What checks cannot be cashed?

Written by Editorial Team | Last Updated: August 2026

Financial institutions and check-cashing services will refuse to cash specific categories of checks due to legal restrictions, fraud risks, or account irregularities. Checks that generally cannot be cashed include stale-dated checks (typically older than six months), post-dated checks presented before the written date, checks with altered amounts, missing signatures, or damaged routing numbers, and two-party checks lacking proper or verified endorsement. Additionally, checks drawn on closed accounts, checks with stop-payment orders issued against them, and counterfeit or obviously fraudulent negotiable instruments are strictly rejected by banks.

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