Tech Forum

We have rent we need to pay for a family. The rental agency will not take a check from us since it is a third party check. They suggested a money order. What would be the proper way to get the money to the rental agency and pass a financial audit?

In a similar situation, I made check out payable to a local bank, where a member of the bishopric took it and bought a Money Order with it. All of the receipts were filed and met with the auditor's approval.

The only logical reason I can see that they would not accept a business check from a charitable organization is that they are concerned about check fraud. In such a case, I fear that even a cashier's check would be unacceptable to them since cashier's check fraud has become a greater concern in the banking industry lately. They are likely unfamiliar with the Church (i.e. they don't trust it) or have gotten burned too many times with third party checks regardless of the source.

Another option would be for a member (under the direction of the bishop, of course) to purchase the money order themselves, pay the rent, get a receipt, and then submit that to the ward clerk for reimbursement. We use a procedure like that occasionally for utility bills or gasoline as well.

I actually left the thread and came back because i was amazed that checks are no longer becoming the accepted form of payment anymore. Yet its clearly cash.

Its becoming more difficult to conduct business now a days and I am wondering if we won't see at sometime in the future that the wards will have to a credit card to conduct some charitable work

I'm wondering if the office staff at the rental facility fully understands what a third party check is. Typically a check from one party directly to another is not a third party check; a third party check in this case would typically be if the church wrote the rent check to the family and the family endorsed it over to the rental facility.

Quote here from bankersonline.com: Question: What is your definition of a third party check?

Answer: A check on which the drawer, drawee (bank), and payee are three separate parties. Another way to put it is to say the check is not payable to the drawer him- or herself.

Hope this is helpful-

Neil Reid
Dallas 4th Ward
Dallas, Tx.