I recently started a new job. I have to wait 30 days for direct deposit. The check is out of state check. My bank says they hold out of state even payroll for 5 days. Well in the mean time they bounced everything that was to come thru even though they have the money. Can they actually do this? The have charged me $124 in fees and bounced my car payment. Is there anything I can do? I am in maryland with provident bank. Do all banks holds out of state checks even if payroll?
Unfortunately they can. Most likely it is in fine print in that mass of paperwork they give you when you open an account there. It won't be an issue once you get direct deposit, but until then I would see if you can get someone with a sympathetic ear down at the bank who might cut you some slack and waive some fees or at least won't put you on probation for bouncing so many checks in a short period of time since it was an honest mistake.
...and what really sucks is with this new Check21 where checks clear electronically the same day, your deposits are still held for days before being credited.
Re: Re: Can the bank do this? I heard something on the radio, not sure if it was a news report or just something about the new law, but they said the banks were anticipating making billions of dollars in overdraft fees because of it. Moral of the story--make sure you ask when the funds will be available and have them available before writing checks. My credit union gives the availability on the bottom of the deposit slip. I just made a sizable deposit, and it said $500 was available immediately, another amount was available in 3 days, the rest in a week. It actually gave the date, not just 3 days.
Re: Re: Can the bank do this? just ask the manager. It also helps for have a LOC/PLOC. I know i have a limit (wont tell me) based on my average balance + $9000 line of credit which dictates if a check willl hold or not. However using a credit union, you can usually talk to a person who can make things happen, like unhold the funds the minute the check clears the other bank etc if that doesn't apply.
Re: Re: Can the bank do this? It didn't really matter in my case. It's money I took out on refinance, and a lot of it I'm going to put into CDs or something liquid and safe, because that's my emergency fund if I ever get sick, lose my job, etc. It's in a money market account which makes OK interest, and I was going out of town for a long weekend, so I really didn't care.
Re: Re: Can the bank do this? FYI - TD Waterhouse Bank puts a 10 BUSINESS day hold on out of state checks. Virtually all checks deposited to TDW could be out of state because you don't know which state your check will be deposited in. Think about it, 10 business days plus a holiday in that time. Happened to me. I'm closing all accounts with TDW
