What happens if you forget to put a date on a check?

If a check is undated, it’s considered dated when it’s tendered by the payee. [Uniform Commercial Code 3–113]

They will cash it and the bank will either honor it, decline it or call you to verify it is a valid check. Most likely the former.

Depends on the banks involved, but don’t worry, it’ll probably sail through.

@Pachyderm_In_The_Room is correct. It depends on the bank.

At the bank I work for, we rarely look at each individual check in a large business deposit before putting it through, and I’ve NEVER had a check kicked back from the main office for a missing date. If someone is trying to cash a check with no date, we usually have the customer write it in (shh, don’t tell!). The rule is that no check should go to proof without a valid date, but they normally do anyways.

They may call you to verify, but I doubt it.

Probably will sail right through. I doubt banks ever check the dates. I know there is really no such thing as post dating. You can post date hoping the person you wrote the check to won’t cash it until that date, but if they bring it to the bank, the bank will just go ahead and put it through even if it is before the date. My nephew cashed a check I wrote him almost a year after I wrote it, the bank didn’t snag it for the date.

@JLeslie Again, it depends on the bank. We don’t cash post-dated checks. A few slip through our fingers, but it’s against policy to cash a post-dated check. We also don’t cash checks after they’re void due to time – a year for personal checks, anywhere from 30–90 days for business checks as indicated on said check. I’m sure some banks are more lenient, but I know a few that are even stricter than our bank. Around here, Wells Fargo is a huge stickler for rules, to the point where it’s sometimes ridiculous.

@livelaughlove21 It doesn’t surprise me that it depends on the bank, in fact I would guess down to depending on the branch. I thought personal checks were 6 months. I actually bank with Well’s Fargo, but I am not sure which bank I used to write that check to my nephew. Wells Fargo has been good in some ways and annoying in others. Once my mom wrote me a check that would have bounced, but since she wrote on her Wells Fargo account they saw she had plenty of money in a different account, just needed to move the funds. They told me while I was in the bank so we could correct it before any fees or other mess happened. I thought that was nice. That’s why I like having a relationship with the bank I use, I like having a place to walk into and employees who know me. I don’t go into the bank very often, I charge basically everything, but I make an effort to build a relationship.

@JLeslie Yes, things like this vary branch-to-branch.

My husband has our mortgage through Wells Fargo, but my name is not on the loan. I had never been inside a bank that wasn’t First Citizens (where I work) before, but I decided to pay the mortgage in the branch that month. Here’s what happened…

Me: I need to pay on my husband’s mortgage, but I don’t have the loan number with me. I can give you his social.
Teller: (rudely) We can’t look it up that way anymore. Run your debut card through the machine.
Me: We don’t have a checking account with you.
Teller: (shoves a piece of paper at me) Write down his name and date of birth. (Looks up the account) I can’t give you a receipt because your name isn’t on the loan.
Me: That’s fine.
Teller: How much do you want to pay?
Me: Just the regular payment. $789.11, right?
Teller: I can’t give you any information on the account.

Good grief! Keep in mind that she had my ID with this address on it, the check had both my and my husband’s names on it, and we have a car loan with them with both of our names on it. She was acting like I wanted to take money out of his sole account without him there. I was trying to pay them! I wasn’t asking for the loan number, just the payment amount – what bad thing could I possibly do with that information? Nothing.

I was so pissed off by the time I left, and so was my husband when I told him. I understand that there are rules, but our bank would never make it that difficult for someone to pay on a damn loan. Ridiculous! I’ll be paying online from now on.

We were always taught that a check is good for a year unless it says otherwise on the check.

First Citizens is known for our customer relations. We spoil our customers, even if we don’t know them, and I didn’t realize how much until I walked into Wells Fargo. I’m a floater and I’ve been to all of our local branches to work, so I assumed all banks were like that.

@livelaughlove21 I would have been annoyed also. That’s ridiculous to be so obnoxious when you are there to give them money, but no matter what they should be pleasant. People are stupid what can I say.

I call to get information all the time for my aunt (I take care of her bills) FIL (doesn’t speak English well), husband, where I am not on the account or don’t have permission. I realize I can only get general information, but it’s like half the representatives don’t even want to continue without an account number and all the right permissions. Not just banking, I mean for many things.

I worked in a Bank once.
And they did not check as well as they should have.
If one wanted to they had a very good arguement re: undated cheque.
Although it would had been dated stamped on the back by the Bank when received.
Technically the client would have a point IF there ever were a dispute?