking/debit account in case my wallet gets stolen or something, and also what Mrs. Spring said about keeping track of multiple months' rent if he doesn't cash them.
@KM - that's something I thought of, but have never done before. If he doesn't cash it after 90 days, is he really SOL?
@tea
When we had the same problem, we still kept our register up to date. I don't know about you, but I am very uncomfortable with any check I have written being circulated instead of being cashed. After you have written a check or made a payment, don't you check to see if it cleared? It makes me uncomfortable to not have it go through. I personally don't want that person to come back later say he lost it, make me pay again, and then "find " the original in his poor bookkeeping mess and cash that one too. (That incident happened with us, and why it started the whole bank checks/money orders with us.)
@puggy, i do check my online account to see what's cleared and to double check my own register. i keep good records of my checks and if i'm ever uncomfortable i make a copy of the check before i hand it over. that way if anyone claims they lost the check, i can call the bank and issue a stop payment and then rewrite a check. if they find the original check, they won't be able to cash it.
I guess when it happened to us, we didn't want to pay the $35 the bank charges us stop payment on a check when we were told by our landlord that they would destroy the check when they found it.
Its just a preference thing. I keep records of records, I'm pretty anal about stuff like this. We are finally getting our finances in order and I keep track of every little penny we get. So, for us, when something takes a while to go through, I get a little freaked out and make sure to follow it every step of the way.
@puggy - I'm the same way, but it's true, everyone has their own way of doing things. We're going to open a joint checking account tomorrow for shared expenses like rent, and also send the landlord a certified mail letter requesting that he either deposits the checks in a more timely manner, and that we assume he'll notify us by the 5th of each month if he does not receive our check for some reason. I suppose the letter is more for my peace of mind; I could see it being worth nothing if he ever creates problems for us! Thanks again for weighing in, everyone.
Oh I don't know if they're really SOL, though I know the ones I get from the grocery store do expire so I would imagine so. Sounds like he doesn't really NEED the money, since he's not cashing the check. Just losing one month would probably snap him out of it.
I know what you mean about that being a pain. Just open a separate account, that way you don't have to worry about accidentally spending the money that was meant for your rent.
How long is it taking? My last landlord's bank had a hold on any checks over $500 for a week... and if he held on to them for a week or so, then it was two weeks, which sucked. I'm like you, I don't like having things circulate - I want them cleared and gone as soon as possible. He might be waiting until has several checks, if he owns/rents several properties, and has to wait for the late ones and deposits them together. Unfortunately, if his bank has a hold, there's not much you can do. I second the money order.
Ugh - this happened to my friend! Her landlord would go months without cashing rent checks & it made her crazy. I like the separate checking account for rent - sounds like a good way to go!
If you are worried that he is taking to long to cash the check and worried that you have "extra cash" in your bank account when you actully don't, you might want to consider getting your rent paid by cashier's check. Your bank might be able to do it. I know mine does. If you tell your bank you need a cashier's check, they will take your money and give you a cashier's check and then give that check to your landlord.. Then you will have peace of mind that the money is taken out of your account and your landlord has in his possesion your rent check.
Some landlord only accept cashier's check because they know it won't bounce... verus a personal check could bounce.
If you do it through your bank, it shouldn't cost anything. You can take your money to a grocery store but you have to pay like 0.59 for it.. and I think there is a limit on how much the cashier's check can be.
Also, cashier's checks have receipts too. So just make sure you ripe off the receipt portion so you have proof you sent it to him.
wow, I don't have an answer, but jeesh I feel lucky now. Our company took two weeks and I was having a cow worrying about it because our old company took care of everything the first of every month (recently changed management hands). I think that's a terrible business practice.
@KM - that would serve him right, haha!
@Laylabelle - even though our rent is due the 1st of each month, he was usually cashing them around the 20th. This time, he hasn't cashed December or January yet!
@yrret - thanks, we'll ask about that option when we're at the bank!
@Bamboo - I think it makes him look rather unprofessional, especially because there are repercussions for tenants if our checks are late!
I guess I like exclamation points!
1) Hope he holds onto them for long enough that they become stale dated. That would mean free rent for you.
2) DON'T use a cashier's/bank check. They can't be traced and you can't put a stop pay on them if you need to. I would recommend a money order because they CAN be tracked and you can put a stop pay if needed.
3) It is possible that he cashed/deposited and it still took a few days for it to clear your account. Unless he uses the same bank as you the other bank has to run the check through their system and then submit it to your bank for payment. That process can take a couple of days depending on the process each bank uses and the distance between the two banks. It also depends on the time of day he does it. Banks have a cut off time where if a deposit it made after a certain time it automatically goes onto the next day's business which could be adding at least a day to the clearing time. This does not apply if he is just holding onto the checks because he's too lazy to take them to tha bank.
4) You could always just ask him which bank he uses and then take the check to the bank yourself. You don't have to have his account number or be authorized on his account to depsoit something as long as it is made out to him and the account is set up in his name (they'll tell you if they can't deposit it). This way you a) know the check is deposited in a timely manner and b) you will get a reciept from the teller. Probably a hand written one so it won't include any confidential information.
Just some tips from someone who spent a lot of years working in the banking industry. Good luck. :D
I would consider doing a bill payment from your account. Yes, they will still send him a check but the money will clear out of your account and you will have a record of it being paid on time.
@railroad.
Yeah, you're right. Money Order not cashier's check. I thought of the wrong word. Thanks!
I used my bank online to pay bills and send checks (Chase). I can pick the day I want the check to go out (and you can do persona checks too, just need address and name) and once it goes out, the money is taken out immediately. The bank takes my money and writes the person a check. So if I had $2000 in my bank and rent was $1500 and I paid it on the 1st, $1500 would come out on the 1st whether or not the check was cashed. Dont know if that makes sense, but something you can look into with your bank.
to go back on the cashier's checks, he actually has 1 year from the purchase date to cash it in and you can stop payment on a cashier's check or a money order. i haven't been in the banking industry for long but i have done it for clients where i stopped payment on cashier's checks and money orders. i also seen it where clients held onto a cashier's check for almost exactly 1 year before depositing it into their account.
I dont have much advice other then what the other lovely ladies have said BUT I know what your going through. The couple we rent our home through NEVER cashes our checks in a timely manner! I have contacted them several times asking what the hold up was. Because we send the check through the mail I always feel uneasy hoping they received it.
Last month it took them over 2 weeks to cash the check! By the time it came out our rent for the next month was almost due!
@jduck84 - You can pick up a money order each month at a gas station, pharmacy, or grocery store. They cost, but it is generally under $1. I am the Asst. Mgr at an apartment complex and my tenants had the same problem as you with the previous AM. I make every effort to deposit all rent checks within 2 days of receiving them. I'm sorry your landlord isn't as considerate! Best of luck!
Also... be sure to hold onto every receipt when using money orders and to get a receipt from the apt complex when you drop off your rent. Documentation and proper record keeping is very important.
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Our landlord at apartment (moved here in September) takes a long time to cash our rent checks, and we're not comfortable having that much money in our checking accounts all the time. We've contacted him about it twice, worried that the checks got lost. The first time he claimed the checks had been cashed a long time ago, even though the transactions didn't show up online until a few days after he said that. The second time, he never responded to our inquiry.
I'm thinking of opening a separate checking account just to pay rent, but other than that, is there anything we can do about it? This has never happened to me before. Oh, and as of right now, he hasn't cashed our December or January checks. Weird thing to complain about, I know.