Money Order Drama- Need Help.

[Matt Ransom]

Here is how everything went down.

1) Money Order lost by USPS (tenant produced a receipt and I called to verify it was legit)

2) Tenant calls about re-issue but MoneyGram requires 30 days before a re-issue(??)

3) Contacted Post Office- no luck

4) Money Order showed up (tagged with USPS "return to sender" tracking stamp) and whole month late

- Tenant has paid all late/ administrative fees for everything. 

5) Deposited money order

6) Came back returned because a "Stop Payment" was issued. $10.00 fee assessed to us. 

7) I just contacted the tenant about the issue, telling them to call MoneyGram.

My question: What do I do next?

[Marcia Maynard]

If you deposited the original money gram that had been reported lost or stolen, then I'm not surprised there was a stop payment on it. Logic would have been to check if it's valid before attempting deposit. I'd probably absorb the $10 fee since the tenant already paid a late fee and had informed you of the lost money order.

If you deposited a reissued money gram presented by the tenant, then it should have been good. If this is the case, follow your NSF procedure (as per your rental agreement) and recoup the $10 from your tenant.

Require tenant to pay cash to cover the current rent due. Then rethink options for receiving rent. We encourage our tenants to use the bill pay feature that most banks offer - and thus receive a bank check by mail. Another viable option is setting up a means for tenants to pay electronically with an online service or by cash via Pay Near Me.

If you have a long history of successfully receiving rents by mail (personal checks, bank checks, and money orders), then no need to change your procedures at this juncture. Mail mishaps occur and so do on-line mishaps and bank handling mishaps. Part of the way things work... or not.