Seller refused sale because I wanted to use a cashiers check

[Peasantgirl]

Ok, I guess I'm just wanting to rant for a minute here. Oh yeah, new member here, hello everybody!

I'm in the process of looking to buy my first RV ever. I found one on Craigslist in a town about 90 minutes away. Seller insisted on meeting in the evening, after 5pm. I drove all the way down there, inspected it, liked what I saw, told him I wanted to buy it. Explained that I'd have to wait for the bank to open the next day - sorry, dude, I don't just walk around with $6k in my pocket, and you can't withdraw that much from an ATM in one day. I think $5k is the limit? But I digress.

My bank (credit union, actually) had pre-approved me for a personal loan which was how I was planning to pay for it, but they didn't want to just disburse the funds to my account, they wanted to know what it was being spent on. They wanted an invoice or something to show where the money was going, and then they would make out a cashier's check directly to the seller. I don't know the reason for this policy but it is what it is. They made me do the same thing when I bought a storage building. It's a PITA but only for me, not the seller.

Anyway, long story short, I asked the seller if he could make out a bill of sale - UNSIGNED, so he wasn't committing to anything - which he sorta did, he scratched out the year and model and sale price on a scrap of paper. Not exactly a bill of sale but whatever.

Emailed him the next morning to let him know I was going to the credit union that morning to get the cashier's check, and he wrote back to say that he wouldn't accept a CC because it was a scam. Sigh.

I wasn't wiring him anything. I wasn't using a "courier". I wasn't asking him to wire me anything back. I wasn't asking for his bank account info. I was using the local frikkin credit union.

I literally would have taken the guy with me to the credit union to meet the loan officer but before I could suggest that, he writes to tell me that someone else is coming that day to look at it and if they had cash he was going to sell it to them. This, despite me driving NINETY minutes (one way!) to meet him the day before and telling him I wanted it. Grrr!

I emailed back that he was a *bleep* for reneging on our verbal agreement and that I wouldn't buy from him at this point even if the other person didn't want it.

Like I said, just venting here. These cashier check con artists have ruined it for everybody.

[Devocamper]

We just sold our truck and 5th wheel and used a bank to bank wire transfer , the transfer was done and funds were available in minutes but no matter how you do it some has to trust some one at some point . He had to transfer before I handed over the titles
Mike

[rockhillmanor]

Ductape wrote:
There's no risk of receiving a bad check if you go to the institution it's drawn on and cash it. The funds are going to be verified before they count out the cash.

Which the OP was prepared to do with the seller.

Yes there IS a risk.
First of all What's wrong with that scenario is banks today will NOT let you cash a check on a bank that you do not have an account with. Thank the patriot act for that one.

AND if you are going to his bank to cash it, you can go to his bank WITH him and he can draw out CASH. If legit there is no reason for him to write you a check. :R

[rockhillmanor]

Cashiers checks are no longer accepted as a 'safe' way to pay for a purchase anymore.

Scammers print them up on a printer.

I know. :(:(
I accepted a cashiers check, once.

1. What happens is your bank will deposit it in your account. Only thing is, is that days later after it goes thru the clearing house it comes back as a 'fake' check not associated to any bank.

Now YOU are held liable and arrested for passing/depositing a fraudulent check, felony time. The only reason I did not go to jail is the buyer sent the check via mail to my bank and my stupid bank deposited into my account with out me knowing about it.

2. The other way some scum bags do it is yes they had the money in their bank when they drew up the cashiers check. And then the next day they withdraw it. So when it clears your bank there is no money to back it and they have your auto, rv or whatever you were selling.

NOPE, cashiers checks are a thing of the past as being considered good money. With all the computer software they can print up fake cashiers checks all day long.

[Ductape]

There's no risk of receiving a bad check if you go to the institution it's drawn on and cash it. The funds are going to be verified before they count out the cash.

Which the OP was prepared to do with the seller.

[3oaks]

Chum lee wrote:
Nothing is for sure these days. IMO, a wire transfer is the safest way to transfer money. At the speed of light, you can confirm that the money was sent from your account. The recipient can confirm that the money has arrived in their account. It's usually best to execute transactions during business hours so there are bank people to talk to if there are issues.

Carrying large amounts of cash (over $10,000) is dangerous. Some (police) states can legally confiscate cash just because they THINK you are up to something nefarious. It happens all the time.

Chum lee

You got that right! Carrying cash can be dangerous. Not just muggers to worry about but also our so called "honorable" police force as well. Even if later proven innocent a person may never recover their own legally obtained money. Read about it quite often particularly in the border states.

[6door74]

OH48Lt wrote:

I won't take a cashiers check unless the buyer wants to wait 10 days for it to clear. Most buyers won't do that. Cash Is King.

That's reasonable. Though, i'd want something to hold as well. Keys, unit, or title?

Cash is obviously always king but does everyone here check the cash? Same person that had the cashiers checks had cash from $5 to $50's that looked and felt good. Dummy got greedy trying to cash all the 50's for change in close proxmiity of each other at an outdoor event with vendors....

[Bird_Freak]

Your upset because you went to buy it totally unprepared. You could have at least left him a deposit or something to show good faith.
I will not take a cashiers check for anything anymore.

