> If you're expecting a check in the mail, and you receive a check envelope
> that has your name wrong, do you have to send it back for correction, or
> can you legally open it and deposit the check?
Is it ALWAYS legal for you to do so? No. The usual "it depends" rubric applies. The entire factual context is relevant.
Is it EVER legal for you to do so? Sometimes. The usual "it depends" rubric applies. The entire factual context is relevant.
The law, by and large, is _not_ trying to be a series of "gotchas" with Draconian consequences for minor, inadvertent mistakes.
Nor is the law, by and large, supposed to create a "windfall" for a lucky person who, due to a minor technicality, gets to keep (or gets away with) something he should not have gotten.
What the law usually DOES try to look at and accomplish, is, under _all_ the relevant circumstances, WHAT IS THE JUST and fair thing to do? And, whether we are talking criminal or civil law, that means looking _objectively_ at all the circumstances to see whether a reasonable person, in your shoes, would have done the same thing.
> For example, suppose your name is Alan T Jones, and the check is addressed
> to Aan T Jones
Most likely a mis-spelling, no? Especially if they got the address right, and the amount of hte check is the amount you were expecting. Unless you know of the existence of someone named Aan T Jones, you are probably okay to go ahead and cash that, unless you know something you're not telling, that would provide relevant context and lead to a different conclusion. Don't ever forget the importance of context.
> or to Richard T Jones.
At your address? Or stuck together to the envelope with your name and address on it (that happens to me, and a neighbor, who get bulk mailings from the same company, sometimes)? Is "Richard" one of your aliases? Context, context.
> And it's the kind of check that you
> know will have the same name on the check itself as on the envelope.
How do you know _that_? How do you even know it's a _check_, until you open the envelope? We would need to explore _all_ the releavnt facts you knew, as of the time you were contemplating opening the envelope.
> What
> would be the legal implications of simply opening the envelope and
> depositing the check with your normal endorsement, Alan T Jones?
That depends. What did you KNOW, and when did you know it? Context, context.
> In other words, does the fact that you know the check was intended for you
> make it legal,
If you really _DO_ "know" the check was intended for you, that's probably good evidence in your favor, if there is some factual basis for this "knowledge" that you can articulate. If OTOH you "know" it's yours simply because (a) it fell into your lap unexpectedly and (b) you want to keep it, that is a different ball of wax.
> even though it superficially seems like opening mail not
> addressed to you
"Aan T Jones" is probably you. "Richard T Jones" is a tougher question. "George Smith," definitely not you.
> and depositing a check not made out to you?
If your intentions are TRULY innocent, and it turns out the check was _not_ meant for you, the worst that is likely to happen is that you will have to pay it back.
OTOH if there is even any sliver of doubt in your mind that it was intended for you, why are you asking us here on MLM for justification to keep and open and deposit it, instead of CALLING THE SENDER to confirm whether this check was in fact intended for YOU? Doesn't that seem like an easier, and less risky, approach? And doesn't the fact that you are even inquiring here, give rise to some suspicion that your intentions are NOT completely innocent, and that you are trying to see if there is a "gotcha" in the law which you can take advantage of?
That last one - my question, not yours - is pretty easy to answer. No, there _isn't_ any such "gotcha" windfall. If it's not yours, you will have to give it back. And if you keep it, under circumstances which would have put a reasonable person on notice that it was not yours, you may have to face additional consequences as well, including civil or criminal penalties. YMMV. TANSTAAFL.
--
This posting is for discussion purposes, not professional advice.
Anything you post on this Newsgroup is public information.
I am not your lawyer, and you are not my client in any specific legal matter.
For confidential professional advice, consult your own lawyer in a private communication.
Mike Jacobs
LAW OFFICE OF W. MICHAEL JACOBS
10440 Little Patuxent Pkwy #300
Columbia, MD 21044
(tel) 410-740-5685 (fax) 410-740-4300
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