Bank responsibility against check fraud

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selby226

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I could really use some advice...I do my banking with a credit union that is NCUA secured. I recently received a cashier's check from a potential tenant that was looking to secure an apartment I have for rent. When I received the check, I took it to my bank for deposit. My bank did not put a hold on the check and made the funds immediately available to me. I specifically asked the bank if the check was "ok", and they said it was fine. When I checked my account online, it was showing the deposit and showed it as fully available for withdrawal. A couple of days after the deposit, this potential tenant asked for half the money back and had decided not to rent with me, but he needed the money to be wire transferred since he was abroad. Normally I would be suspicious of a wire transfer request, but I figured it was safe in this case since the bank had indicated to me that the funds were available from the deposited check. So I sent the money.

Now, 7 days later, the bank has determined that the check was essentially counterfeit (the bank on it does not exist), making me a victim of fraud. The bank immediately withdrew the entire amount of the check, despite my protest to them that only the half that's remaining should be taken, and that I made these decisions after THEY made the funds immediately available. They are refusing to take any responsibility even though they were the ones that did not automatically put a hold on the funds while they confirmed the check (in which case I would have waited for the funds to clear before I wire transferred any money!). I've put a call in to the NCUA and the Better Business Bureau, but in the meantime my account's pretty much wiped out.

Any advice? Shouldn't they take some responsibility for this since they told me the check was ok for me to withdraw against and did not impose a hold? I've also learned that other branches of this bank typically do put a hold on large checks, but it's just this particular branch that decided not to.
 
Sounds like the bank was trying to do you a favor by not putting a hold on your check. If you were concerned about it, you should have asked them to verify the funds -- or --taken the responsiblity on yourself not to use the funds until you knew for certain the check had cleared.

The bank does not have any responsiblity in regards to the check or the funds that you used assuming they were good. Your only argument with them might be if they charged some type of fee for having to return the check.
 
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