Lawful Money and Ownership

[mikecz]

Ok brain trust here goes,

As a landlord, I receive all forms of payment, I wish I could fix this issue, but be that as it may, and being a member of the club, I've grown to find a particular interest in each type.

Today I received 3 different forms of payment. I don't think people quite understand how different each is, but I digress. I'm sort of in a tailspin here but...

I received a check, I'm not sure if it's business or personal, because in the "name" line above the address (top left corner), is the guys name then "dba" his business. Either way, to my knowledge, this is a negotiable instrument, as it's a promise to pay, I can sign it over and issue it to someone else, etc. Really it's worthless in my eyes UNTIL I negotiate it with someone else. That can be negotiated with a deposit in my bank, I could sign it over to someone else for a car payment, etc. The conclusion I've come to after being a member of this site, I'm looking at this piece of paper, it's worthless, it doesn't represent any income. If I trash it and shred it right now, I've received no funds, and most importantly, no funds have been withdrawn from my tenants account. Further, what if this "negotiable" instrument I decide to negotiate for a good or service. Now, I've received a service for that instrument, in my eyes since the funds weren't withdrawn, for free. What if this check keeps getting negotiated and never is deposited? What if someone buys the instrument with Federal Reserve notes? What if someone else then buys the instrument for more federal reserve notes? In that sense, aren't they simply "cashing the check". It generates cash transactions without ever being withdrawn from my tenants account. I mean hell, this is a form of currency. If it never gets deposited, never withdrawn, in a sense, we have just "grown" our currency by $1,240, the amount on the check. I guess I'm running down this trail because if this isn't negotiated with a bank, you can see it really doesn't represent any value... (Could you imagine if you could just write a bunch of checks, have them negotiated down the line, and never have the funds withdrawn from your account? hint hint, federal reserve, redeemable money...)

Next, I received a Post Office money order. After inspecting the lovely piece of parchment, I discovered something wonderful. The words "Pay to", "US dollars and cents", "Clerk" (I'm assuming could sign for it.) Now, this is a completely different animal. Cash must be used to "buy" this negotiable instrument. It is a cash equivalent of sorts. The the US dollars and cents was a wonderful thing to see. In this case, I'm not sure if I need a stamp, but for good measure, I slam it on there. But, this instrument, upon endorsement, does it become reservable? ITS LAWFUL MONEY!

The last is FRN, cash. Now, there is no way to track this sort of income from the Feds, if I don't deposit it, there is no real taxable transaction, because, once again, I have not contracted to have my money privately manipulated.