Ever get stuck with counterfeit money?

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Cogito

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I paid my landlord the monthly rent this morning. Part of it was in cash, including a $50 and a $100 bill. About an hour later, he called me saying that both of those bills were counterfeit, and had been taken by the bank when he tried to deposit them. He also said he expected me to make up the lost funds, and that the appropriate law enforcement agencies would be calling on me to see where I got the bills.

I know where they came from. I did a little work for a small business, and saw the guy pull them out of his cash register. I have known this person many years and believe that he was unaware of the problem. Someone probably passed them to one of his cashiers, and no one noticed any problem at the time. I called him and told him what happened, and he said that he was sorry about it, but that he felt it was my landlord's problem since he is the one who got caught, and that how did I know that the landlord was being truthful with me, or had not made a mistake himself? It also strikes me as very odd that there would be two fake bills of different denominations showing up at the same time. Has anyone else ever been in this predicament? Who is the responsible party here?
 
Unfortunately yes, but I believe it was only a 1 dollar bill. It wasn't the same exact size of the rest of the ones I had and it wouldn't fit in those automatic payment machines you see at Wal-Mart and other stores where you bag your groceries yourself. Glad it wasn't something more valuable, otherwise I would've been upset.

Edit: After thinking about this more, why would anyone even bother to counterfeit a 1 dollar bill? It sounds like a waste of time to me.
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Don't use cash -- especially not larger denominations.

I use 50s and 100s only if they were given to me from the bank, and I use them only for paying cash.

A "smart money counterfeit bill detector pen" costs only $5 or so.
 
Originally Posted By: moribundman
A "smart money counterfeit bill detector pen" costs only $5 or so.

I heard those don't work cause the counterfeiters bleach $5 bills and then print higher denominations on them. So the paper is real and passes rthe marker test.
 
Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
Edit: After thinking about this more, why would anyone even bother to counterfeit a 1 dollar bill? It sounds like a waste of time to me.


Oh, but they're REALLY easy to counterfeit; just take a ten and erase the zero.
 
Ask to talk to the bank. Whomever said the last person to get stuck ..is stuck ..well the landlord was the last person to get stuck.

If he made multiple $100 bill deposits that day, then how did he know it was your bill? Now if the only $100 and $50 bill in the deposit was counterfeit, then it sorta narrows it down ..but I still don't see how you're liable. How far can you go back up the line in recovery ..and does his position in being your landlord have him presume some leverage in that recovery? You know where you got it. You know where it went. I don't see where you defrauded him here.

Granted, I don't know how this shakes out legally in terms of upstream liability.
 
This begs the question of how good a relationship do you have with your landlord, and do you have a lease or pay month-to-month. (He can jack your rent another $25 to "get it back" over a series of months, unless you're rent controlled etc.)

I assume you got a cash receipt proving you paid him? If so, tough luck for him. Cooperate with the authorities but wait for the authorities. I smell a shakedown.

A while ago Cumberland Farms convenience stores used to hustle their cashiers, say the drawer was short $40, they could prove it was "stolen" on their shift, the law might get involved, yadda yadda... in an effort to get the peons to work for subminimum wage. I kind of smell a hustle here too...
 
Good points, eljefino.

A buddy of mine in high school paid for lunch at a Mexican restaurant with a $20 that was found to be counterfeit. He had gotten it from his bank ATM. Upon closer inspection, it was a bit more "green" than the other bills. Not sure what happened (I'm sure we bailed him out for the lunch ticket), but to be out $20 straight from a bank stinks.

Last guy caught with the bad bills is the one who is out. If the landlord tries to make you pay extra for next month's rent or evict, there are pretty severe penalties for him for doing so in many states (esp. California). He'd have to take you to small claims, it would cost more than $150 to do that :)

Shake hands, apologize on behalf of the guy you got the bad bills from (allegedly!), and maybe offer to mow his lawn or take care of a water bill, etc. if the rent includes such things.

Good luck!
 
I got a bum $20 in $200 last week from the local B of A as company cash for the PNW Motored Bike Meet. They didn't give me any grief when I redeposited the leftoverextra cash the other day. And it alleviate the need to feel guilty for passing it off at a lemonade stand or "hot" tip at a restaurant!
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Here's the RCMP's position on it.

Who gets stuck with a counterfeit?

* The last person who accepts the counterfeit in a transaction is the person who gets stuck with it.

If you regularly check the security features of your bank notes, you shouldn’t find yourself in this position.

It is illegal to knowingly pass a counterfeit.


..and from our Treasury:

Please Note: There is no financial remuneration for the return of the counterfeit bill, but you will have pride in doing the "right thing" to help combat counterfeiting.
 
good thing I pay everything with credit card and have direct deposit. I pay my credit card in full every month. 5% GM card earnings too. Pay rent and electric bill with checks. I almost never need cash at all, I never see it. it's just a number on my bank statements. I always bring my lunch to work, pay gas with credit card. hmm. I can't remember the last time I paid with cash. that was so 20th century.
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It's not THAT hard to come up with something that is ridiculously difficult to counterfeit (not impossible, but not easy), plus be more friendly to the blind.
 
I would strongly suggest you talk to a lawyer so you can find out exactly how the laws lay out the responsibility on your behalf. Federal law is pretty clear on passing counterfeits, but state laws will vary on whether or not the tenant is responsible to make up the payment.

My parents recently had to deal with a money squabble and, having seen their experience (they did use a lawyer, by the way), I would definitely call one if I were in a similar situation.

Also, from now on, definitely pay by credit or check to your landlord.
 
There was counterfeit money around in Canada several years ago that passed all the tests, so they had to completely redesign all the currency. If I buy us dollars, I reject anything but the new stuff.
 
Cogito - Like you mentioned, it is VERY odd that 2 different phony denominations were given to you at the same time.
Maybe the Gov't inspectors will like to look in to that.
 
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