CA Help Needed

[Lion EA]

Just received an email from a client who moved to CA in 2018. I think she forgot to tell me she changed banks (I ALWAYS ask in detail) so her IRS and CA refunds came via checks.

"I got my CA check in the mail and the envelope and check were ripped. Unfortunately Bank of America won't let me deposit it this way. I've tried to contact CA FTB but haven't had any luck. Can you help me figure out how to get a new check please? Direct deposit would be even better."

Being in CT, I have fewer than 10 CA clients, so seldom deal with FTB. Is there a phone number that answers now? Or, is there an online remedy for this gal and her ripped check? All suggestions gratefully welcome.

[BulldogTom]

Lion, I don't have an answer for that, but did not want you to think I ignored your post.  

The Client calling the FTB is going to be the best way to find out how to get a replacement check.   But it is going to take a big boatful of patience to get through to someone there.   A lot of the employees are homeschooling their kids and FTB is backed up just like every other CA government agency.

If the check is complete, just ripped, they could try going to a check cashing establishment and see if they will cash the check.  

And if the check is complete, and she has mobile banking, she can take a picture of it and deposit that way.   Or make the deposit in an ATM?

Tom
Modesto, CA

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Another possible option is to open a new account in another bank with the check and additional deposit covering it stipulating that all funds would remain in the account at least until the torn check cleared.  It seems unkind at the least to not allow it to be deposited when it is clear that it was torn but made out to the payee and has all the parts together.  I mean, things happen in the mail.  I do like Tom's suggestion of taping very carefully the parts together and making a mobile deposit.  If done well, it might work.  If not, try something else.

[Lion EA]

Great suggestions, Tom & Margaret. I'll pass them on to my client. Thank you both.

[JRS]

There is a live chat available in the FTB website.  Limited access, but worth a try.

Edited April 30, 2020 by JRS
Spelling

[Lion EA]

Thanx, JRS.

[Max W]

If check is not torn through either of the rtg or acct #'s or the signature, I would go back to the B of A and try to have a teller deposit it.  They have to run it through the magnetic number reader, so if the critical part is damaged it will not go through.  If the teller refuses, politely ask to see the manger. Managers are paid to solve problems.

I learned a log time ago that the lower level employees are trained to say no to anything that deviates from the rules, but people at the top are the ones that can bend the rules and say yes.   

Don't tape the check.  Let the bank do that if it needs to be done.  As for ATM and mobile, those will be rejected if they detect the tears, or the tape.

As for replacing the check, here are the FTB's contact numbers and chatline link.

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/refund/help-refund.html#Contact-us-about-refunds

 

 

[Lion EA]

Thank you, Max.

[Catherine]

15 hours ago, Max W said:

As for ATM and mobile, those will be rejected if they detect the tears, or the tape.

I have successfully scanned and electronically deposited torn checks.  Using non-glossy tape is important, and lining it up well also.

[BulldogTom]

8 hours ago, Catherine said:

I have successfully scanned and electronically deposited torn checks.

Because you are awesome like that.

Tom
Modesto, CA

[Max W]

On 5/2/2020 at 9:22 AM, Catherine said:

I have successfully scanned and electronically deposited torn checks.  Using non-glossy tape is important, and lining it up well also.

As long as the tears and the tape can not be detected, it will work, but it takes a talent which you obviously have.

[Lion EA]

She sent me a picture of the check and envelope. Something grabbed the envelope, poking a hole and scraping the envelope. The check is barely damaged; however, for the amount $544, the fours are scrapped and faint but the 5 is missing, just a hole!

She opened up an account on the FTB site to report it. I think she's going to have to wait for a replacement check. Unless the 5 is like a hanging chad that she can push through from the back and tape from the back. But, I think the 5 is just gone.

If it were a check from you or me, we would have to write out the amount in words. But, the FTB has numbers only, and the most important number is missing.

[Catherine]

9 hours ago, Max W said:

it takes a talent which you obviously have

non-glossy tape.  lots of practice sewing tiny things carefully, so I can line the bits up really well.  but it does NOT work when there are holes in the check.

[Abby Normal]

On 5/1/2020 at 8:42 PM, Max W said:

magnetic number reader

Do they still use magnetic ink on those numbers are have they modernized to optical reading? Just curious.

[Lion EA]

Not sure, and I wouldn't be able to tell by looking. The OCR numbers along the bottom are clear. And, the check number appears in multiple places on the check, clearly. The important number, $544, doesn't show up anyplace else on the check in numbers or in words.

Before I saw the picture, I'd had her try smoothing it out and scanning it, then using the scan for the front and original for the back for her mobile bank app on her phone. But, once she sent me the picture, I see that a scan doesn't help the missing 5 in $544.

She's young, in San Francisco just over a year, had her unemployed brother sleeping on her couch for months, is furloughed or hours/pay cut from her new job, and needs the $544. I'm not sure I asked her enough times if her bank account changed or her address changed since we filed her 2018 returns last year. But the paperwork she signed included her banking information and address. Her W-2s and 1099s used what I now know is her old address. I ALWAYS ask, using numbers from prior year, about bank accounts and addresses, especially the young ones who seem to move each year.