Rapp v. National Sec. Bank

Citations

• 136 Pa. 426
• 20 A. 508
• 1890 Pa. LEXIS 1041

Syllabus

<p>1. When the amount of a check, left with a bank for collection, is credited to a depositor as cash, it may be charged back to him in case it turns out to be worthless, unless the bank has been negligent, or has done something to mislead the depositor into acting, to his injury, on the faith of its goodness : the depositor has no right to be misled by the mere credit of the check as cash.</p> <p>(a) On August 12th, a stranger called on the plaintiff's in Philadelphia, purchased goods to the amount of $146, and offered in payment a certified check on the Merchants’ Bank of New York for $900. Before accepting it, the plaintiffs submitted the check to the cashier of the defendant bank, who advised them not to take it, for fear it might be “ raised.”</p> <p>(b) There was nothing on its face to indicate any alteration, and the cashier’s advice was based simply on the nature of the proposed transaction with the stranger. The cashier further said that the only thing he could do for the plaintiffs would be to send the check on for collection and see whether it would be paid, and, if it was paid and kept, it might be supposed all right.</p> <p>(c) After seeing the stranger and getting his assent, the plaintiffs deposited the check to their account with the defendant bank; but, as they did not have their pass-book, it was not credited ther’ein on that day. On August 14th, the pass-book was brought to the bank, the deposit entered in it, and on the same day the plaintiffs paid to the stranger the difference between $900 and $146.</p> <p>(d) The defendant bank sent the check on August 12th to its New York correspondent, and it was paid in due course by the Merchants’ Bank. A month later, in balancing the book of the drawer, the Merchants’ Bank learned that the check had been altered, before certification, from $7 75 to $900. Thereupon the defendant’s correspondent returned the $900 to the Merchants’ Bank, and charged the same against the defendant:</p> <p>2. The defendant, ha