Also known as: certified checks · certified cheque
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A check accepted by the bank on which it is drawn. Acceptance may occur by the drawee's signed agreement to pay the draft or by a notation on the check indicating certification. The acceptance creates an obligation on the bank to pay according to the check's terms and guarantees the availability of funds.
Curtis Cannon missed several mortgage payments on his home. The lender sent a foreclosure notice and scheduled a sale. Two days before the sale, Cannon obtained a certified check for the full cure amount including missed installments and itemized expenses. He delivered the check to the servicer. The tender satisfied the statutory requirements for curing the monetary default and halted the foreclosure.
Cade Carpenter agreed to purchase a vehicle from Bloomfield Motors. The sales contract stated that payment must be made in cash or by certified check upon delivery. Carpenter presented a certified check at closing. The dealer accepted the instrument as satisfying the payment term in the agreement.
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A certified check is drawn by a depositor on the customer's account and then accepted by the drawee bank, which sets aside funds. A cashier's check is drawn by the bank on itself. Both carry the bank's promise, but the certified check begins as the customer's instrument.
Yes. The Uniform Home Foreclosure Procedures Act expressly permits cure by tender of a certified check in the required amount after notice and not later than two days before the scheduled sale.
Yes. Once the bank accepts the check by certification, the drawer and prior indorsers are discharged, and the bank becomes primarily liable as acceptor.
The claimant must communicate a claim to the obligated bank with a declaration of loss under penalty of perjury, providing reasonable identification if requested, before the check is paid.
…below these clauses and immediately above the signature line, and in 12 point block type, the following appears: “CASH OR CERTIFIED CHECK ONLY ON DELIVERY.” On the left side, just opposite and in the same style type as the two quoted clauses, but in eight point size, this statement is set out: “This agreement shall not…