[fitznj]

I sold an RV earlier this year for $7K; Buyer wanted to pay with cashiers check.
Uummmm no way; I told the buyer if the cashiers check is good than he should be
able to cash it and bring me the cash.

First buyer to appear with cash gets the toy......

[time2roll]

$6,000 cash is a little bigger than I usually carry but if I want to strike a bargain you can bet I would have that in my pocket ready to roll. If the price was somewhere $15,000+ I would be wiring the money if requested. Best to verify in advance what the seller expects.

[OH48Lt]

Got burnt on a cashiers check from a local well-known Credit Union over 10 years ago. The guy was buying a Harley from me, gave me $2K in cash, said the rest is tomorrow in a local cashiers check. Sure enough, he came back (after bank closing time), had a real good looking cashiers check for $12K, and I gave him a title. Went to the credit union the next day, found out the cashiers check was completely fake. Took me over 24 hours to locate him and the Harley. A very nasty friend and I convinced him it was in his best interest to give me the title back, and off I went on the Harley. He was then out $2k cash. Too bad.

I won't take a cashiers check unless the buyer wants to wait 10 days for it to clear. Most buyers won't do that. Cash Is King.

[6door74]

skipro3 wrote:
I agree with Gordon; DMV problems abound. Stuff like it's not his to sell, it's his grandfather's for example, who passed away.

The ONLY way I buy a used car any more from a private party is at the DMV. We both go in, we transfer everything and I hand over the cash money. The only exception to that was when I bought a car out of Nevada. I live in California. We still went to the DMV where I had the clerk provide me a receipt for the bill of sale, showing the seller was the legal owner and that the car was titled, registered and temporarily in my name and that I could drive it to California. All it takes is getting pulled over on your way home in a car not belonging to you to drive home this point.

But I gotta make an observation here;
If you can't drum up $6,000 in cash and your bank can't trust you with a personal loan without verifying the collateral of what you are spending it on, then you probably shouldn't be buying an RV in the first place.
Most likely if I were the seller, I wouldn't have taken your check either. And if I had a cash-in-hand buyer, I would have gone that route as well. As a seller, makes no difference to me if you drove 10 miles or 1000 miles. I'm not releasing said vehicle without cash and without a sales receipt exonerating me from any liability of that vehicle once it's driven away. DMV will make sure any accident the buyer becomes involved in isn't my responsibility in any way by doing the paperwork at the time of sale.

How does the OP borrowing $6,000 to make his purchase make them any less deserving than someone financing a new trailer without a large down payment(or any at all)? Also, what control do they have over the bank and it's lending policy?

as for the cashiers check, i wouldn't trust it either OP. I've had dealings in my line of work with someone who passed a lot of them and many people ended up SOL. They looked pretty good and were successfully being deposited in accounts (until they didn't clear of course). If your lender had all those requirements, i would have told him in advance to meet you at the bank. At least you know for next time, as everyone has to protect themselves. a buyer on a craigslist deal handed over folded money before asking to do a test drive of an ATV. the seller neglected to look at the money before handing over the key. needless to say when he did, the money said "for movie production only" and the buyer was halfway down the block.

[Chum_lee]

Nothing is for sure these days. IMO, a wire transfer is the safest way to transfer money. At the speed of light, you can confirm that the money was sent from your account. The recipient can confirm that the money has arrived in their account. It's usually best to execute transactions during business hours so there are bank people to talk to if there are issues.

Carrying large amounts of cash (over $10,000) is dangerous. Some (police) states can legally confiscate cash just because they THINK you are up to something nefarious. It happens all the time.

Chum lee

[Old-Biscuit]

avan wrote:
Before getting on your high horse OP, you should know that a Cashiers Check is not money, is not cash. It is just an institutional promise to pay (ck) rather than a personal promise to pay (ck) and both can be phony as h... Cash is cash. Guessing seller advertised it for sale for "$xxxx.xx" and not for "a check of $xxxx.xx". Then it sounds like he reiterated his terms for cash during the phone call with you and you decided that rather than getting the cash from the CU and bringing it to the seller, you'd just join up here and rant. Sorry. Seller has the right to ask whatever terms he wants and you have the right to accept or not. As a seller, I would never do a private party sale to an individual or to a company, for paper promises. Cash only or a wire transfer to my bank with my bank confirming to me that it is deposited to my account. Buyer doesn't like those terms = take a hike.

X2

I wouldn't accept a Cashiers Check these days either.

[Triker33]

If the RV hasn't sold yet take $5,000 cash with you and offer it for his RV.
May be worth the 90 mile drive.

[avan]

Before getting on your high horse OP, you should know that a Cashiers Check is not money, is not cash. It is just an institutional promise to pay (ck) rather than a personal promise to pay (ck) and both can be phony as h... Cash is cash. Guessing seller advertised it for sale for "$xxxx.xx" and not for "a check of $xxxx.xx". Then it sounds like he reiterated his terms for cash during the phone call with you and you decided that rather than getting the cash from the CU and bringing it to the seller, you'd just join up here and rant. Sorry. Seller has the right to ask whatever terms he wants and you have the right to accept or not. As a seller, I would never do a private party sale to an individual or to a company, for paper promises. Cash only or a wire transfer to my bank with my bank confirming to me that it is deposited to my account. Buyer doesn't like those terms = take a hike.