Also known as: cashier's check · cashiers check · cashier check · cashier's cheque
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A draft drawn by a bank on itself and payable on demand. The bank acts as both drawer and drawee, creating an unconditional obligation to pay the holder upon presentment.
Caleb Chang missed two monthly payments on his warehouse mortgage held by Canyon Construction. Two days before the scheduled foreclosure sale, Chang delivered a cashier's check covering all arrears, late fees, and specified foreclosure expenses listed in the lender's ledger. Canyon Construction accepted the instrument, which restored Chang to the position he occupied before the default and halted the foreclosure proceedings.
Crestview Holdings contracted to pay Cynthia Cortez by means of an unconditional bank pay order. The company obtained a cashier's check from its bank naming Cortez as payee. When a dispute later arose over whether the instrument satisfied the contract, the court treated the cashier's check as the equivalent of cash because the issuing bank bore direct liability on the instrument as both drawer and drawee.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
No. Once the bank issues a cashier's check, it assumes direct liability as drawer and drawee. The purchaser has no right to order the bank to dishonor the instrument, and any attempt to do so would require the bank to breach its own obligation to the holder.
A cashier's check is drawn by the bank on itself from the outset. A certified check begins as the customer's check that the bank later accepts by certifying it and setting aside funds, shifting primary liability to the bank as acceptor.
An action to enforce the obligation of the issuer of a cashier's check must be commenced within three years after demand for payment is made to the issuer.
Yes. The remitter or payee may assert a claim by delivering a declaration of loss to the obligated bank, provided the communication is received in time for the bank to act before payment and the claimant supplies reasonable identification if requested.