Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Georgia

Landlord is filing chapter 11 in georgia, he has not cashed any of my rent checks for 4 months. I am on a month to month rental and he has $900 for my security deposit. I plan on moving at the end of December. I am having to close my bank account as there are no branches of my bank anywhere close by (the closest is 3 hrs. away). I pay a monthly service charge for my bank account. What can I do as a tenant to force him to cash these checks. My bank does not seem to know how long a personal check is good for, they only know about business checks. I do not want to keep this account open and pay the service charge till he gets around to cashing them.


Asked on 11/20/13, 12:50 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Checks are good for 90 days and go stale after 6 months. See � 11-3-304. Overdue instrument (a)(2) An instrument payable on demand becomes overdue at the earliest of the following times: ... (2) If the instrument is a check, 90 days after its date; or

I can't believe your bank does not know these rules. If whoever you are talking does not know then someone higher up should or else have the branch manager contact someone in the bank's legal department.

Chapter 11 is a reorganization. That means that your landlord is going to restructure his debts but he will keep on operating. I am not sure why the landlord has not cashed the checks or when he filed for bankruptcy protection. Why not issue a stop payment on the checks (issue this in writing to your bank)? Tell your landlord what you are going to do if he does not cash the checks by the end of the month. If you move out, then put the stop payment order on them and give the landlord a money order for the rent. And make a copy of the money orders before you give them to him. Further, it would be better to get a writing from him acknowledging that the rent was timely paid and you are just replacing previously issued checks.

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Answered on 11/20/13, 9:14 pm


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