Quote Originally Posted by InTheCrease View Post
I thought that those here should know about the following, and am open to reactions, thoughts, and ideas on what the next move is:

So …. for about a year now I have been outright cashing lawful money-demanded checks drafted upon my customer's KeyBank account, pay to order of my business. I am not a customer or account holder at Key Bank. Again, I just straight cash the checks. At times the tellers noticed the stamp, but no one ever said boo. [My stamp reads: "Demand: paper shall be redeemed in lawful money on account, 12 USC 411"]

Then, on November 22 a teller all-of-the-sudden said that she could not cash the check with the stamp on it since she wasn't sure about the endorsement on the back (even though she had just cashed one the week prior). She called her "Operations Leader" and left a message for that person, and then told me to come back with another check without the stamp and she could cash it. I left her my VM and asked her to get back to me with an answer from her leader, which she later did and confirmed in a VM . Meanwhile, that day I went to a different Key Bank branch and cashed the check.

Then today I went to back to that second branch and the guy there told me that he had been called by the teller at the first branch and told that the bank can't/won't cash the checks … something about them not being able to get the money back if the checks are bad … or some other such non-sense that the confused teller tried to verbalize but couldn't really other than 'we can't take it with this stamp'. He ended up giving me the "Operations Leader" number and told me to call her if I wanted an explanation, that the best he could do for me in terms of cashing the check is to get one without the "restrictive endorsement stamp"

So what is my next move? I believe it is to contact the Operations Leader and ask her if she and her tellers are giving me legal advice as to how to endorse my checks. And ask her to send me a letter formally stating the bank's position with respect to my demand for lawful money pursuant to 12 USC 411.

Any other thoughts or ideas here? Cheers.
Here are some examples of Notice and Demand:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/3...eanddemand.jpg
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/2...demand2012.pdf
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/8...ndboacorre.pdf
http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/8...andmay2013.pdf

Due to the above post about transaction-based non-endorsement I suggest that you go back to the first bank branch and try to cash the paycheck. Keep an audio recording of the event. When they refuse the non-endorsement single-strike-through the Demand. You already have a copy of the demand and when they cash it ask for a copy of both sides of the check, with the strike-through.

You have evidence that you made your demand.

When you make your demand then the bank has to (theoretically) keep your funds a special deposit - in your boss' account. Therefore the banking party is getting nothing in return for doing business.

There is another option that I hesitate to suggest. Your boss accepts your goods and services for pay. Does you boss know that his bank is being stubborn about paying an employee? Maybe your boss would like to change banks to one that freely pays his employees and does not give them grief about exercising rights?

Maybe next time your boss' bank refuses to cash a paycheck offer to call the CFO and report that behavior?