Legal Question in Banking Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Hold on check

You asked about holding policy on a large check.

Generally checks under $5,000 are available to a depositor the next day. Checks over $4,999 are subject to special banking rules. When presented to the bank on which they are drawn they should be paid over the counter.

By ancient law, business days are Monday through Friday and don't include holidays.

You can try traveling to the bank on which the check is drawn and cashing the check, and then depositing this amount. But taking possession of a large amount of cash is never recommended.

Another alternative would be to have the funds transferred to your account via wire transfer. There will be a fee on each end but the funds will be available immediately.

Off the top of my head I believe that the first $500 on a large check should be available the next business day. The rest will need to wait out the five business days. Yes, the banks are making money on money that is rightfully yours. But the law allows them to do so. If you can scrape a couple of million dollars together to lobby Congress to change the law then please do so.

You don't say what this check was for. Please make certain that the check is valid. There are many check fraud scams that seek to take advantage of persons who are eager to participate in money making transactions. Google the term "nigerian scam" and read about some of these scams. Intelligent people are tricked by these scams everyday. If you need to convert the check to cash, make certain that you are not using that cash to pay any person associated with the transaction that generated the check.

If the check is significantly large, you should seek advice from an attorney on how best to deal with the funds.

Regards,

Roger