Also known as: certified checks · certified cheque
Written by attorneys — see sources 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.
In May 1955, Claus H. Henningsen purchased a new 1955 Plymouth Plaza Club Sedan from Bloomfield Motors, Inc., an authorized De Soto and Plymouth dealer for Chrysler Corporation. Mr. Henningsen intended the car as a Mother's Day gift for his wife, Helen Henningsen, and communicated that intention to the dealer. He alone signed a one-page printed purchase-order form. The reverse side contained, in fine six-point script type, a warranty clause limiting the manufacturer's obligation to replacement of defective parts within ninety days or four thousand miles and disclaiming all other warranties, express or implied. The front of the form contained two even smaller paragraphs directing attention to the back-side conditions. The form was a standardized document prepared by the manufacturer and used by all its dealers. No one called the fine-print provisions to Mr. Henningsen's attention, and he did not read them. The car was delivered on May 9, 1955, after the dealer performed the items listed in Chrysler's New Car Preparation Service Guide. On May 19, 1955, while Mrs. Henningsen was driving north on Route 36 in Highlands, New Jersey, at twenty to twenty-two miles per hour on a smooth, paved highway, she heard a loud noise from the front of the car. The steering wheel spun in her hands and the vehicle veered sharply into a highway sign and brick wall. The car had been driven only 468 miles, had required no servicing, and had exhibited no unusual behavior before the accident. An insurance appraiser with eleven years of experience examined the wrecked vehicle and concluded that something in the steering mechanism from the wheel down to the front wheels had broken or dropped off. Plaintiffs also presented expert testimony that the steering failure resulted from a latent manufacturing defect that could not have been discovered by reasonable inspection. The negligence counts against both defendants were dismissed at trial. The case was submitted to the jury solely on the implied-warranty claims. The jury returned verdicts for both plaintiffs against Chrysler Corporation and Bloomfield Motors, Inc. Defendants appealed and plaintiffs cross-appealed from the dismissal of the negligence claim. The Supreme Court of New Jersey certified the matter directly before consideration by the Appellate Division.
View caseA 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…