Can you deposit a check that's not "Payable" to you

[HN]

Payable to the order of [someone else] and is already endorsed by [same someone else], but is meant for me to cash. can i still do it or do i need to ask for a check made payable to me?

 

[TheGizmo]

my dad has deposited a check or two in my name into his acct.. he even signed it himself with my signature. but then again he has the same last name so i'm not too sure.

 

[promposive]

I had a rebate check sent to me once... My name is David... The name on the check was Emily..
How the F?@? did they mess that up?

My bank took it without asking questions though, even though the back says positive id required

 

[bmacd]

if you are a regular customer, i'm sure the bank won't even look twice @ the check.

-=bmacd=-

 

[HN]

ok. i'll go ahead and try to deposit it. Thank you!
(i don't know why they didn't just write me a check made payable to me :\

 

[teddyv]

A properly endorsed check is like cash.

 

[fs5]

check is good if the person that is under the pay to signs the back. been depositing a rent check for the past 5 months this way.

 

[cerebusPu]

but anyone can fake the signature on the back

 

[tk149]

You can endorse a check over to another person.

Technically, the paying Bank can demand proof that the original payee of the check endorsed the check. Just about the only way to do this is by having the original payee physically appear at the teller line with an ID.

But depending on the Bank, the Bank may not require such proof. If you get away with it a few times, fine. But don't be surprised if the check gets returned unpaid someday. As cerebusPu pointed out, anyone can fake an endorsement, and the payor Bank will have to take a loss if it accepts a check with a forged endorsement.

It's better just to have the payor write a new check.

 

[TrueBlueLS]

Any bank that does care about the security of their customers will verify the signature of the back of the check for authenticity. The person who the check is written to has a block of time where they can dispute they never endorsed the check in which the bank would take a loss. Maybe that's a reason why I get a thumbprint from people who do this when verifying their signature.