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Random Quote: I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy.
How many of you would accept an in-state personal check for a boat purchase?
I am getting ready to close the deal on selling mine and am wondering if I should even consider accepting a personal check. If by chance the check bounces how hard it is to rectify the situation?
can i write you a third party out of state hand printed check????????? by all means take the person down to the bank and get a Cashiers Check period no and's if's and Butt's about it .... a personal check is simply a bad idea..............
John
It's very difficult. You will have to sue to get your boat back. If he's sold it before you can file then it gets about 10X harder. You can 'freeze' the asset as part of the suit but that only works if it hasn't been passed along.
You're probably also going to want to file a police complaint for bad check and fraud. While this is being worked out your civil suit is going to be on hold because testimony in a civil suit can be compelled only if it doesn't interfere with a criminal complaint. A friend of mine (totally at fault) got a real-estate suit thrown-out when the plaintiff's attorney described his actions as 'criminal.'
I'm not a lawyer but I took some business law in college and I've known people who have had actions like I've just gone over.
Tell the guy to bring a cashier's check. Then you never have to answer questions about where the cash came from.
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Everything has to eat somebody. (Bruce, the shark, from "JAWS")
If it is an "in state" check and there is a branch of his bank near you, then get him to go with you to his bank, have the cashier give you cash or a "certified bank check" for the proceeds.
not a problem if you do it as above.......but to just take a check........nah.
There is NO excuse for not bringing a cashiers check.. I can get cashiers checks from my back for .50 YES .50 so if someone is whining about the cost tell em to take a hike!
I wouldn't do it either. If they can write a personal check then they have enough money to get a cashiers check, credit line or some other form of secure payment. Even then I would wait until the check clears to at least send them the title. When I bought my Mako I used a check from my credit line and told them to send me the title after my check cleared, I just made sure I had a bill of sale in case any questioned my new boat.
I would say a definate NO!!! Too hard to recover the money if the check bounces. Once you sign the boat over to him you could spend years in court trying to get the money or the boat backback.
Either hold the boat and paperwork until the check clears, or let him know that he needs to bring a cashiers/certified check.
"A boat is a hole in the water, surrounded by fiberglass, into which you throw money"
For all the dishonest people that are at large in the world today it is not worth the risk. An honest person will see the implications of the personal cheque and say not a problem, and provide you with some other means that is secure.
I have to agree with foster. I did, however give the person I bought from a 500.00 personal check to hold the boat till I could get back the following week. I brought a cashiers check for the full amount and he gave me my check back. I did so as good faith I would return. Guess thats a little different though.
I have accepted a personal check or two for boats that I have sold, and I have decided to stop the practice. Not because I was burned by a bad check, but because the last check was not drawn on my bank.
The bank that it was drawn on did not want to cash a $40,000 check for me because I was not a customer. After quick thinking I remembered that my parents had an account there that I am on. The teller was satisifed that I had the money to cover the check, and he asked me how I wanted it. I laughed, thinking he had to be crazy if he thought I wanted to walk out of there with $40,000 cash. He then wanted to charge me for a cashiers check, at which point I finally told him to get the branch manager who approved the check at no charge.
I'm shopping for a boat, & I wouldn't even dare ask a seller to accept a personal check from me unless it was just for a security deposit. If I were you, I'd wonder about someone who wanted to use a personal check to buy your boat, especially if they insisted on it.
Never in a million years. It's too easy for bad funds, stop payments, etc. A check is only a promise. Don't take checks from people whom you wouldn't be willing to hand the goods over on the promise of future payment. From my mother, yes. From my best friend, yes. That's about it.
Certified funds are easy to get, or a bank transfer, or whatever.
I had a guy bring me 9000 cash. He told me that he was going to bring cash so I went to Office Max and bought one of those pens that checked the 100s to see if they were real money. I layed them all out on my work bench and marked each one of them. It looked like a drug deal in my garage but the buyer did not mind. Actually he was as interested as I was to check the bills. No way would I take a personal check and I told the buyer that.
Most people know better than to even try to pay you with a personal check. Get a bank check (cashier's check -- not just "certified") -- it's not like it's hard for the buyer to get one! Just common sense.
I have written personal checks for a few boats and have accepted personal checks for a few. It usually involves holding the title until the check clears. It really depends on who you are dealing with and the situation. Cash is good, but anything over $5K is a pain.
Personal check for boat purchase 
