altered cheque

b45ter

hi everyone,
i post dated a cheque for the end of this month, but the cheque got cashed and therefore paid. however i asked the bank for a photocopy of the cheque and have found that the date has been altered. as a result of this a couple of my d/d haven't been paid. what can i do?
any advice would be gratefully received.

le_loup

Nothing.
Banks will consistently tell you not to post date AND it is illegal to issue a false promise, as in, here's a cheque it is worthless.

inmypocketnottheirs

Herein lies the problem.

A post dated cheque can be paid in at any time.

When a cheque is written it is the onus of the person writing it to ensure that there are funds available.

The likelihood of getting anything back from the bank is miniscule.

You are better looking for redress from the person that banked the cheque.

The holding of a post dated cheque is something that is agreed between the two parties. The bank is not involved.

b45ter

what action can be taken against the person who altered the cheque? is it illegal? i'm not after compo or taking them to court or anything like that however it was agreed between the parties that i could post date the cheque.

Olipro

b45ter wrote: »

what action can be taken against the person who altered the cheque? is it illegal? i'm not after compo or taking them to court or anything like that however it was agreed between the parties that i could post date the cheque.

if it's clear the cheque has been altered, that would classify as criminal forgery.

Azrael_1701

b45ter wrote: »

what action can be taken against the person who altered the cheque? is it illegal? i'm not after compo or taking them to court or anything like that however it was agreed between the parties that i could post date the cheque.

If it was altered then that would be illegal, but so is writing a post dated cheque.

jonesMUFCforever

How much are we talking about here?

inmypocketnottheirs

Azrael_1701 wrote: »

If it was altered then that would be illegal, but so is writing a post dated cheque.

And two wrongs don't make a right.

I would say that the best the OP could hope for would be to get the party that paid the cheque in early to cover the charges involved.

I am no legal expert, but to me it would sound like breach of contract. The other party agreed not to bank the cheque until xx date. They breached that agreement and banked it early. Under breach of contract the maximum entitlement is to cover the actual losses incurred by the breach, in this case the charges.

Lesson learnt I hope re post dated cheques!

davec1960

The other party agreed not to bank the cheque until xx date

The OP doesn't say that this was the case.

inmypocketnottheirs

davec1960 wrote: »

The OP doesn't say that this was the case.

Well if you read the OP's post #4 in this thread it clearly states that it was agreed that the cheque could be post dated, thus indicating agreement thereto.

AnonymousForObviousReason

Post dating a cheque isn't illegal - don't be silly now. Writing a cheque where you know there aren't the funds to pay for it would be illegal but as it cleared this obviously isn't the case, now if you planned for it to bounce after the direct debits then I'd drop it. By stating on the cheque that it shouldn't be paid in by X is part of a contract and you could claim that the other party has broken the contract so demand not only your money back but also damages caused (on return on whatever you got).

If it was altered then you are in a better position, this is not only a criminal act but a really stupid one, banks really don't bother to check for amounts below a particular value and even then lots slip through (so you'd of had been able to get the bank to refund the charges as it's their fault, unless it's in their terms and conditions).

I would talk to the other party that altered it and say that their actions have cost you x amount of money and you don't want to inform the police, so if they pay the charges (don't get greedy tempting as it is to punish them that's not your right) you'll not pursue the matter.

Failing that report them to the police and your bank, just getting them involved in fraud will probably get them barred from having a bank account for a long time.